In June, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) helped celebrate the 20th anniversary of normalized relations by highlighting key development accomplishments and engaging youth in development issues via social media posts and innovative activities.
USAID/Vietnam’s Mission Director, Joakim Parker, gave a presentation at the American Center focusing on the role of partnerships in development. This presentation was the first to be streamed live online on the American Center’s YouTube channel. The Mission Director spoke about how USAID has used partnerships across the globe to help countries advance economically and make improvements in health, education and environment. The presentation also highlighted some of the partnerships that are helping Vietnam’s rapid progress. The Mission Director answered questions from the in person audience as well as the audience participating via the Internet.
Throughout June, the hashtag #CelebrateDevelopment was used on USAID’s Facebook and Twitter accounts to recognize key accomplishments that have occurred due to strong U.S. and Vietnam collaboration in the areas of economic growth and trade, health, education and support for persons with disabilities.
The USAID Mission Director joined an exclusive talk show which aired on VTC10 about U.S.-Vietnam cooperation on disaster risk management. In the interview, he reviewed USAID’s assistance programs in Vietnam in this field since 2000, saying that USAID had provided over $14 million in support to reduce disaster risks in Vietnam for many years with different approaches, including community-based approaches and technical assistance through Government Ministries, the Vietnam Red Cross as well as working on the preparedness of the business community.
At the end of June, USAID announced via Facebook, the winners of a student video contest. Participants were asked to submit videos that highlight development issues students care about and how their communities are being impacted. They also show creative ways those issues and challenges are being addressed in local communities. The contest was meant to engage students in emerging development issues in Vietnam and to publicize USAID’s role in promoting Vietnam’s development to the student audience. 51 videos were submitted for the competition.
Additional upcoming events to highlight development cooperation include a forum highlighting 10 years of development assistance in Vietnam, a symposium highlighting 20 years of U.S-.Vietnam non-governmental organization cooperation, a development-focused presentation at the American Center in Ho Chi Minh City and an award ceremony for winners of the student video contest.
