DECISION

APPROVING THE PROGRAM ON VIETNAMESE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN THE 2004-2005 PERIOD

THE PRIME MINISTER

Pursuant to the Law on Organization of the Government of December 25, 2001;

At the proposal of Vietnam National Committee for Youth,

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To approve the program on Vietnamese youth development in the 2004-2005 period.

Article 2.- To assign the task of organizing the implementation of the program on Vietnamese youth development in the 2004-2005 period as follows:

1. The Ministry of Planning and Investment and Vietnam National Committee for Youth shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and the ministries, branches and localities in, organizing the implementation of the program on Vietnamese youth development till 2005; monitoring, urging, inspecting, summing up and evaluating the implementation thereof by the ministries, branches and localities, then reporting it to the Prime Minister; organizing basic surveys on the youth situation in 2004; studying and proposing to the Government mechanisms and policies to support and encourage the youth to participate in the socio-economic development programs; organizing the preliminary review of the program on Vietnamese youth development till 2005 and working out the program for the second-stage implementation (2006-2010) of the Youth Development Strategy.

2. The Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth, the concerned ministries and branches and the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities in, organizing the implementation of the national target program on hunger eradication, poverty alleviation and employment in the 2001-2005 period.

- Study the addition and perfection of policies to develop the system of job-training and employment service schools and centers, traditional craft villages, and enhance the State management over the sending of young laborers to foreign countries for termed work.

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth and the concerned ministries and branches in, developing forms of raising professional skills and qualifications for youth.

- Coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the concerned agencies in reviewing the current policies toward young intellectuals, including young medical assistant doctors and doctors who participate in the development of rural and mountainous areas, and formulating policies to mobilize young intellectuals, young medical assistant doctors and doctors to participate in the socio-economic development of the geographical areas meeting with difficulties.

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the National Committee for AIDS, drug and prostitution prevention and combat, the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth and the concerned agencies in, stepping up the prevention and fight of prostitution and drug abuse among the youth. Coordinate with a number of localities in experimentally organizing the concentrated detoxification in combination with job-training and employment for the youth.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth, the ministries, branches, localities, the mass and social organizations in, organizing the realization of the youth development targets in the education and training domain, and integrating them into the implementation of the Education and Training Development Strategy in the period from now till 2005.

- Coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth, the concerned ministries and branches as well as the mass and social organizations in raising the quality of comprehensive education in schools; fighting negative phenomena in study and examinations; repelling and eradicating drug abuse and other social evils in schools.

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the concerned ministries and branches in, studying and proposing to the Government for approval regimes and policies toward youth union and association cadres in schools.

- Research into support policies, and coordinate with mass organizations, economic and social organizations in developing educational forms to build a learning society.

4. The Ministry of Post and Telematics shall:

- Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth, the concerned ministries and branches in, executing the projects on information technology human resource, stepping up the training of young programmers and specialists in information technology, and experimentally computerizing the commune postal and cultural spots.

- Study, formulate and promulgate policies to encourage various forms of informatics training and information technology application outside schools; policies and mechanisms to universalize information technology among the youth and adolescents.

5. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth, the concerned ministries and branches and the localities in, consolidating the system of agricultural promotion centers, intensifying the job training, popularizing and transferring technologies to rural youth and guiding them to apply biological technology to production and daily-life activities.

6. The Ministry of Culture and Information shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Physical Training and Sport Committee, the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth and the mass media in, intensifying the information, propagation and education work, organizing cultural, physical training and sport activities for the youth; planning the building of entertainment, recreation, physical training and sport centers for the youth, and stepping up the campaign for building a cultured lifestyle, preventing and combating social evils.

7. The Ministry of Health shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the National Committee for AIDS, Drug and Prostitution Prevention and Combat, and Vietnam National Committee for Youth in, concretizing the targets of and solutions to HIV/AIDS prevention and combat among the youth; intensifying the propagation work so as to change the awareness and behaviors of the youth about HIV/AIDS prevention and combat.

8. The Ministry of Public Security shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the National Committee for AIDS, Drug and Prostitution Prevention and Combat, the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth, the concerned ministries and branches and the localities in, concretizing the targets of drug prevention and combat among the youth and adolescents; formulating and implementing the inter-branch program on crime prevention and combat among juveniles; struggling to protect the youth against all sabotaging, dividing, dragging or disorder-causing plots and acts of bad elements.

9. The Ministry of Home Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam National Committee for Youth and the concerned ministries and branches in, studying, formulating and promulgating policies toward youth cadres, youth volunteer force, voluntary youth teams, young talents, and relevant policies to promote the youth's role in participating in or undertaking programs and projects on socio-economic development in areas meeting with exceptional difficulties, projects on construction of rural infrastructure, and participating in key national works.

