90 percent of Ha Nam rural households to access safe water

Up to 90 percent of rural households in northern Ha Nam province are expected to have access to hygienic water by the end of 2015, an increase from 85 percent in late 2014.

All communal medical stations will also have hygienic water and toilets within this year, rising from 95 percent last year, said Deputy Director of the Ha Nam Department of Planning and Investment Phan Van Trinh.

The province has built and upgraded 22 rural water facilities since 2011, 12 of which have been put into use, he added.

To achieve the targets, relevant provincial agencies have coordinated to carry out the National Target Programme on Rural Clean Water and Environmental Hygiene. The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development steered the building of water supply facilities and hygienic livestock cages and the Department of Health managed the construction of standard toilets at private homes and medical stations.

Ha Nam has also successfully called for private investments in building water supply systems, Trinh noted, elaborating that nearly 200 million VND (9,500 USD) were donated by businesses while some 40 million VND (1,900 USD) were contributed by local people.

Between 2011 and 2015, the National Target Programme has been implemented at a cost of more than 608 billion VND (28.95 million USD) in Ha Nam, around 80 billion VND of which was funded by the State budget and 294 billion VND was financed through official development assistance, he added.-VNA

Youths' efforts yield socio-economic fruits

Many activities were carried out across the nation during the Vietnam’s Youth Month, an annual festivity taking place in March to celebrate the establishment of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union (HCYU), contributing to the nation’s socio-economic development, heard a conference held by the union's Central Committee in Hanoi on April 23.

Youngsters join hands to preserve traditional outfits

With a desire to preserve and promote the cultural values of traditional outfits, youngsters from the Department of Journalism and Writing at the University of Hanoi Culture organised an arts programme reviving the clothing of the later Le Dynasty, attracting students from various universities around the capital.