Attending the Workshop were: Mr. Jesús Lavina, Counselor, Deputy Head, Cooperation Department, Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam; Ms. Nguyen Hong Anh, Program Manager, Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam; Dr. Laura Prota, University of Naples “L’Orientale” (Italy); Mr. Le Bich Phong, Program Manager, Quality of Life Improvement Center, LIFE; Ms. Dinh Ha An, Program Manager, Center for Development and Integration, CDI; Ms. Le Thi Ngan - Director of Thao Dan sponsoring establishment; Mr. Nguyen Tat Nam, Member of the Southern Regional Advisory Board of the ECOW project; Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Chien Thang, Director, Institute of European Studies and experts and scientists in universities and research institutes inside and outside the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences...
Currently, Vietnam has been integrating strongly into the regional and world economy, as demonstrated by the signing of a series of free trade agreements, including the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the European Union (EVFTA). Vietnam's deep integration has brought a large inflow of foreign investment, especially in the field of industrial production. The structure of the economy has had a strong shift from agriculture to industry and services, along with the shift in employment of workers. A large part of rural workers have migrated and become workers in industrial zones in many regions of the country, mainly in areas with a high degree of industrialization such as the delta the Red River, the areas around Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City.
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Speaking at the opening ceremony, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Chien Thang thanked the delegates who attended the Seminar summarizing the project "Enhancing the role of social organizations and workers". Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Chien Thang said that in the past 30 years, since Vietnam and the European Union established diplomatic relations, the European Union has carried out many development assistance programs for Vietnam, most notably Recently, it was a valuable support for Vaccines when Vietnam was hit the hardest by the epidemic. Up to now, the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences in general and the Institute of European Studies in particular have also received many important financial supports for scientific research from the European Union.
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Chien Thang shared, over the past 4 years, from April 2017 to January 2022, the project "Enhancing the role of social organizations and workers" (referred to as ECOW) has been implemented. Objectives: Strengthen the internal governance capacity, transparency and legitimacy of civil society organizations through improving the capacity to establish networks, research and advocate based on evidence. The project has conducted a survey and created a GIS map of labor-related social organizations in Vietnam, helping organizations to connect more easily and towards activities shared. Perhaps for the first time in Vietnam, the ECOW project has established a network diagram of labor-related social organizations in which the leading, central and influential organizations in the labor market are identified net. The project also conducted training activities for central organizations to create spillover effects.
Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Chien Thang emphasized, with the goal of obtaining evidence for policy advocacy, the project conducted a large-scale study with more than 3,000 workers participating, from all three regions, in the garment and electronics industries. The results of this study have been used for topics in regional and national policy talks and published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Some of the highlights of the research results were also reflected in the documentary film that we collaborated with the Italian Embassy in Hanoi to screen on January 18.
On behalf of the Institute of European Studies, Director Nguyen Chien Thang thanked the partners for their efforts in implementing the project, especially in the context of the Covid-19 epidemic which has hindered many activities, including field research and documentaries. Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Chien Thang would like to thank the valuable help from central and local agencies, the close support of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences, the coordination of social organizations and the support of the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam.
Discussion session atmosphere
Report on the results of the project's final conference, with 3 presentations presented: (1) "Overview of the results of the project implementation to improve the role of social organizations and workers" by Dr. Do Ta Khanh, ECOW Project Manager; (2) “Some key results from field research” by MSc. Nguyen Van Thuc, ECOW Project Officer; (3) “Social organizations related to labor in Vietnam” by Dr. Laura Prota, University of Naples “L’Orientale”.
During the discussion session, the delegates heard: Mr. Le Bich Phong, Program Manager, Center for Quality of Life, LIFE; Ms. Dinh Ha An, Program Manager, Center for Development and Integration, CDI; Ms. Le Thi Ngan - Director of Thao Dan sponsoring establishment; Mr. Nguyen Tat Nam, Member of the Southern Regional Advisory Committee of the ECOW project, discussed the relevant topics.
Concluding speech at the Conference, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen An Ha highly appreciated the content of the presentation and the comments and contributions of the participants. Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen An Ha emphasized, the goal of the project is to improve the capacity of labor-related social organizations through knowledge sharing, strengthening joint activities and improving accountability through the establishment of networks, thereby improving conditions for workers. Appreciate the active participation of partners to help the project achieve the set goals in the context of Covid-19 breaking the link. We thank the European Union for its valuable support to the scientific research activities of the European Research Institute in particular and the development of social sciences in Vietnam in general, and look forward to continuing to receive supported by the European Union to further enhance the relationship between Vietnam and the European Union in the field of research and development.
Editorial board