10. The Ministry of Finance shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Ministry of Planning and Investment in, guiding the incorporation of funding in the annual budget estimates of the ministries, the central agencies and the localities, and in the funding estimates for implementation of the national target programs and relevant major programs and projects of the State for the achievement and fulfillment of the objectives and tasks of the program on development of the youth in the 2004-2005 period.

11. Vietnam National Committee for Youth and the ministries, branches and localities shall coordinate with the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in:

- Elaborating, and organizing the implemen-tation of the action program of the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union for materialization of the youth development strategy.

- Stepping up the movement "Emulation and voluntarism for construction and defense of the Fatherland" with the following basic contents and solutions: emulation in study, march into science and technology; emulation in making careers and in creative labor; voluntarism for the community's life; taking the lead in the defense of the Fatherland, and the firm maintenance of political security, social order and safety.

- Continuing to build up and develop youth teams for participation in the socio-economic development; enhancing the education and elevation of shock-force and voluntary spirit of the youth to participate in construction and socio-economic development in deep-lying and remote areas and areas meeting with exceptional difficulties; formulating and executing new projects for the implementation of the youth development strategy.

- Developing the model of security shock teams, encouraging and organizing the youth to promote their leading role in the maintenance of political security as well as social order and safety. Sustaining and developing various forms of mobilizing the youth to well discharge their military service obligations and take part in building up the entire-people defense.

- Realizing the program on political theory education and the program on education of Ho Chi Minh Thoughts among the youth union members and the youth; enhancing the political, ideological and ethical education among, and building a cultured lifestyle of the youth.

- Raising the quality of the organizations of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam Youth League and Vietnam Students' Association, especially at the grassroots levels, consolidating and broadening the front for uniting and rallying the youth.

- Participating in studying and elaborating legal documents on the youth.

12. The People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall incorporate the youth development objectives in their respective localities' annual and till-2005 socio-economic development plans and programs; work out programs on implementation of the youth development strategy in their respective localities; and formulate mechanism for coordination between administrations of all levels and the youth union organizations of the same level;

13. The ministries, branches and localities shall inspect and evaluate the implementation of the youth development program every year and in the period from now to 2005, then report it to the Prime Minister.

14. To request the Fatherland Front's Committees of all levels, its member organizations and social organizations to participate in organizing the implementation of the program on youth development in the 2004-2005 period within their operation scopes.

Article 3.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its publication in the Official Gazette.

Article 4.- The chairman of Vietnam National Committee for Youth, the first secretary of the Central Committee of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, the ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the Government-attached agencies, and the presidents of the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decision.

PROGRAM

ON VIETNAMESE YOUTH DEVELOPMENT IN THE 2004-2005 PERIOD

(Promulgated together with the Prime Minister's Decision No. 33/2004/QD-TTg of March 9, 2004)

The program on Vietnamese youth development in the 2004-2005 period constitutes the first phase of the Strategy for Vietnamese Youth Development till 2010, which focuses on solving the youth's burning social issues regarding occupations, employment and social evils; raising the political stance, educational level, scientific and technological level, and promoting the leading role of the youth in socio-economic development; creating substantial changes in the youth work of the State and the society. The program on Vietnamese youth development in the 2004-2005 period shall be deployed through the following five specific programs:

- The program on employment for the youth.

- The program on raising of the youth's educational level, professional qualifications and skills.

- The program on development of young human resource for science and technology.

- The program on prevention of and fight against crimes and social evils among the youth.

- The program on fostering of political stance, revolutionary virtues and a new lifestyle in the youth.

I. OBJECTIVES AND BASIC TARGETS OF THE PROGRAMS

1. Program 1: Employment for the youth

Objectives: To gradually reduce the number of unemployed young people in urban areas and increase the yearly employment time rate for rural youth; to promote the role of the youth force participating in the socio-economic development, support the youth in hunger eradication, poverty alleviation and lawful enrichment. To boost the restructuring of young laborers, create a young human resource for the national industrialization and modernization.

Targets:

- To strive to annually create new jobs for 1 - 1.1 million of youth, of which the young females shall account for 40-45%.

- To increase the yearly employment time rate for rural young laborers to 80% by 2005; to annually reduce by 0.2% the rate of unemployed young laborers in urban areas.

- By 2005, 30-40% of the youth who have discharged their military service obligations shall be provided with job training and stable jobs.

- By the end of 2005, to strive to attract of 1 - 1.1 million of young laborers into the industrial and construction sectors; 0.4 - 0.5 million of young laborers into the service sector; and sending of at least 120,000 young laborers to foreign countries for termed labor.

2. Program 2: Raising of the youth's educa-tional level, professional qualifications and skills.

Objectives: To raise the youth's educational level, professional qualifications and skills, and form the constant learning habit; to develop the contingent of young intellectuals and skilled workers.

