The closing conference of the Building Healthy Cities (BHC) project, which was funded by U.S Agency for International Development (USAID), in Da Nang recently took place.

A scene of the BHC Da Nang closing conference

The BHC Da Nang project worked with the Smart City programme and other multisectoral stakeholders to prioritize, plan, and fund urban health activities on citizen reporting systems, waste management, food safety, and community engagement, amongst others.

In detail, the project focused on raising food safety awareness, promoting the Da Nang Public Service Centre 1022 and enhancing environmental protection. BHC developed a Systems Map and an accompanying Leverage Map, both of which include input from a wide range of stakeholders and citizen groups. This process was an excellent way to find high impact interventions within complex, dynamic contexts.

Many municipal departments and agencies across the city, amongst which the Da Nang Department of Information and Communications is the focal point, have actively participated in activities under the BHC Da Nang project.

More than 300 people attended events and workshops, whilst 14 elementary schools with a total of more than 2,300 pupils benefited from the BHC Da Nang project.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thuy Anh, Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Foreign Affairs, ensuring food safety, part of an integrated approach to health, is currently the priority and an issue of deep concern to Da Nang. The local administration will continue to implement programmes and plans to enhance food safety across the city.

The maintenance and development of products developed under the BHC project, especially the initiative of implementing food safety in association with environmental protection and limiting the use of single-use plastic products and expanding the model of ‘Optimal management of school waste’ into schools, industrial parks, hospitals and residential clusters, will contribute to building a healthier and safer city.

BHC Project Director Amanda Pomeroy-Stevens said that Da Nang is known as a dynamic city and always strives to get better and better. BHC was honored to partner with this central Vietnamese city to create stakeholder engagement, strengthen citizens’ participation in the local administration- launched activities and support it in terms of decision-making based on data related to urban planning.

The BHC project aimed to test healthy urban planning approaches in Indore, India; Makassar, Indonesia; Kathmandu, Nepal; and Da Nang, Viet Nam.

BHC worked in partnership with Smart City initiatives and urban sector departments to build this new vision for healthy urban planning. In addition, BHC engaged Smart City citizens of every demographic so that they have a voice (via citizen reporting systems and participatory research) and are empowered to advocate for the needs of their communities.

BHC is a 5-year cooperative agreement funded by USAID under Agreement No. AID-OAA-A-17-00028, beginning September 30, 2017, implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc. with partners International Organization for Migration, Thrive Networks Global, and Urban Institute, and with support from Engaging Inquiry, LLC.

This project was made possible by the generous support of the American people through USAID. USAID administers the U.S. foreign assistance programme providing economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.

Reporting by DNO- Translating by A.T