Creativity zone

Apricot blossoms in Mu Nau Valley of Son La Province, northern Vietnam. Mu Nau Valley lies in sub-zone 13 of Moc Chau Town in Son La Province. Two kilometers south of Moc Chau center, the valley spans 200 hectares and comprises a 40-year-old apricot forest, a 25-year-old plum forest, and an old-growth forest. The route from the town to the valley is short but steep and requires excellent driving skills, often scaring first-timers. Leaving Moc Chau around 5 p.m, I was accompanied by Duy, owner of Pho Nui Tinh Yeu Homestay, to Mu Nau. He picked me up at the intersection near town and advised me to mentally prepare myself for the ride, an effort that would prove futile as soon as we hit the road. The higher we got, the more Duy revved his engine, with the slope becoming increasingly uncooperative. I was not in the least comforted by the fact I was on the back of a local's bike. At one point, I was shaking with my eyes closed shut out of fear the vehicle would flip over. As we ascended the hill, I gripped onto Duy, holding on for dear life. After five minutes of wrestling with the road, we finally reached our destination. Drenched, I quickly used my arm to wipe the sweat off my forehead. This would be the first and last time I would ever take that "death" road, I thought to myself. From the tippy top of Mu Nau, sun rays gently lit wild flowers, weeds, and evergreen grassy plots. The entire town of Moc Chau nestled snugly at the bottom. Pretty, poetic, and romantic beyond words. It was afternoon and breezy, with a hazy mist floating far off. Indeed, at the end of a rocky road was a real-life paradise. Enraptured by the amazing beauty of the landscape, I stood contemplating it as the sun gradually set behind the mountains. It was now 6 p.m. and the sun had completely disappeared. As dusk fell, lights brightened Moc Chau. Lining the main streets of town, yellow lights sparkled in the dark night like stars in the sky. Night had arrived in Moc Chau! …

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Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam on Tuesday applauded Vietnam’s achievements in its fight against COVID-19 while also stressing a high likelihood of future pathogen emergence in the country. Dam’s statements were made during his chairmanship of a meeting of the National Steering Committee on COVID-19 Prevention and Control. During the meeting, Nguyen Dac Vinh, deputy chief of the Party Central Committee's Office, pointed out that early detection is key to successful epidemic prevention efforts, as seen from the quelling of recent outbreaks at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City and in Hai Phong at the end of January. Vinh also emphasized the importance of tactical medical screenings to identify transmission sources and contain the pathogen. He noted that the Ministry of Health should reflect on its contact tracing programs and identify optimal isolation plans in order to inform efforts in other provinces. The upcoming COVID-19 inoculation plan should be rolled out in sync with other epidemic prevention efforts, he added. Meanwhile, Deputy PM Dam pointed out that Vietnam ranked 173rd in the world in terms of patient tallies and 213th on the ratio of COVID-19 cases to population, an impressive achievement considering the relatively low cost that the country spent on COVID-19 prevention. “With all due humility, it can be said that Vietnam is ranked one of the most successful countries in the world when it comes to COVID-19 prevention," he said. "For that reason, we must stay loyal to the principles and strategies that were employed in the early days.” According to Dam, those strategies involve five steps: prevention, detection, isolation, eradication, and treatment, all of which have been maintained through different phases of the epidemic. Large-scale testing Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son asked that Hai Duong Province, the country’s current COVID-19 epicenter, continue its …

[Read more...] about Coronavirus can still be in the community in Vietnam: Deputy PM

The Youth4Climate Initiative is implemented under UNDP “Climate Promise,” a global programme through which UNDP is committed to supporting 115 countries in enhancing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), by 2020. In Vietnam, the Youth4Climate Initiative aims to strengthen the capacity of existing youth representatives and networks to advance climate actions at national and international forums, through consistent and coordinated efforts and enhanced collaboration with the Government, UN agencies, development partners, private sector, and civil society organizations in future climate initiatives and policies. At the Conference, the results of the recent global UNDP’s survey – “People’s Climate Vote” – were shared. Similar to the majority of respondents across the world, 64 percent of respondents from Vietnam declared that they are facing a global climate emergency, with 60 percent of them suggesting urgent responses. The Peoples’ Climate Vote is the largest survey of public opinion on climate change ever conducted, with the participation of 1.2 million people from 50 different countries. In his remarks, Pham Van Tan, Deputy Director-General of the MONRE’s Department of Climate Change, said climate change response has remained among of the top missions of the whole political system. Vietnam adopted and enforced the Paris Agreement shortly after it was signed in 2015, he said. He further noted that Vietnam’s commitments to the global response to climate change were also included in the revised Law on Environmental Protection adopted by the National Assembly last November. “In order to implement the NDC targets, we need a strong will, determination, efforts and join collaboration from all socio-economic groups, of which Youth Union members and youth, as our future leaders, are playing an important role,” Tan noted. “Youth are the powerhouse for innovation and action, and it is our role, as UNDP Vietnam, to help them reach capacity,” Caitlin …

[Read more...] about Youth4Climate Initiative launched in Vietnam