LookAtVietnam – A proposal on improving access to legal knowledge for the disabled, written by Nguyen Quoc Phong, who is visually impaired, was among the 25 projects awarded yesterday at the Viet Nam Innovation Day 2009 in Ha Noi.

A proposal awarded at the Viet Nam Innovation Day 2009. (Photo: VNN)

Phong, director of the Thien An Social Centre, which cares for 25 visually impaired children, said it was necessary to improve access to legal knowledge for the disabled.

“I’m blind myself, so I understand when handicapped people feel they are segregated from the rest society because they lack knowledge about their rights and obligations,” he said.

Phong and his colleagues have converted five legal documents into a Braille and audio version for the visually impaired, Phong said.

“Our centre will try harder to carry out the project, which I think will be a starting point for policymakers when they create laws and policies for disabled people,” he said.

“I just hope the standard of legal knowledge among the disabled will increase. And I hope we will have more opportunities to access the country’s most current news and information,” he said. “This way we will be able to contribute to the country’s fight against corruption.”

Forty four of the 152 proposals demonstrated in the final round focused on innovative grassroots solutions to reduce corruption and improve transparency.

Doctors from the Central Paediatric Hospital came up with a project to improve the bedside manner of doctors, nurses and staff by collecting feedback from parents of young patients at the hospital’s Examination Department.

The People’s Committee of Ea Blang Commune in the Central Highland province of Dak Lak had the idea of writing “we pledge to fight against corruption” on the administrative staffs name and title board.

Nguyen Thi Chinh, an eighth grader belonging to the Tay ethnic group attending the Nguyen Binh Khiem Ethnic Minority Boarding School in northwestern Thai Nguyen Province, was one of the youngest creators at Innovative Day.

“I hear about corruption every day from my parents, from my classes and from tje television,” she said.” I hate corruption as it makes the country and people poorer and weaker.”

“That’s why I came up with the initiative that students should ask teachers for 10 minutes in every Morality Education class to discuss about examples of anti-corruption. We have carried out the idea for a while, and my friends are really interested in the topic,” Chinh said.

She also hoped her idea would spread to other schools.

She said that her teachers never imposed anything on their students. “They always ask for our opinions before deciding anything, such as tuition fees or infrastructure construction,” she said.

$15,000 prizes

According to Nguyen Hong Ngan, World Bank communications officer and team leader for Viet Nam Innovative Day, prizes of up to US$15,000 each will be given to the winners to implement their proposals. The projects’ efficiency would be evaluated after one year and those which were successful might be implemented in other regions, Ngan said.

Anti-corruption activities would be more effective if implemented from the grassroots level, said Binh.

“Corruption and lack of transparency occur in many fields and varies inform,” Binh said. “That’s why we have to mobilise all classes, economic and political sectors to participate in the fighting against corruption.”

Martin Rama, World Bank acting country director, said anti-corruption activities at the grassroots level were more effective and practical.

Corruption situation

Though the fight against corruption has made achievements in the last few years, corruption has remained a serious problem.

The Party Central Committee’s Commission for Internal Affairs conducted a survey on corruption in Viet Nam, interviewing over 5,000 people in seven provinces and three ministries. The survey found that 30 per cent of participants had witnessed corruption. Of the enterprises participating in the survey, 55 per cent had faced harassment from administrative officers.

Director of the Inspection Science Institute of Viet Nam Nguyen Van Thanh said that the figures were official and trustworthy.

“The Government has already directed localities, ministries and sectors to annually conduct the survey on this issue, so we can create timely and appropriate solutions,” Thanh said.

According to a statement from Transparency International, corruption has been a constant obstacle for countries trying to bring about political, economic and social changes.

The statement also says that combating poverty and corruption means addressing and overcoming the barriers that stand in the way of citizen’s engagement and a state’s accountability.

“We have found out that the most effective way to fight corruption is to listen to citizens’ opinions,” said Binh.

“If anti-corruption activities at the grassroots level made headway, it will be easier to fight corruption at higher levels. To strive against corruption and improve transparency is every citizen’s responsibility,” Binh said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News