Midterm Review of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee and Save the Children International in Viet Nam

On the morning of July 29, Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee, in coordination with Save the Children International’s Representative Office in Viet Nam (Save the Children Viet Nam), held a conference to review the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two parties, with a view to assessing the results of humanitarian assistance and development programmes carried out in the province.

Attending the conference were Mr. Nguyen Thien Van, Member of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee; Ms. Le Thi Thanh Huong, Country Representative of Save the Children Viet Nam; and representatives of relevant provincial departments and agencies.

Overview of the conference.

On March 12, 2024, Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee and Save the Children Viet Nam signed an MoU on the implementation of humanitarian assistance and development programmes and projects in Dak Lak Province for the 2024–2028 period. The agreement aims to help ensure that children in the province are protected, have access to healthcare and education, and enjoy opportunities for holistic development.

The MoU identifies several priority areas for cooperation, including child protection, child rights governance, education, health and nutrition, poverty reduction for children and adolescents, disaster risk reduction, and climate change response.

After more than two years of implementation, the MoU has gradually established itself as a comprehensive framework for cooperation in humanitarian assistance and development, contributing to the effective mobilization of international resources in support of the province’s socio-economic development objectives. The programmes and projects have remained aligned with the agreed priority areas, local needs and the province’s development orientations at each stage.

Mr. Tran Ngoc Han, Deputy Chief of the Office of Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee, reports on the results of MOU implementation to date.

From January 2024 to June 2026, Save the Children Viet Nam coordinated the implementation of nine aid packages in the province, comprising five development aid packages with a total value of more than VND 62.1 billion and four emergency aid packages worth more than VND 6.6 billion. The total value of support mobilized reached approximately VND 68.7 billion.

The aid packages were implemented across various localities in the province, focusing on the priority areas agreed upon in the MOU. Notable achievements include the following.

In child protection, the project entitled “Strengthening Capacity and Promoting Child Protection Practices in Coffee Production”, implemented during the 2023–2026 period, reached and benefited more than 9,500 people, including over 7,000 children, more than 2,000 parents and caregivers, and community members. It also engaged more than 500 farming households, company employees and local officials. The project has helped raise awareness, strengthen child protection practices and promote children's rights throughout the coffee supply chain.

Ms. Le Thi Thanh Huong, Country Representative of Save the Children Viet Nam, delivers remarks at the conference.

In education, the “School Health and Nutrition” project supported 17 schools and directly reached 12,155 people. It organized 962 integrated lessons on health, nutrition and school safety for 6,558 students; established 17 parent clubs that held 102 sessions involving 2,880 parents; provided periodic health check-ups for 7,147 students; monitored the nutritional status of and provided nutrition counselling for 2,043 preschool children; and helped 8,554 people improve their knowledge of hygiene and school nutrition, among other achievements.

In healthcare, the project entitled “Improving Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethnic Minority Communities” directly reached 26,076 people and indirectly reached another 65,649 through community outreach activities, contributing to improved maternal and newborn healthcare. In addition, 974 healthcare workers received training in maternal and newborn care.

Ms. Vo Thi Minh Duyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training, contributes to the discussion at the conference.

Alongside development programmes and projects, Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee and Save the Children Viet Nam have also coordinated timely humanitarian assistance to help residents recover from natural disasters, strengthen social welfare and stabilize livelihoods in affected areas.

At the meeting, the two parties also exchanged information on two projects scheduled for implementation in the coming period, focusing on disaster risk reduction and child protection. These projects are expected to expand cooperation between Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee and Save the Children Viet Nam in mobilizing resources, sharing experience and implementing child-focused development initiatives, thereby contributing to the province’s development priorities in the new phase.

A representative of the leadership of Tuy An Bac Commune People’s Committee contributes to the discussion at the conference.

In his remarks, Mr. Nguyen Thien Van, Member of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee, emphasized that the programmes and projects implemented in recent years had closely addressed local needs. They had contributed to improving learning conditions, healthcare, child protection, support for vulnerable groups and the capacity of grassroots officials.

Mr. Nguyen Thien Van, Member of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Chairman of Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee, delivers remarks at the conference.

Mr. Nguyen Thien Van called on relevant agencies and local authorities to continue building on the achievements of the MoU, maintain cooperation in areas that had delivered positive results, replicate effective models and strengthen the sustainability of programmes and projects. He also emphasized the need to jointly develop cooperation programmes for the 2026–2028 period that align with the province’s development needs, prioritizing child protection, education, maternal and child healthcare, climate-resilient livelihood development, and humanitarian assistance when necessary.

He further called for stronger information exchange, experience-sharing and close coordination at every stage, from project needs assessments and design to resource mobilization, implementation and evaluation, to ensure that cooperation programmes respond to local needs and deliver lasting benefits.

Mr. Nguyen Thien Van expressed his confidence that, building on a foundation of trust, cooperation and shared responsibility, the partnership between Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee and Save the Children Viet Nam would continue to be strengthened and expanded, delivering even more tangible benefits for communities and the future of children.

Le Nu Hoang Anh