Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan held a meeting in Hanoi on January 26 with more than 50 National Fund for Vietnamese Children (NFVC) donors.

At the event, Doan, who is also Chairwoman of the NFVC, praised businesses, organisations and individuals for their contributions to Vietnam’s social welfare and the care of disadvantaged children.

She said she hoped that the donors will continue to work with the Party and State to implement meaningful and effective programmes to protect and educate children.

The Vice President also asked the NFVC to propose new measures to attract more donors in 2013.

Since its establishment in 1992, the NFVC has raised more than 4 trillion VND, helped 28 million children in difficult circumstances and tens of thousands of children with disabilities.

Deputy Minister of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Doan Mau Diep said that the fund raised more than 71 billion VND in 2012 alone, helping nearly 1 million disadvantaged children. The “2012 Spring for Children” programme raised 24.5 billion VND to finance eye surgery for 675 children and heart surgery for 185 children.

As many as 2,500 poor children were awarded scholarships, and thousands of children in difficult areas enjoyed the benefits of school building and water resource programmes.-VNA