Nordic Assistance to Vietnam or NAV is a non-governmental organization giving social and humanitarian assistance in Vietnam.
Non-governmental organizations, nongovernmental organizations, or nongovernment organizations, commonly referred to as NGOs, are usually non-profit and sometimes international organizations independent of governments and international governmental organizations that are active in humanitarian, educational, health care, public policy, social, human rights, environmental, and other areas to effect changes according to their objectives. They are thus a subgroup of all organizations founded by citizens, which include clubs and other associations that provide services, benefits, and premises only to members. Sometimes the term is used as a synonym of "civil society organization" to refer to any association founded by citizens, but this is not how the term is normally used in the media or everyday language, as recorded by major dictionaries. The explanation of the term by NGO.org is ambivalent. It first says an NGO is any non-profit, voluntary citizens' group which is organized on a local, national or international level, but then goes on to restrict the meaning in the sense used by most English speakers and the media: Task-oriented and driven by people with a common interest, NGOs perform a variety of service and humanitarian functions, bring citizen concerns to Governments, advocate and monitor policies and encourage political participation through provision of information.
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula. With an estimated 94.6 million inhabitants as of 2016, it is the 15th most populous country in the world. Vietnam is bordered by China to the north, Laos and Cambodia to the west, part of Thailand to the southwest, and the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia across the South China Sea to the east and southeast. Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976, while its most populous city is Ho Chi Minh City.
NAV was founded in 1994 as a cooperative effort of three Scandinavian non-governmental organizations: the Norwegian Norwegian Church Aid (lead agency), the Danish DanChurchAid, and the Swedish Diakonia. In 1997 and 2003, DanChurchAid and Diakonia withdrew, so that NAV is now a project only of Norwegian Church Aid. [1] [2]
Norwegian Church Aid is a Norwegian humanitarian and ecumenical organisation with headquarters in Oslo. It was traditionally affiliated with the state Church of Norway, but is now independent. Norwegian Church Aid works together with people and organisations across the world to eradicate poverty and injustice.
DanChurchAid is a Danish humanitarian non governmental organisation aimed at supporting the world's poorest. It was founded in 1922, and is rooted in the Danish National Evangelical Lutheran Church. It is a member of ACT Development - a global alliance of over 140 churches and related humanitarian organisations, working to create positive and sustainable change in the lives of poor and marginalized people.
Initially, NAV focused on rural development in Thừa Thiên–Huế Province. Since 2005, it has focused on three areas: democratization and accountability in government, slowing the spread of HIV and AIDS, and combating gender-based violence. [1] It works in the central provinces, Hanoi, and Ho Chi Minh City. [2]
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of Lentivirus that causes HIV infection and over time acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). AIDS is a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive. Without treatment, average survival time after infection with HIV is estimated to be 9 to 11 years, depending on the HIV subtype. In most cases, HIV is a sexually transmitted infection and occurs by contact with or transfer of blood, pre-ejaculate, semen, and vaginal fluids. Non-sexual transmission can occur from an infected mother to her infant during pregnancy, during childbirth by exposure to her blood or vaginal fluid, and through breast milk. Within these bodily fluids, HIV is present as both free virus particles and virus within infected immune cells.
Hanoi is Vietnam's capital and second largest city by population. The city mostly lies on the right bank of the Red River. Hanoi is 1,720 km (1,070 mi) north of Ho Chi Minh City and 105 km (65 mi) west of Haiphong.
Ho Chi Minh City, also known by its former name of Saigon, Prey Nokor, is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of 8.4 million as of 2017. Located in southeast Vietnam, the metropolis surrounds the Saigon River and covers about 2,061 square kilometres.
NAV started its first project on HIV prevention in prisons in 2001 and later expanded its scope to assisting all HIV-positive individuals. [3] The organization uses the ABC approach and provides palliative care, care for orphans and vulnerable children. [4]
In cooperation with the Football Association of Norway the program "Football for All" was initiated in 2003 to develop grassroots football clubs for Vietnamese children along with education in health, hygiene, and HIV prevention. [3] [5]
NAV is a member agency of Action by Churches Together International and was its designated agency working on relief for victims of Typhoon Ketsana. [6]
Typhoon Ketsana, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Ondoy, was the second-most devastating tropical cyclone of the 2009 Pacific typhoon season, causing $1.09 billion in damages and 747 fatalities, only behind Morakot earlier in the season, which caused 789 deaths and damages worth $6.2 billion. Ketsana was the sixteenth tropical storm, eighth typhoon, and the second super typhoon in the season. It was the most devastating typhoon to hit Manila, surpassing Typhoon Patsy (Yoling) in 1970.