Targets:

- By 2005, 45% of the young people in the senior secondary education age group can go to school, to minimize the difference between the rates of male and female senior secondary pupils; to attain a ratio of 13-15% of young people aged between 18 and 23 years studying at universities or colleges and a ratio of 140 students/10,000 people.

- To strive for the objective that by the end of 2005, 50% of urban youth and pupils and 30% of rural youth and pupils shall, after graduating from senior secondary schools, be knowledgeable about basic informatics and able to use at least one foreign language for everyday conversations; and 60-70% of youths and senior secondary pupils shall be provided with vocational education.

- By the end of 2005, 25% of young laborers shall be trained, of whom 18-20% shall be provided with job training.

- To strive to train 25,000 masters and 10,000 postgraduates by 2005.

3. Program 3: Development of young human resource for science and technology

Objectives: To raise the scientific and technological level of the youth, especially information technology and biological technology; to step by step universalize informatics among the youth, develop young scientific and technological human resource for agricultural and rural development, and build up the contingent of young programmers of national or international level in information technology.

Targets:

- To strive for the objective that by the end of 2005, 50% of rural youth in delta regions and 30% of rural youth in deep-lying and remote areas shall be propagated and disseminated with scientific and technological application (focusing on biological technology) to life and production.

- Every year, 30-40% of young cadres working in the Party's and the State's agencies or socio-political organizations shall have their information technology knowledge fostered and raised.

- From 2004 to the end of 2005, to train 20,000 young programmers.

4. Program 4: Prevention of, and fight against, crimes and social evils among the youth

Objectives: To step by step repel crimes and social evils among the youth, reduce the absolute number and rate of juvenile delinquents and evil-doers.

Targets:

- 100% of young pupils and students shall be propagated and disseminated with basic contents of the legislation on crime and social evil prevention and fight. To minimize the rate of youth committing crimes or social evils.

- 100% of the youth shall acquire necessary knowledge about HIV/AIDS; 80% of urban youth and 70% of rural youth shall take positive attitude and actions toward HIV/AIDS prevention and fight.

- By 2005, 80% of communes and wards in delta areas and 40% of communes and wards in deep-lying and remote areas shall have their youth as well as voluntary youth clubs with regular activities of preventing and fighting crimes and social evils.

- By 2005, detoxification shall be organized for at least 80% of young drug addicts currently recorded in control files. To reduce the rate of detoxified addicts relapsing into addiction and minimize the number of new addicts. To basically eradicate drug abuse in schools.

5. Program 5: Fostering of political stance, revolutionary virtues and building of a new lifestyle for the youth

Objectives: To foster patriotism, socialist ideal, self-reliant will; citizen's sense of responsibility for national construction and defense and sense of law observance; raise the quality, revolutionary virtues and build a healthy lifestyle for the youth.

Targets:

- By the end of 2005, 100% of youth union members shall be given lectures on six basic political theoretical lessons and Ho Chi Minh Thoughts.

- 100% of youth union and league members and at least 50% of the youth shall be attracted into activities of building a cultured lifestyle in the community.

- By the end of 2005, 80% of delta communes and wards and 40% of deep-lying and remote communes and wards shall have their locations for juvenile activities.

- To step up the campaign for building a cultured lifestyle for the youth; to strive for the target that 35-40% of the youth regularly take part in physical training and sport activities.

II. MAJOR SOLUTIONS

1. To incorporate the youth development targets into the strategies, national target programs and annual plan tasks to be performed by the ministries, branches and localities.

- To well implement the national target program on hunger eradication and poverty alleviation and employment in the 2001-2005 period; to concretize the targets of employment for the youth in the programs of the ministries, branches and localities.

- To bring into full play the combined strength of the entire political system and the entire society for organizing the implementation of the strategy for education development till 2010 and the successful achievement of the educational and training targets set for the period from now till 2005.

- To accelerate the implementation of the action program for materialization of the Political Bureau's Directive No. 58-CT/TW of October 17, 2000 on stepping up the application and development of information technology in service of national industrialization and modernization and the master plan on application and development of information technology in Vietnam till 2005, with special attention paid to the training of young human resource for information technology and the universalization of general informatics to the youth.

- To vigorously deploy the following national programs: the national target program on HIV/AIDS prevention and fight in the 2001-2005 period, the action program on prostitution prevention and fight in the 2001-2005 period, and the action program on drug prevention and fight in the 2001-2005 period. To set and strive for attainment of targets regarding the targeted youth subjects of these programs. To experimentally execute in some localities the project on application of the model of long-term concentrated drug addict detoxification combined with job training and employment for the youth.

- The localities shall work out their own programs on implementation of the youth development strategy suitable with their conditions and situations and associated with their socio-economic development plans and the implementation of the national target programs.

