The VUFO-NGO Resource Centre was established in 1993 to serve the community of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) working in Viet Nam and their Vietnamese partner institutions. It exists through a partnership between INGOs working in Vietnam and the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO).
Originally, the VUFO-NGO Resource Centre grew out of a loose network of foreign NGOs working in Vietnam whose representatives, in the early 1990s, started to meet on a regular basis (every last Friday in the month), in order to discuss the practical details of establishing and managing programmes and projects in Vietnam. INGOs have focused increasingly on sharing information on their programmes and working together to improve the quality of their work.
The Resource Centre has approximately 160 members (in-country and overseas). We provide a variety of services to INGOs, their partner organisations, donors, government agencies, local organisations and others concerned with hunger eradication, poverty reduction and sustainable development in Viet Nam.
In 1998, the development of a strengthened partnership began between the Resource Centre and VUFO. This involved an official name change (previously we were called the NGO Resource Centre), and the establishment of a co-directorship and an expanded Steering Committee, all of which has enabled the centre to continue to exist and provide services to support the work of NGOs in Vietnam.
We have an office located in Hanoi, Vietnam staffed by one managing co-director, one administrator/librarian, one working groups coordinator, one communications advisor and one other part-time assistant. In addition there is another co-director who works within the People's Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM) under the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations. We employ additional staff and volunteers on a needs basis.
Further Reading
- The VUFO-NGO Resource Centre: 10 Years of Partnership between Vietnam and International NGOs
This article was written by the managing co-director of the Resource Centre for a special edition of VUFO's Huu Nghi (Friendship) magazine, produced for the Viet Nam-INGO Conference in November 2003. - Lessons Learned from a Decade of Experience: a strategic analysis of INGO methods and activities in Vietnam 1990-1999
This independent study was commissioned by the Steering Committee of the VUFO-NGO Resource Centre in 2000 to review the previous decade and draw lessons from the experiences and contributions of INGOs.
