operation of american non-governmental organizations in the first decade of the twenty-first century in danang

Operation of American Non-governmental
Organizations in the first decade of the
twenty-first century in Danang

Lê Thị Phương Loan

Trường Đại học Khoa học Xã hội và Nhân văn
Luận văn ThS ngành: Quan hệ quốc tế; Mã số: 60 31 02 06
Người hướng dẫn: PGS.TS. Hoàng Khắc Nam
Năm bảo vệ: 2013


Keywords. Quan hệ quốc tế; Tổ chức phi chính phủ; Đà Nẵng; Thế kỷ 21; Hoa Kỳ

Content

1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE i
COPYRIGHT PAGE iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv
ABSTRACT v
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1
LIST OF ACRONYMS 3
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES 5
INTRODUCTION 6
Rationale 6
Subjective of Study 7
Aims and Objectives of Study 8
Research Questions 8

Scope of Study 9
Research Methods 9
Organization of Study 9
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BACKGROUND 11
1.1. Overview of Non-governmental Organizations 11
1.1.1. Definition of Non-governmental Organizations 11
1.1.2. Development and Evolution Stages of NGOs 15
1.1.3. Functions and Classification of NGOs 21
1.2. Overview of operation of American NGOs in Vietnam 25
1.2.1. Overview of American NGOs 25
1.2.1. Views of Vietnam toward International and American NGOs operating in
Vietnam 30
1.2.3. Processes of Development and Fields of Operation of American NGOs in
Vietnam 33
CHAPTER 2: CURRENT SITUATION OF AMERICAN NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS IN DANANG CITY 37
2.1. Views of Danang Government toward Processes of Development of American
NGOs in the city 38
2

2.2. American NGOs operating in the sector of Hunger eradication and Poverty
alleviation 41
2.2.1. Current Situation 41
2.2.2. The Cooperation of Local Authorities and Achievements 45
2.3. American NGOs operations in the Education sector 46
2.3.1. Current situation 46
2.3.2. The Cooperation of Local Authorities and Achievements 51
2.4. American NGOs operations in the Healthcare sector 52
2.4.1. Current situation 52
2.4.2. The Cooperation of Local Authorities and Achievements 60

2.5. American NGOs operations in the Childcare sector 61
2.5.1. Current situation 61
2.5.2. The Cooperation of Local Authorities and Achievements 66
2.6. American NGOs operations in other Humanitarian activities 67
2.6.1. Current situation 67
2.6.2. The cooperation of local authorities and Achievements 72
CHAPTER 3: AN ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS AND POTENTIALS OF AMERICAN
NGOs’ OPERATION IN DANANG 75
3.1. Impacts of American NGOs’ Activities in Danang 76
3.1.1. Positive Impacts 76
3.1.2. Negative impacts 79
3.2. Development Potentials of American NGOs’ Activities in Danang 82
3.2.1. Advantages 82
3.2.2. Challenges 82
3.3. Recommendations to the operation of American NGOs in Danang 84
3.3.1 Recommendations to American NGOs 84
3.3.2 Recommendations to City Authorities and Local Governments 85
CONCLUSION 87
REFERENCES 92
APPENDIX 102

6

INTRODUCTION
Rationale
Globalization in the twenty-first century has paved the way for non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) to thrive and achieve significant
recognition worldwide. International NGOs have been accredited for their
endless efforts since the early 1990s when NGOs’ operation mostly focused on
providing technical support and disaster relief to developing countries. It is,

thus, believed that international NGOs have made positive contributions to
sustainable development of developing countries, especially to the process of
improving and promoting the people’s standard of living. In the last decades,
there has been a sharp increase in the quantity and operation scale of NGOs in
international relations, i.e. from 1,250 in 1980 to 45,000 in 2000. In addition,
NGOs have become governments’ crucial partners in facilitating community
development all over the world. As a consequence, the study of NGOs’
operation has attracted deeper attention in more diverse fields.
International NGOs first came to Vietnam long ago. Initially, they worked
mainly in the South of Vietnam. Since 1975, yet, international NGOs have
considerably assisted Vietnam in reconstructing the nation, gradually promoting
economic growth, and improving people’s living standard. The number of
international NGOs, hence, steadily increased in accordance with the country’s
development, from 200 to 600 in 1990 and 2006 respectively. Impressively, at
the end of the first decade of this century, this figure was already 800. The fields
of operation also varied ranging from economic development, hunger alleviation
and poverty reduction, environmental protection, emergency relief, social issues
settlement to capacity building for Vietnamese partners. Likewise, the total
7