2. To formulate and promulgate policies toward the youth

- To amend and supplement the existing policies and promulgate new ones toward youth volunteers, Youth Union, Youth League and Pioneer Brigade cadres in schools, young talents and the voluntary youth force.

- To formulate policies on standardization of allowances for full-time and part-time Youth Union cadres at commune, district and provincial levels and in the Youth Union organizations in central agencies and schools.

- To add policies to attract the youth into key occupations and trades, industrial, construction and service sectors and to the areas with difficult and exceptionally difficult socio-economic conditions.

- To study, supplement and perfect the mechanism for promoting the role of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in socio-economic development; to mobilize the youth to take the lead in the march into science and technology.

- To formulate the policy and mechanism for coordination between the culture and information service and Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in bringing into full play the efficiency of cultural equipment and facilities invested in establishments in deep-lying, remote areas and areas meeting with exceptional difficulties under projects within the national target program on culture.

- To elaborate and submit to the National Assembly for promulgation the Law on the Youth.

3. To enhance the political and ideological education, ethical training, building of a cultured lifestyle and improvement of the cultural and spiritual life for the youth

- To intensify the propagation and education among the youth of political perception, the national situation and tasks, and the revolutionary and national traditions in order to raise the shock-force spirit and social activity of the youth.

- To continue building and developing law bookcases at grassroots levels; to step up the popularization and dissemination of law among the youth.

- To develop the physical training and sport, culture and art movements at grassroots levels to attract the youth in large numbers, and pay attention to the youth subjects in deep-lying, remote, border areas, islands and areas meeting with exceptional difficulties.

- To invest in consolidating cultural institutions at the grassroots levels; to formulate the mechanism for bringing into full play and using local and grassroots cultural institutions for juvenile activities. To invest in building entertainment and recreation spots and physical training and sport grounds for the youth.

- To consolidate and expand commune postal and cultural spots, and develop the commune library networks. To experimentally invest in equipping computers for, and introducing information technology to, commune postal and cultural spots.

- To preclude backward customs and superstition; to seize and brush off reactionary, debauching and violence-provoking cultural products which adversely affect the youth's development.

- To prevent and promptly handle acts of deceptively propagating, instigating and dragging the youth into acting against law, causing political instability and social security disturbance.

4. To step up the youth movement "Emulation and voluntarism for construction and defense of the Fatherland," and promote the shock-force nature and voluntary spirit of the youth in taking the lead in building a learning society, marching into science and technology, voluntarily acting for the community's life, defending the Fatherland, building a cultured lifestyle, preventing and fighting crimes and social evils

- To bring into full play the role of Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in mobilizing and organizing the youth to efficiently participate in socio-economic development programs; to intensify investment in youth work, and broaden the front uniting and rallying the youth.

- To step up the movement of study emulation among all youth subjects so that the youth and adolescents really take the lead in a learning society.

- To develop the movement of voluntary youth, and multiply models of voluntary youth teams.

- To multiply the model of youth consultancy centers to enhance the work of information, consultancy, propagation and education among the youth, to formulate a correct perception of occupations and employment; to support the youth in transferring and applying sciences and technologies to production; to provide consultations on law and other daily-life issues for the youth.

- Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union shall organize youth forces to continue executing the following socio-economic development projects: The project on participation in the construction of Ho Chi Minh road, and construction of a road linking Ho Chi Minh road to uncle Ho's native place; the project on construction of resettlement quarters at Son La Hydroelectric Power Project; the project on voluntary young intellectuals, medical assistant doctors and doctors; the project on construction of the youth's islands of Con Co and Bach Long Vi and career-making youth villages along Ho Chi Minh road, as well as programs and projects in localities.

- In the national target programs, investments shall be made for Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to construct and execute the following projects, with a view to realizing the youth development strategy:

+ The project on upgrading the system of employment service centers for the youth.

+ The project on expansion of on-spot job training associated with employment for rural youth.

+ The project on dissemination of information technology knowledge among the youth and adolescents, in the form of extracurricular activities.

+ The project on young entrepreneurs' nursery.

+ The project on training and fostering of youth cadres at grassroots levels.

+ The project on multiplication of models of youth economic zones and youth villages.

5. To continue reforming the State manage-ment and promote the socialization of youth work

- To reform the State management over youth work; to heighten responsibilities of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the Government-attached agencies, the People's Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities for performing the tasks of the youth work.

- To enhance the State's external relations in youth affairs, cooperate with other countries in the region and the world as well as the international organizations, and make the fullest use of international resources and supports for youth work.

- To well inspect the enforcement of legal documents on and policies toward, the youth in order to guarantee the legitimate rights and interests of the youth. To intensify the research into, and information on, the situation of the youth and youth work.

- The State agencies, Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, mass organizations, economic organizations, society and families shall closely coordinate with one another in educating and fostering the youth, promoting their creative potentials and leading role in national construction and defense.