Children of Asia works to protect the right to education of the most impoverished girls and young women in Vietnam; providing crucial care services and educational, vocational training and university scholarships, the organization helps vulnerable girls and women lift themselves out of poverty and build positive futures for themselves, their families and communities.
The challenge(s) that Children of Asia is addressing:
Vietnam has made great progress in economic growth and social development over the last 20 years. Today, 13.1% of Vietnam’s population lives on less than $1.25 a day. Vietnam’s girls and women, particularly those living in rural areas and belonging to ethnic minorities, are most likely to be trapped in such poverty. Additionally, they face other obstacles that severely hinder their life prospects, such as limited access to higher education and employment opportunities and gender discrimination, including a persistent son preference and devaluing of girls—as demonstrated in the increasing imbalance in the sex ratio at birth (the sex ratio at birth increased to a value of 111 boys per 100 girls in 2010, and is an increasing concern in Vietnam). Gender-based violence is also acknowledged as a serious problem.
The Mekong Delta and Central Highlands regions are rural agricultural zones that are home to many families who have remained in extreme poverty despite Vietnam’s economic boom. Rarely can these families afford the costs associated with sending their daughters to primary and secondary school, and the costs of higher education or vocational training are way beyond these families’ financial means. Poverty prevents capable young women from such poor communities from pursuing higher education or vocational training and acquiring the skills and qualifications they need to obtain safe employment. Not only does this severely limit their life prospects, it places poor young women at greater risk of gender-based violence, prostitution and trafficking and reinforces the vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty.
W4’s field partner, Children of Asia, provides crucial care and educational programs for vulnerable girls and young women from the poor communities in these regions. The organization provides food aid, shelter, healthcare, schooling, university and vocational training scholarships in a drive to ensure that disadvantaged girls and young women are not excluded from education and development, but are instead protected and can emerge as educated, empowered women in their communities.
Donate today and ensure that vulnerable girls and young women from the poorest communities in Vietnam can enjoy their right to an education and are equipped with the skills and qualifications to build safe, healthy, flourishing lives for themselves and their families.
You can be a changemaker!
You can help break the vicious cycle of poverty and offer vulnerable girls and young women the life-changing opportunity to get an education and build safe, brighter futures for themselves:
- sponsor the education or professional training of girls from poor communities in the rural regions of the Mekong Delta and Central Highlands;
- pay for vital healthcare for girls;
- pay for food aid to keep girls and young women healthy and in school;
- offer vulnerable girls and infants in Thu Duc a safe early learning environment in daycare and nursery centers.
You can also help by raising awareness within your own circles about these crucial initiatives to protect and educate girls and young women from Vietnam’s poorest communities.
The difference you can make: the impact of your giving
Your donation—however modest— can have a life-changing effect by enabling a girl or young woman from an impoverished community in Vietnam to go to school and acquire the knowledge, skills, qualifications and self-confidence she needs to build her own future. Thanks to your donation, she can empower herself to break a cycle of poverty and exclusion and drive positive change in her community.
Relevant Country Data:
Capital: Hanoi
Population: 8,879,200
GDP per capita: $2,682
Population living below $1.25 PPP per day: 13.1%
Adult literacy rate, both sexes (aged 15 and above): 92.8%
Infant mortality rate (probability of dying between birth and age 1 per 1000 live births): 19
Maternal mortality ratio (deaths of women per 100,000 live births): 56
Life expectancy at birth: 75.2 years
