Ha Noi, 16 December 2011 – Viet Nam’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2010-2011 report, launched today in Ha Noi, reveals persisting disparities in the lives and well-being of children and women in Viet Nam, across regions, by gender, area of residence, wealth, and ethnicity.

The survey was carried out between 2010 and 2011 by the General Statistics Office (GSO) in close collaboration with various line ministries and UN agencies UNICEF and UNFPA. It provides a comprehensive, updated picture of the situation of children and women in Viet Nam.

In the area of immunisation, the report shows that just two out of five children between 12 and 23 months are fully immunised in Viet Nam. There is also a considerable gap between rural and urban areas, with one in two urban children fully immunised, compared to only one in three in rural areas.

Phu Cat, Binh Dinh province, 16 December 2011 – A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Phu Cat airbase this morning for a 5,400 cubic meter contained landfill site which will be used to isolate the dioxin contamination at the airbase.

Phu Cat is one of three military airbases that are still highly contaminated by dioxin, due to large quantities of herbicides stored or handled there during the war. The other two hotspots are Da Nang and Bien Hoa airbases. The levels of dioxin concentration in these hotspots are as high as 365,000 parts per trillion (ppt) of international toxicity equivalents (I-TEQ). This is hundreds of times the required clean-up level by national and international standards.

UN Resident Coordinator Pratibha Mehta shared her comments at the meeting

Ha Noi, 12 December 2011 - UN Resident Coordinator Pratibha Mehta and Australian Ambassador Allaster Cox, co-chairs of the Ambassadors/UN Heads of Agency Informal Coordination Group on HIV, led a representative group on 12 December to discuss future collaborations with the Government of Viet Nam in responding to HIV. The group included United States Ambassador David Shear and UK Department for International Development (DFID) Country Representative Fiona Lappin. Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Chair of the National Committee for AIDS, Drugs and Prostitution Prevention and Control, led the Government dialogue team, including Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien and Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Thi Hai Chuyen.