Youth Parliament programme

First of all, let me take this opportunity to wish everyone a healthy and successful New Year. “Chuc mung nam moi”!

For my first blog of 2016 I thought I’d try something a little different so I invited Nguyen Ngoc Lan, a student at the Hanoi Law University, to share this blog with me. Lan is a member of the National Assembly’s Youth Parliament, a project co-sponsored by the British Embassy and British Council.

Since 2013 the British Embassy and the British Council have supported the National Assembly to organise an annual Youth Parliament programme – the first ever forum for young Vietnamese students to share their views in a structured way with decision makers in the National Assembly. The project has given hundreds of students the opportunity to develop the knowledge and confidence to speak openly about issues that affect their daily lives. They have received training on parliamentary work, visited the National Assembly House and attended a number of plenary and committee sessions on youth related issues such as education and graduate jobs. The four universities involved in the project have now set up their own independent youth parliaments – a testament to the success of the Youth Parliament project as a whole.

Young people form a vital part of all societies and it is important that their views are heard. This is particularly important in Vietnam where over 40% of the population are under 24 years of age. In the UK we are conscious of this and organisations such as the UK Youth Council work hard to make sure young people’s voices are heard by policy makers. Although our system is not perfect we have worked closely with the National Assembly to share our experience to support Vietnam in developing a self-sustaining Youth Parliament.

In December, Lan along with three other students and two National Assembly Deputies – Mr Si, standing member of the external relations committee, and Mr Thanh, Vice Chair of the social affairs committee, travelled to London. During a packed week they met with British MPs, members of the UK Youth Council and officials in the UK Parliament to talk about youth action in the UK. The aim of the trip was to learn about how young people in the UK are empowered to influence decisions that affect their lives. I’ll let Lan share his thoughts on the trip and what he brought back to Vietnam.

“The study trip to London was a wonderful experience and one I’ll never forget…it was a great opportunity to study and debate youth work in the UK.

On the second day, our delegation met with Chloe Smith MP. We learnt about how the UK Parliament interacts with the public and young people in particular. I was really impressed with the UK Parliament’s projects and campaigns to work with young people – they seemed very effective and professional.

But what impressed me the most were the young people in the UK. I was so surprised by the confidence and knowledge with which young people talked about political and social problems. In the UK young people raise their voice and look to resolve issues that affect their daily life. I was so impressed with all the models of youth action in the UK for their professionalism – I really hope this is something we can replicate in Vietnam…”

In May Vietnam will hold elections to chose a new National Assembly for the next five years. It’s encouraging that there are young people like Lan who are eager to talk about their aspirations and how they expect their elected representatives to support them. Let’s hope that there will continue to be National Assembly deputies, like Mr Si and Mr Thanh, who are open to listening.