Current Programs

Training and Capacity Building

Social Worker Training project in Hanoi Women’s Union College

Mountainous communities in northern Vietnam lack community information relating to vital issues such as environmental conservation, reproductive health, child rights, and drug abuse. In addition, there is a shortage in both number and skills, of key women social workers at grass roots level. CWS, in conjunction with the Hanoi Women’s Union College, is providing social work knowledge and methodology to hundreds of ethnic women working in mountainous areas, helping them to improve the quality of work and services provided to their communities.

The Social Worker Training project aims to create a core team of social workers with the knowledge and professional skills to assist people in their own communities in northern mountainous areas. The training helps social workers to enhance their awareness of community issues thereby promoting community development.

Women’s Union Training College project: two training courses for female social workers have been conducted Under the project support for social work at the Women’s Union Training College, two training courses have been conducted for female social workers from mountainous communities in the Northern provinces of Vietnam. The training aims to create a core team of social workers with the knowledge and skills to assist people in their own communities in identifying their needs and assist them with their concerns, to find solutions and thereby promoting community development. Also, under this project, a training manual for IEC (Information-Education-Communication) on nutrition and environmental sanitation was developed and published, used in the training and delivered to all participants for their use in their communities.

Training manual

Women in Club Activities Giving prices in clubs competition

The clubs named “Women in Difficult Circumstances” in Hung Son and Yen Lang communes, Dai Tu district, Thai Nguyen province consist of women living with HIV/AIDS. Some of them have themselves been exposed to HIV, infected by their spouses, and others are burdened with taking care of their husbands and relatives having HIV.  Working in partnership with the Women’s Union School, CWS has supported the clubs in providing “Training on Knowledge of Drug and HIV/AIDS” for the members in June, 2007. Not only equipping the learners with knowledge and skills to deal with HIV/AIDS, the training also gives these women a chance to express their feelings, their thoughts, exchange experience and to encourage each others for a better living.

In 2005, the project held training courses for 120 woman social workers working in 18 northern mountainous disadvantaged provinces. 

Accounting training course for small enterprises in Thai Nguyen Business Support Center (BSC), funded by CWS	Minority women on a training course of Women's  Union College.

Ethnic Minority Woman making a presentation at the Women's Union College	"CWS and the Women Union College have the same concern; helping people in the highlands to improve their lives, with a focus on minority women and children. The project has been very effective and the learners have gained primary skills and knowledge about working methods in minority communities. They have gained practice through real situations in their communities, through group-work and role-play. They went to the field, gained vital experience and learned new methods of helping women do business, keep fit, take care of the environment, and protect children’s and women’s rights..." Pham Thi Xuan – Women Union College in Hanoi
“Before the training course my working skills were very poor. Sometimes, I did not know how to explain something very simple to make people understand. Although I was enthusiastic and worked hard, I did not see many results, and did not bring many benefits to women. … The training course is easy to understand. It has given me confidence to use my initiative and allow people to participate more freely…”  A woman from B50 training course - Women Union College in Hanoi	Ethnic Minority Women in training at the Women's Union College

Capacity Support For Partners

CWS implements all projects in Vietnam through local partners. Many of our partners are working with a foreign organization for the first time, and need to be trained on project implementation. CWS spends a large amount of time and resources ensuring our partners have the necessary skills to implement projects and ensure financial transparency. For CWS, this is an added measure of project sustainability as our partners learn how to fully manage and be responsible for the activities. 

CWS capacity support included: 

• Financial management training
• External auditing
• Needs assessment survey participation
• Proposal development
• Project Reporting 
• Monitoring and evaluation support 
• Equipment
• Cross learning visits
• Study support-training