21 March 2007

Hanoi, Viet Nam: The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme in Viet Nam has extended an IT project for women branded ‘social evils’ in Hanoi, Viet Nam. The innovative programme at the Ba Vi Social Education and Labour Centre No 2 is giving female residents practical training in Information Technology (IT) and English language skills and a chance to erase the title of ‘social evils’ that society has hung on them.

The centre is operated by Hanoi’s Sub-Department for Social Evil Prevention (DSEP). As many as 95 percent of criminals currently reoffend and DSEP and the Hanoi Department of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs are trying to reduce this with the help of UNV, the United Nations Development Programme and the Finnish Embassy.

The IT and language programme is “an important step” to achieve the overall objectives of the project, says Nguyen Thi Phoung, director of the Ba Vi centre. “It brings together all the efforts to provide the women residents of the centre with basic English and Information Technology skills, as well as to help increase their job opportunities after leaving the centre, preventing relapse.”
 
Women who depart Hanoi’s six rehabilitation centres can lapse into old ways for a variety of reasons: ineffective drug counselling, insufficient follow-up and post-release services, and the lure of higher incomes from commercial sex work or selling drugs.

After leaving the rehabilitation centres, the women have faced a culture that views them with, at worst, utter disdain and, at best, scepticism. The UNV project is helping to erase this long-standing stigma. The IT training is counteracting the women’s disenfranchisement and giving them positive, new image of themselves.

In the past 18 months, 39 women have received five months of IT training and English lessons. “This project gives me a new look about myself and I am confident I can do something to change my life,” said Mai Anh, a participant in the first phase of the programme.

“Providing IT and English language training for young Vietnamese women is very much a question of achieving the rights of women,” said Marjo-Ritta Tervonen, UNV volunteer Specialist on Gender. “Women tend to support, help, and encourage one another when they face difficulties and that brings more confidence to all. I hope the learners will remember this message.”

While the project was still in its infancy, one woman from the Ba Vi centre who graduated from the IT course found employment as a social worker. Others are continuing their training in IT. However it remains an obstacle to find partners, both private and public, who will give others a chance. Once reintegrated, the women who have benefited from the UNV-supported programme can cast aside their title of ‘social evils’.