On April 26, 2023, Dong Nai Province
Union of Friendship Organizations received a working delegation of Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) to Dong Nai to find out information for the deployment of
activities in the field of the disabled support. Attending the meeting were Ms.
Dao Thi Hong - Chief Representative of CRS; Ms. Bui Thi Lieu - Standing Vice
President, Dong Nai province Union of Friendship Organizations; Mr. Nguyen Viet
Thang – Deputy Director, Dong Nai Department of External Relations; Ms. Nguyen
Thi Mong Thu - Deputy Director, Dong Nai Department of Labour, Invalids and
Social Affairs; Ms. Dao Nguyen - Chairwoman of Agent Orange Victims Association
of Dong Nai province; representatives of Dong Nai Department of Health, Dong
Nai Public Security and Foreign Non - Governmental Affairs Division under Dong
Nai province Union of Friendship Organizations.
Ms. Bui Thi Lieu - Standing Vice President, Dong Nai province Union of
Friendship Organizations presenting gifts to representatives of CRS
At the meeting, the Chief
Representative of CRS - Ms. Dao Thi Hong introduced about Catholic Relief
Services - the official international agency of the Catholic Church in the
United States, which was granted a License on the establishment of Representative
Office with an operational date to July 8, 2025.
CRS is accomplished through
programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, water, education, disaster
relief and poverty reduction in 09 provinces/ cities. In particular, the
organization's priority areas are disaster relief, support for people with
disabilities in the community, demining, and preventing high risks from the
impacts of climate change. In the coming time, the organization plans to expand
its operation area in Dong Nai and learn more information about the situation
of the disabled support to implement the Integration III - B project.
Chief Representative of CRS - Ms. Dao
Thi Hong speaking at the meeting
At
the meeting, Ms. Nguyen Thi Mong Thu - Deputy Director, Dong Nai Department of
Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shared that Dong Nai currently has about
50,000 people with disabilities, including 32,643 severe and special disabled
people, accounting for 65%. In recent years, many organizations have
implemented many projects to support people with disabilities. However, health
care, medical treatment, and rehabilitation activities are still lacking and of
poor quality, both in terms of technical expertise and budget, especially in
communes. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the capacity of
rehabilitation services in Dong Nai. She expected the organization to pay more attention
to support people with disabilities to integrate into the community.
Also at the meeting,
representatives of the leaders of the departments, agencies and sectors
expressed their wish that CRS would support people with disabilities to access
foreign aid to improve their lives and integrate into the community. Besides, they
would create favorable conditions for CRS to implement the project with the
best effectiveness.
At the end of the meeting, Ms. Bui Thi Lieu -
Standing Vice President, Dong Nai province Union of Friendship Organizations sent
her heartfelt thanks to the sponsors and representatives of leaders of
departments and agencies for their participation of the meeting and initially
provided with the necessary information to CRS, local authorities and relevant
parties. This is the premise for the CRS to deploy activities in the field of the
disabled support in Dong Nai province.