Vietnam

Vietnam was one of the first countries where FIDR implemented a project. In recent years, this country has gained a reputation as a “vibrant country,” and since 1986, when it introduced a market economy system based on the Doi Moi (reform) policy, it has achieved steady economic growth.

However, when FIDR began its activities in Vietnam in 1991, the collapse of socialist regimes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe led to a significant reduction in foreign aid. As a result, Vietnam's finances were in a state of crisis, and children and people in the poor were greatly affected.

FIDR began its work in urban areas such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 1993, starting with support for institutions for handicapped children and elementary schools for the visually impaired, and the following year focused on the central region, where aid was more limited. While 75% of the Vietnamese population lives in rural areas, rapid economic growth has been accompanied by a widening economic gap between urban and rural areas, and rural poverty, especially in mountainous areas, is still a major problem today.

In 1998, FIDR established an office in Da Nang City, the largest city in the central region, and since then has continued to provide assistance to mountain minority peoples and the urban poor from this base.