DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
While progress has been made over the last few years, there are still areas that need continued support if Vietnam is ever going to have an infrastructure and economy comparable to the most successful countries. As funding from the international community slows, it is vital that development programs find new funding from domestic sources. That’s why CED works with businesses to encourage investment into Vietnam’s future.
We work to show businesses that initiatives designed to help the Vietnamese people also help them. By educating decision makers and business leaders in the seriousness of climate change, disaster preparedness and forestry law and governance, and the benefits that come with serious philanthropic and CSR activity, we hope to encourage a culture in which Vietnamese industry will help to support the continued development of the country.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT
Climate change is an issue of global concern and may pose a particular threat to Vietnam, already one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. CED is working with a wide range of partners in public, private, and civil society organizations to support disaster readiness in the private and education sectors, targeting small and medium enterprises, local schools, and community learning centers.
For further information, see: http://www.readyasia.com/
EDUCATION AND PROMOTION OF RESPONSIBLE TIMBER USE IN LINE WITH FLEGT
Promoting Sustainable & Legal Timber Trade
In 2020, the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) between Vietnam and the EU on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) came into effect. The agreement will help improve forest governance, address illegal logging and promote trade in verified legal timber products from Vietnam to the EU and other markets. In this context, CED is working with media, NGOs, CSOs and business associations in Vietnam to communicate important details and issues related to FLEGT to over 6,000 beneficiaries including SMEs, stakeholders and students.
More information can be found here
Promoting Responsible Timber Use in Vietnam
CED works in partnership with The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations to promote responsible timber consumption through education, organizing online platforms, workshops, and videos that provide students with knowledge related to legal and sustainable timber, along with workshops held for over 500 architecture and engineering students in relation to timber use and smarter construction solutions. CED also supports students majoring in construction, engineering and interior design by allowing them to display in an exhibition creative projects and ideas that use timber from plantations in Vietnam. Also displayed were winners of a competition organized by CED for students to implement and develop sustainable projects around timber use.
CED has worked with both media outlets and youth leader groups to ensure good coverage of awareness raising events around timber use, including a documentary film aired on VTV1. These are further boosted by youth leaders, recruited and trained by CED, via their own social media channels and fanpages and by CED’s run fanpage and social network.
Watch a video about this program here
PROMOTING BUSINESS UNDERSTANDING AND ENGAGEMENT WITH STRATEGIC GIVING IN VIETNAM
As Vietnam continues to develop, international donors are beginning to withdraw their support, so the resources necessary to address the country’s remaining challenges will increasingly need to come from domestic sources. While 90% of US businesses seek to gain publicity and popularity from their CSR activities, this culture is not yet prevalent among Vietnamese businesses.
CED aims to show domestic businesses that contributing to civil society will improve their reputation among their potential customers, thereby encouraging sustainable funds for development initiatives from within the country.
For more information, please visit : http://tuthiendoanhnghiep.com/
INCREASING AWARENESS IN PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT
Working in collaboration with PepsiCo, CED has created a project to help raise awareness on the growing issue of plastic waste in Vietnam. This program (from January 2020 to December 2022) has created systems that can help tackle the growing issue of plastic waste, bringing Vietnam in line with the Law on Environmental Protection 2020. To do this, CED has worked with three main channels for change: businesses and government agencies, students, and the media. In the first phase of the project, CED engaged 264 business staff in three workshops with government agencies to provide information about the impact of plastic waste, and provided solutions on how to reduce, reuse, and recycle disposable single-use plastic products to determine a zero-waste future. CED also worked with students in a bottom-up approach to the issue. CED recruited 78 “Environmental Youth Leaders (EYL)” from across the country to act as ambassadors for environmental awareness and change. These EYL participated in training to increase their knowledge around plastic waste management, and then were tasked with organizing awareness raising activities. Furthermore, the EYL were responsible for updating social media channels to further spread the message about their work.
CED also worked with schools to implement a plastic waste collection model, which has collected over 5000kg of waste. To support this work, CED has engaged with traditional media platforms to further spread the message around plastic waste. They have created a trailer entitled “End plastic pollution in Vietnam: together, we can!” to launch educational campaigns for students, and have created a 15-minute documentary with television network VOV. CED continues to maintain and expand the plastic waste collection schemes at schools in Hanoi.
For futher information please read the PepsiCo Foundation_CED Project_Newsletter_30Jan and watch the video of the project.
Strengthening communication and policy advocacy capacity for local NGOs and organizations in Vietnam
The management of natural forests by communities has not been taken seriously by the Central Government. Thus, CED partnered with other CSOs to run the LtC program which has addressed some of the challenges communities have faced in the Thua Thien Hue province and neighbouring areas. The partner CSOs have a broad geographical reach which allows the project to conduct interventions at all levels, from national to local. CED is experienced in policy advocacy at a national level and utilizing its strong networks to increase awareness of issues.
Regarding sustainable forest management and community forestry issues, CED’s objectives are to support local communities in implementing decisions and contributing to conservation, whilst equitably sharing sustainably managed resources. This requires promoting public awareness about SFM and community forestry and strengthening CSO networks for communication and advocacy on SFM and community forestry related issues.
With the funding and support of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), CED has organized and hosted many workshops and training courses for CSOs, NGOs and business associations to discuss their roles in supporting, enforcing and regulating the trade of legal timber products, their involvement in the development of new policies and regulations to ensure effective law making, and to lay the foundations for effective law enforcement and monitoring in the future.
