CFSI and the Ministry of Labour, Invalids, and Social Affairs (MOLISA) of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam have agreed to extend their long-standing cooperation through at least December 2022. The focus of the next five years is human resources development in social work with the aim of enhanced social protection for vulnerable and disadvantaged populations in Viet Nam. Activities carried out from October 2017 through December 2022 will build on the successes and lessons learned from collaboration between these two parties and academic institutions in Viet Nam and the Philippines from 2010 through 2017, known as the Social Work Education Project in Viet Nam (SWEP-Viet Nam). Outputs during the first phase of SWEP-Viet Nam-included 331 Managers from MOLISA and its provincial counterparts earning a Certificate in Social Work Administration, designed to be the equivalent of the first year of a master’s degree in social work. Of these, 202 went on to complete the second year, earning the Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) degree. Over the next five years, CFSI and MOLISA, working with at least three schools of social work in Viet Nam, hope to enable another 700 managers to earn the Certificate in Social Work Administration and at least 300 of these earning the master’s degree in social work. They will also be working to institutionalise this innovative human resources development intervention, thereby increasing the likelihood of long-term sustainability. The Memorandum of Unverstanding (MOU) between CFSI and MOLISA framing this cooperation was signed in the presence of Vice-Minister Dao Hong Lan in Hanoi, Viet Nam on 25 October 2017, by CFSI Executive Director Steven Muncy and MOLISA counterparts, specifically Dr. Nguyen Van Hoi, Director-General for the Department of Social Assistance and Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Director-General for the International Cooperation Department. In the speech the Executive Director delivered during the MOU Signing Ceremony, the Executive Director noted CFSI and MOLISA began their cooperation twenty-five years ago. For more information on the Ceremony and the collaboration between CFSI and MOLISA, please visit the following links:

http://www.molisa.gov.vn/vi/Pages/chitiettin.aspx?IDNews=27115

http://baodansinh.vn/nang-cao-chat-luong-nguon-nhan-luc-cong-tac-xa-hoi-d66024.html

MOLISA signing