Since October 2013, USAID has partnered with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to implement the Support to Strengthen Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Viet Nam project by engaging CSOs working on LGBT issues, the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA). The project aims to enhance the capacity of CSOs throughout the country, while at the same time reducing stigma and discrimination against LGBT people through awareness raising, psychosocial and legal support and improving the legal environment for them in Vietnam.

STRENGTHENING THE CAPACITY OF CSOs

CSOs supporting the LGBT in Vietnam are present across the country, but few of them have a clear vision, mission, and organizational structure. The project will provide broad organizational capacity strengthening to CSOs and more individualized capacity development for selected CSOs based on a capacity assessment tool. It will also support greater networking and exchange of experiences between LGBT CSOs and CSOs working on human rights issues by establishing one or more LBGT CSO centers of excellence; these will build the capacity of other CSOs on strategic issues such as leadership, advocacy and strategy and facilitate the mainstreaming of LGBT issues within other development issues such as gender and youth.

ADDRESSING STIGMA AND DISCRIMINATION

The project will work with CSOs to conduct research on the prevalence of stigma and discrimination in key contexts such as health, education and the workplace in order to raise awareness. These findings will provide an evidence-base for further programming designed to address stigma and discrimination within the LGBT community.

STRENGTHENING THE LEGAL & POLICY ENVIRONMENT

The project will support both CSOs and state institutions to engage in dialogue to ensure that the concerns of the LGBT community are addressed in legal and policy reforms, including implementation of a new Constitution and the new draft Law on Marriage and Family. Research conducted on stigma and discrimination by the project will provide an evidence base for CSO contributions to these dialogues, together with comparative studies based on international experiences and international human rights norms.