HA NOI – 26 MARCH 2019 – Five indicators to assess the capacity of legal disseminators and communicators were proposed in a consultative workshop entitled “On the draft of the diagnostic tool for capacity needs assessment of legal disseminators and communicators in Viet Nam”, which occurred in Ha Noi this morning. These indicators include (i) Understanding of assigned legal knowledge; (ii) Basic professional skills relating to legal dissemination and education; (iii) Additional professional skills; (iv) Work attitude; and (v) Work experience.

The workshop was co-organized by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the European Union (EU) in Viet Nam, aiming to conduct detailed capacity needs assessment of the legal disseminators and communicators; hence, fulfilling more effectively the needs of accessing to legal information of citizens, and notably, of vulnerable groups.

Legal disseminators and communicators are the key human resources to carry out legal dissemination and education activities in Viet Nam, which are considered as a channel to integrate the directions, policies and law into daily life. The purpose of such activities is to increase greater awareness and understanding of officials and citizens in promoting the rule of law.

According to the 2018 statistics from the Ministry of Justice, the total number of the legal disseminators and communicators were 169,360 (with an annual rise of 8.4%). With such a populous group, capacity building activities tailor-making to each individual’s profile encountered difficulties, especially in the context of ambiguous requirements, limited training activities and obsolete training curriculum.   

Mr. Le Ve Quoc, Director of the Legal Dissemination and Education Department, MOJ, spoke among 80 delegates participating in the conference: “Capacity building is viewed as a transformative process to expand knowledge, skills and to improve work efficiency and performance of the assigned tasks. In order to effectively strengthen capacities of the legal disseminators and communicators, the tool is considered as a baseline assessment for the design of the training activities; thus, legal disseminators and communicators can better perform in legal dissemination and education activities for all, and particularly for vulnerable groups such as women, children, ethnic minorities, poor people and others.”

“Nearly 70% out of 535 of staff of agencies who are in charge of the management of legal disseminators and communicators suggested that the capacity of their managed groups can only partly meet the requirements of the work,” Ms. Akiko Fujii, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative to Viet Nam, emphasized that the figure was very concerning. “A proper and in-depth assessment of the capacity will lead to effective legal education activities. In the longer term, it will enhance an enabling environment for citizens, particularly the vulnerable groups to claim their rights in access to legal information.”  

There have been diverse exchanges and constructive feedback directly from the local legal disseminators and communicators, as well as from specialists in legal education during the workshop. Afterward, the diagnostic tool would be adjusted accordingly in order to prepare for piloting in some selected provinces and/or cities; then, the tool would be further modified and upgraded for nationwide application.

The consultative workshop is part of the EU Justice and Legal Empowerment Programme in Viet Nam (EU JULE). EU JULE is funded by the European Union with a financial contribution from UNDP and UNICEF and is implemented by these UN agencies in partnership with the Ministry of Justice of Viet Nam.

For more information, please contact:

Vo Tuan Son – UNDP Communication Officer

Email: vo.tuan.son@undp.org

Phone: 84-985-220-295