Over recent years, Da Nang has seen remarkable results from the implementation of the ‘5 No’s, 3 Yes’s’ programme, making it very different from other Vietnamese localities.  The city authorities have continued their efforts to reach the targets of no starving households, no illiterate people, no itinerant beggars, no drug-addicts in the community, and no murders for property in the city.  In addition, they have aimed to ensure that all local residents have their own houses, a stable job and a cultural lifestyle. 

2 women at the apartment building

This meaningful programme is considered a ‘humanitarian legacy’ sealed by the late municipal Party Committee Secretary cum People’s Council Chairman Nguyen Ba Thanh, who died in February 2015. 

Over recent years, the city authorities have helped over 600 juvenile delinquents ‘turn over a new leaf’ by making a positive change to their characters and encouraging them to confidently reintegrate into the community.  They were once truants or dropped out of school, mixed with bad friends, frequently got into fights, had light fingers, or used illegal drugs.  Most of these juveniles were anti-social because of their difficult family circumstances or their lack of parental care. 

In 2010, 285 anti-social juveniles visited the city’s Hoa Son Detention Centre.    During their visit, they saw how hard the inmates had to work, their spartan living conditions, and the strict discipline they have to live under.  In the same year, at the Trung Vuong Theatre, some juvenile offenders met with Secretary Thanh who gave them good advice and encouraged them to try to become useful citizens. 

Mr Nguyen Van Trung, the Chairman of the Tam Thuan Ward War-invalids’ Association in Thanh Khe District, said that he once helped a local juvenile offender who had mixed with bad friends and become addicted to methamphetamine.  Mr Trung enthusiastically encouraged the teenager to undergo a drug rehabilitation programme, and also appealed to the municipal War-invalids’ Association to grant 6 million VND in aid to this teenager in order to cover his tuition fees for a driving course.  The young man now has a stable job as a car driver, with a monthly income of between 5 and 6 million VND.

There are 144 poor single-mother families living in an apartment building in Lien Chieu District’s Hoa Minh Ward which was developed by the municipal Association for Supporting Poor and Disadvantaged Women and Children.  The construction of this building in 2008 exclusively for these disadvantaged women was initiated by late Secretary Thanh.  The women living in the apartments always help each other and share their joys and sorrows.

So far, 6 children of these women from the building have graduated from universities, and many of them have now gained suitable jobs to support themselves and their families.  22 others are now studying at local junior colleges and pre-intermediate schools.