Certificate of merit awarded to ILRI for sustainable development in Vietnam
The Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations (VUFO) recognized the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) for its dedication to the sustainable development of Vietnam, in a ceremony held on 21 December 2021.
The certificate was accepted by Fred Unger, the ILRI regional representative in East and Southeast Asia (sixth from right) (photo credit: ILRI/Thanh Nguyen).
Every December, VUFO holds a closing ceremony to review collaboration between international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) and partners in Vietnam, and to evaluate achievements for the country’s development. This year, due to the complicated situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting was held as a hybrid of both virtual and physical participation, featuring representatives of hundreds of organizations and provincial authorities nationwide.
The meeting was attended by His Excellency Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs To Anh Dung, the president of VUFO Madame Nguyen Phuong Nga, the leaders and staff of VUFO and the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM), the representatives of provincial authorities, and hundreds of INGO representatives in Vietnam.
Forty-nine INGOs were recognized based on the following criteria:
(1) abiding by the law of the Vietnamese Government
(2) disbursing funds in an effective way
(3) developing good partnerships with stakeholders in Vietnam, and
(4) contributing greatly to the fight against COVID-19 in Vietnam
The certificate was accepted by Fred Unger, the ILRI regional representative in East and Southeast Asia. ‘In the context that ILRI and other CGIAR centres in Vietnam are transforming into the One CGIAR, ILRI is committed to collaborating with partners in Vietnam to contribute to better-informed decision-making processes, and to bring about better lives to the Vietnamese people through livestock,’ said Unger.
ILRI together with partners was able to make such important contributions in 2021 despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. This included the publication of 15 international peer-reviewed papers which provide research evidence to policymakers in the fields of food safety, animal health, value chain development, and zoonoses. Well-designed livestock-based intervention packages were implemented to improve the livelihoods of ethnic minorities people in northwest Vietnam, and to improve the safety of pork at wet markets and slaughterhouses in the Red River Delta and central Vietnam. ILRI also contributed considerably to a series of national and regional dialogues to transform national food systems ahead of the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), and committed to supporting Vietnam to develop a long-term action plan towards more sustainable, transparent, and responsible food systems. Notably, ILRI led the successful organization of the third coordination meeting between the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) and CGIAR in December 2021 which explored ways to further improve partnership and collaboration between MARD and CGIAR for sustainable agricultural development in Vietnam, especially in the context that MARD is working on the strategy on sustainable agriculture development for 2021-2030 and CGIAR is moving forward to One CGIAR globally.
Congratulations to the ILRI Vietnam team!
