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Groups Pledged Cooperation & Collaboration to Improve Charitable Efforts in Vietnam
www.va-ngo.org
 OAKLAND, CA (May 25, 2004) - More than 100 individuals, representing 31 Vietnamese-American Non-Governmental Organizations (VA NGOs) from throughout the U.S., gathered at a historic meeting to discuss the role of Vietnamese-Americans in humanitarian and charitable efforts in Vietnam. This first VA NGO conference took place at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in the Monterey Peninsula, from May 7 - May 9.
According the Planning Conference Committee, for many years, VA NGOs have worked in numerous aid and development projects in education, health care, social and economic self-reliance, and have ushered substantial contributions from the Vietnamese-Americans and the people of the United States to improve the lives of the people in Viet Nam.
"Recognizing the unique role of the Vietnamese-American community and individuals as bridges between the United States and Viet Nam, we have come together to share experience and find common grounds. We also wanted to explore various avenues of collaboration that will enhance our work, strengthen our organizations and extend our activities in the various communities in the United States and in Viet Nam," said the Conference Planning Committee. (More information about the Planning Committee and Sponsoring Organizations can be found at www. va-ngo.org.)
Focusing on strengthening the group themselves, the conference featured discussion panels, skill-building workshops and special guest speakers from The Rockefeller Foundation, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The conference concluded with attendees pledging to work together on the following objectives and activities:
- To foster better communication and information-sharing among VA NGOs to leverage one another’s experience and resources and facilitate collaboration
- To enable more concerted efforts in exploring new funding sources such as governmental agencies, foundations, and corporations
- To promote public education and advocacy, in the United States and elsewhere, to inform stakeholders of the important role of VA NGOs in humanitarian and development work in Viet Nam
- To deliver technical assistance to VA NGOs to help build organizational capacity and improve operational efficiency
"Because of how much Vietnamese-Americans contribute to Vietnam, it is imperative that the Vietnamese-American NGOs meet and come up with an action plan that so they can be more constructive and effective. This convening was a watershed moment for our work in Vietnam," said Diep Vuong, the Conference Co-chair.
 The conference was organized by the Pacific Links Foundation (PALS), Social Assistance Program for Viet Nam (SAP-VN), Fund for the Encouragement of Self-Reliance (FESR) and the East Meets West Foundation (EMW) with funding from the Ford Foundation, the Asia Foundation, the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, the Tran Family and the Vuong Family Foundation. Additional funding came from individual Vietnamese-American donors.
List of Participating Organizations and other materials are available at www.va-ngo.org. The Conference Planning Committee will announce the dates, time and locations of post-conference press briefings shortly. Post-conference reports will also be available to both the media and the public.
(Distributed by Sonny Le, Communications Director,
East Meets West Foundation. 510-919-0790 / sonny@eastmeetswest.org)
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