finance assistance in 2009 was nearly 270 million USD, which was nearly
seventeen times that of the early 1990s.
Danang, the fourth largest city in Vietnam, is the biggest cultural,
economic, educational, scientific and technological center of the Central
Highlands. Since 1997, the city has gained remarkable growth in almost fields
from education, science, economics, to tourism. This resulted from appropriate
development policies, good management of the city government, and support of
its citizens, as well as foreign and domestic cooperates, enterprises and NGOs.
International NGOs in Danang have supported the city greatly in diverse forms
of aid programs: from human resource training, to technological supply or

humanitarian relief for the poor, disaster and war calamities. From 1997 to 2007,
the total amount of financial assistance to Danang reached 1,025 billion VND.
International NGOs have shifted their interest to bigger scope, and more
sustainable projects, which are skewed to be in line with the development pace
and demand of such a “young” city. Nonetheless, there have been a number of
downsides in NGOs’ projects and lack of immediate responses of the city or
local government in which the projects are implemented. Currently, American
NGOs account for 50% out of 110 foreign NGOs having partnerships with
Danang city. On that account, to have a better understanding of the current
status, fields of operation and impacts of American NGOs, particularly in
Danang city, I have chosen “Operation of American NGOs in the first decade of
the twenty first century in Danang” as a Master’s thesis in the field of
International Relations.
Subjective of Study
From the above mentioned reasons, this study is intended to focus on
activities of only international American NGOs within the city of Danang from
8

2001 to 2011 in five fields, i.e. hunger eradication and poverty alleviation;
education; healthcare; childcare; and other humanitarian activities.
Aims and Objectives of Study
This study is aimed at conceptualizing international non-governmental
organizations in terms of definition, classification, functions, and roles in
international relations.
In addition, this study is to discuss operation of international American
NGOs in Danang and their impacts of projects implemented in the early years of
the twenty-first century.
Also, this study is about to analyze challenges and advantages in the
potentials of American NGOs in Danang.
Accordingly, some suggestions and recommendations will be proposed to

improve the effectiveness of American NGOs’ activities in Danang in the near
future.
Research Questions
Based on the above aims and objectives, this study will be the answers to
the following research questions:
- What is the current status of operation of American NGOs in Danang?
- What are their major fields of operation?
- What are positive and negative impacts of American NGOs’ operation
within the city?
- What are challenges and advantages to promote American NGOs’
activities in the city?
9

Scope of Study
The scope of the study is American NGOs’ operation in Danang city in
the first decade of the twenty first century, particularly for a period of ten years
from 2001 to 2011 in the fields namely: hunger eradication and poverty
alleviation; education; healthcare; childcare; and other humanitarian activities,
i.e. supporting the disabled, tackling issues of dioxin contamination, or early
warning and prevention of natural disasters, etc.
The above fields are selected to study for they are matters of concern of
American NGOs in Danang. These issues have also been included in the five-
year socio-economic development plans of Danang city since 1997. Thus, the
study of the five above fields is expected to make a comprehensive evaluation of
operation of American NGOs in the city for the first ten years of the twenty-first
century.
Research Methods
Based on the above study aims and research questions, in this study, both
qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed along with the following
methodologies of international relations: meta-analysis: collecting information

from the public previous research; elite interview of American NGOs’
coordinators, founders, directors in Danang; statistical analysis; observation;
level of analysis; foreign policy analysis; analyzing roles and functions of
international NGOs from neo-liberalism perspective.
Organization of Study
This study will be structured in three major chapters:
Chapter 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
10

This chapter presents the previous researches with different points of view
about non-governmental organizations since the term came into being.
Also, theoretical background related to the study will be presented clearly
in this chapter.
Chapter 2: CURRENT STATUS OF AMERICAN NGOs’ IN DANANG CITY
This is the main part of the whole study in which the current status of
American NGOs’ operation in Danang from 2001 to 2011 will be
analyzed from collected data.
Chapter 3: AN ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS AND POTENTIALS OF
AMERICAN NGOS’ OPERATION IN DANANG
In this chapter, some impacts, both positive and negative ones, on certain
fields of operation of American NGOs’ will be discussed. Additionally,
challenges and potentials of those NGOs to operate in Danang are to be
looked at carefully. Finally, I will deliver some recommendations to the
operation of American NGOs in Danang city.



92

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