He announced this at a ceremony held in Hanoi on April 10 to mark 10 years of joint operations between the Vietnam Family Planning Association (VFPA), UNFPA and the Luxembourg Government. The project aims to increase the accessibility and quality of reproductive healthcare services and mainly focuses on safe motherhood, adolescent sexual health and reproductive rights.

The Luxembourg Government has also reiterated its strong commitment to joining hands with the VFPA on reproductive healthcare issues.

The VFPA’s Vice President Nguyen Thien Truong highlighted the assistance provided by the UNFPA and the Luxembourg Government, to help people, especially adolescents, living in remote and mountainous areas. People can now access sexual and reproductive health care much easier and the capacity of the VFPA’s staff from central to local level has improved a great deal.

The model of disseminating information about sexual and reproductive health care at marriage registration ceremonies first launched by the association will now be rolled out across 2,000 wards and communes nationwide from June 2012, he revealed.

The project has been carried out in three stages. Under the first phase from 2001 to 2003, it upgraded equipment and facilities for women’s clubs in the northern provinces of Thai Binh and Ninh Binh and the central province of Quang Binh at a cost of US$385,000.

The US$490,000 second phase was carried out between 2004-2007, to develop women’s clubs in the northern provinces of Thai Binh, Ninh Binh, Bac Giang and Quang Ninh, and the central province of Quang Binh.

The last phase, from 2007 to 2012, worth almost US$1.3 million, is currently operating in Quang Ninh (north), Nghe An and Thua Thien-Hue (centre) and Can Tho (south) using the previously tried and tested models.