In the afternoon of March 5^th, Deputy Minister of Labour – Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Hong Lan had a meeting with Mrs.Yoshimi Nishino - Head of the UNICEF Policy, Society and Governance Program (United Nations Children's Fund ) in Vietnam to promote cooperation in the field of social protection.

At the meeting, Deputy Minister Dao Hong Lan appreciated support of UNICEF in the field of social protection and emphasized that the Party, State and Government always pay attention to this field and had a lot of policies toward target groups.

However, some policies need to be reviewed and supplemented in order to further improve the effectiveness of social protection in the future, including the project "Renovation and development of social assistance in phase 2017-2025 with a vision to 2030 "(Project 488) was approved by the Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The social protection sector is also required to include in the Resolution of the Party and the Government's socio-economic development plan.

Reporting to Deputy Minister Dao Hong Lan, Yoshimi Nishino said that the delegation of  UNICEF had meetings with several Vietnamese authorities and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs on the implementation of Project 488.

Mrs. Yoshimi Nishino affirmed that the discussions had been successful and expressed the joy of seeing social security as a priority for Viet Nam. The planning process is very important to make sustainable, lasting and effective decisions. UNICEF has supported the reform of social assistance as well as the social security system in Vietnam. Moreover, UNICEF is willing to join the Vietnamese side in research, impact assessment and project advice.

“Increasing public awareness and understanding as well as Vietnamese leaders’ in this area is very important. We will support the media and assist Vietnam in this process. The roadmap will be set in the future, "UNICEF representative said.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Deputy Minister emphasized that: “There is still much work to do in the social protection sector. One of the issues is how to change the concept of "giving", instead it must be the inspiration, justice and stability in society, thereby helping to grow and develop the country. Our mission as well as the expectation of Project 488 is to change the social awareness of social protection to benefit more to the target groups.”

Deputy Minister also asked the UNCEF to cooperate more closely with other units under MARD in implementing the programs as well as developing legal documents relating to social protection.