The  report  "Adoption  from  Viet Nam: findings and recommendations of an assessment"  is  the  result  of  an independent assessment commissioned by UNICEF  Viet  Nam  and  the  Department  of Adoption of the Ministry of Justice   of  Viet  Nam  in  2009.  This  assessment  was  carried  out  by International  Social  Service  (ISS).  Its  main  objectives  were  to: (1) identify  and  address  problems  in  both  the  domestic  and intercountry adoption  processes,  with a view to assisting Viet Nam in its preparations to  accede  to  the 1993 Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption; and (2) review  the  new draft law on adoption, and propose any amendments that may appear necessary to ensure compliance with international standards and good practice.

Since  the  finalisation  of the report, the National Assembly has passed a new  law  on  adoption (in  June  2010).  This new law addresses many of the concerns  related  to  intercountry  adoptions that were highlighted by the assessment.

The Analysis of the Situation of Children in Dien Bien Province provides a holistic picture of the situation of girls and boys, including an in-depth analysis of remaining challenges that children face. It also examines the possible causes of the situation of children, and analyses the province in the context of the North West region and Viet Nam as a whole. The report aims to contribute towards establishing a stronger knowledge base on children by compiling and analysing information and data on children’s issues that exists but has not yet been consolidated or comprehensively analysed.

The Analysis’ findings confirm the province’s remarkable progress across a broad spectrum of children’s issues, in line with its socio-economic development achievements in recent years. However, there are areas where disparities exist and progress is still needed, such as child malnutrition, health care for ethnic minority children and those who are living in poor households, increasing HIV/AIDS prevalence, poor water supply to mountainous communes and villages, limited access to hygienic sanitation by the rural population, limited education for ethnic minority children at all levels, and limited access to special protection measures by vulnerable groups of children.

Bringing Vietnam’s Laws into compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

UNICEF and the government of Viet Nam commissioned Eric Rosenthal to conduct the assessment and analysis for this report, along with other experts from Mental Disability Rights International. The main aim of this report is to assist the government of Viet Nam in bringing its laws and policies into conformity with the new United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which Viet Nam signed on October 22, 2007. The key objectives of this consultancy were:

• Assessment and analysis of the compliance of Vietnamese legal normative documents related children with disabilities(CWD) with UNCRPD and international treaties, standards and norms related to disability (using the desk review of Vietnamese legal normative documents related to CWD carried out by national legal expert);
• Review the draft Law on PWD and provision of comments and recommendations for its’ improvement/finalization;
• Development of recommendations to the government of Viet Nam for legislative and policy changes to bring about implementation of the new legal standards established in the CRPD; these suggestions are based upon our analysis of Vietnamese law and interviews with government officials, service providers, educators, disability activists; our analysis is also informed by site visits to service programs in Viet Nam for children and adults with disabilities.

Challenges and Opportunities for Intervention - A report based on qualitative research conducted in Vietnam

The research team would like to thank the Reproductive Health Department at the Ministry of Health for their overall guidance and support for this study. In particular, Dr. Phuong Hoa provided leadership and oversight of the study right from its conception, and allocated precious time and energy of herself and her colleagues in the department to ensure that it was successfully completed. The authors are also grateful to Dr. Hoang Tuan of the RHD for his support and oversight of all the logistical issues, including liaising with provincial offi ces, overseeing translation, and organizing meetings.

UNICEF Vietnam provided funding for this study under the national PMTCT project supported by them. Special thanks are due to Luisa Brumana, HIV/AIDS Specialist for her intellectual guidance of this piece of work, to Mai Thu Hien, UNICEF Programme Offi cer, for oversight, support and management of the study, and to Nguyen Ngoc Trieu for administrative support.

The researchers would also like to thank the Provincial RHD in An Giang, Ho Chi Minh City and Quang Ninh for their time and support in organizing interviews and providing information. In addition, we would like to thank the many health staff who were interviewed at commune, district and provincial levels. Finally, this study owes a debt of gratitude to the all the men, women and family members who volunteered their time to respond to our questions with openness and honesty.

Lastly, all errors and omissions are solely the responsibility of the lead consultant.

Although Viet Nam has achieved significant results in improving children’s health and nutritional status over the past decades, addressing malnutrition – and stunting in particular – remains an unfinished agenda. A Review of the Nutrition Situation in Viet Nam in 2009-2010, prepared jointly by the National Institute of Nutrition and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), focuses on the nutritional status of children under five years and their mothers, especially on the prevalence of malnutrition among the preschool population, and the data on micronutrient deficiencies. It also includes data on some of the underlying and basic factors such as food consumption and poverty.

The Nutrition Situation in Viet Nam shows that about 29 per cent of preschool aged children are stunted and 17.5 per cent of children under five are underweight. In addition, a number of nutrition-related chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes and cardio-vascular diseases are increasing rapidly, creating a double burden of malnutrition in Viet Nam.