Vietnam

Volunteering in Vietnam

Initiation and exchange volunteering is the most common in Vietnam, and more specifically youth work camps.

Each year, Vietnam Volunteering Centre registers between 300 and 500 volunteers within the framework of the French international solidarity and exchange volunteering (VIES – volontariat international d’échange et de solidarité) scheme, including 140 long-term volunteers (VSI (volontaires de solidarité internationale/international solidarity volunteers) and CSI (chantiers de solidarité internationale)).

The recruitment of VIES and activities dedicated to volunteering stakeholders in Vietnam suffered from the Covid-19 pandemic (between 2019 and 2021). The number of French volunteers in Vietnam in 2021 remained very low (8%) compared to the previous year.

French volunteering in 2019

In 2019, the Vietnam Volunteering Centre had more than 500 international exchange and solidarity volunteers (VIES). Included in VIES are international solidarity work camps (CSI) and short missions, civic service volunteering (VSC), international solidarity volunteering (VSI), and solidarity leave and international reciprocity volunteering (VIR – volontariat international de réciprocité).

200 volunteers on short-term missions
150 volunteers on International Solidarity Work Camps
129 volunteers in Civic Service and International Solidarity (VSC/VSI)
10 international reciprocity volunteers

Established in Hanoi since 2012 and in Ho Chi Minh City since 2016, the Vietnam Volunteering Centre is part of the French cooperation network, which includes the French Embassy in Hanoi, the French Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City and the French Institute in Vietnam.

As a reception and information space, it is aimed at all those closely or remotely involved in voluntary work abroad: volunteers, students, associations, volunteers, trainees, NGOs, host organisations, dispatching organisations, and all those who have gone abroad in a spirit of openness, exchange and solidarity.

Our services

Reception and personal advice
Networking
Information for stakeholders
Guidance
Putting people in touch with each other
Specialised training
Welcome and information sessions
Monitoring and support
Promotion of volunteering experiences/practices
Themed workshops and discussion time
Addresses, tips and newsletters
Annual volunteer meeting

Our partners

Volunteer host organisations in Vietnam

There are many volunteer host organisations in Vietnam. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some of the host organisations:

CCIFV
Batik International
Enfance Partenariat Vietnam
Enfants d’Asie
IECD
Les Enfants du Dragon
LP4Y
Passerelles Numériques
Planète Enfants & Développement
CFVG – French-Vietnamese Management Training Centre
EPP
Phu Tho High School
Thai Nguyen High School
IDECAF
IFV
Sapa Tourism Office

Dispatching organisations that are members and non-members of France Volontaires

AgirABCD
DCC
The Guild
SCD
IFAID
Planète Enfants & Développement

Settling into Vietnam

Identity card

Official name: Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Nature of the scheme: Centralised state, one-party regime
Head of State: Nguyen Xuan Phuc
Capital city: Hanoi
Main cities: Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho
Official language: Vietnamese
Spoken language: Vietnamese
Currency: Dong (VND) 1 euro = ± 24182 VND (2022)
Population: 99 million inhabitants (UNFPA, 2022)
Literacy rate: 96% (% of people aged 15 and over, 2019)
Religion(s): Buddhism, Catholicism, Hoa Hao Buddhism, Caodaism, Protestantism and Islam

(Sources: demographic data: UNFPA/UNDP; economic data: the World Bank)

General presentation

Vietnam chose to open up in the late 1980s and is now one of the most dynamic economies in ASEAN. It has more than doubled its GDP in ten years and now stands at USD 2,700 per capita (middle-income country). As the sixth largest economy in South-East Asia, Vietnam is one of the most dynamic economies in the world. The country is now generating an increasingly affluent middle class. This development is based on an export-orientated economy, in which the share of foreign companies is essential with many opportunities for French companies.

In terms of domestic politics, Vietnam is a one-party communist regime. It has a party-state system, characterised by great stability based on a strong security apparatus. The Vietnamese Communist Party is the sole ruling force in the country, with primacy over the entire state apparatus, from the central government down to local level (each administrative level has its Party counterpart). Vietnam’s political evolution shows a reaffirmation of the Party’s hold on the State – in particular through the fight against corruption, which aims to curb reprehensible practices and remove political competitors – but also on society – notably through very strict control of freedoms (including on the Internet).