HÀ NỘI – Youth Union members in Việt Nam, with their ambition and creativity, play an enthusiastic role in protecting the environment.

Last weekend, blue-shirted volunteers (the colour characteristic of Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union) worked on the vast fields of Đồng Đạo Village in the province of Bắc Giang.

They were young people participating in a Hiệp Hòa District Youth Union campaign to clean up pesticide packaging. Many farmers, after spreading the chemicals, discarded the boxes around their fields.

According to the deputy secretary of Hiệp Hòa District Youth Union, Nguyễn Văn Tùng, every year, local farmers plant three to four crops. The packaging of used pesticides and fertilisers were thrown away.

Not only an eyesore, the chemicals have the potential to affect land and water resources, as well as people’s health.

"This problem has existed for a long time, while the dangerous behaviour is often overlooked by farmers,” he said. “Local authorities have tried to stop farmers doing this many times but it hasn’t worked. The local youth union came up with the idea of placing bins around the fields,” he said.

In order to spread this idea, the youth union members organised talks for local farmers. After one month, the green fields were no longer littered with empty containers. 

Trần Thị Mến, a farmer in Hợp Thịnh Commune, said “Since the local youth union launched the campaign, people are more aware of their actions. Bags of rubbish are collected by young people to be disposed of properly.”

"The local environment is cleaner," Mến said.

Currently, there are 18 bins for used pesticide boxes on the fields of Hiệp Hòa District.

Tùng said several youth unions from neighbouring districts had shown interest in the idea and it would be expanded soon across the province.

On the 88th anniversary of the Hồ Chí Minh Communist Youth Union,  the secretary of Nghệ An central province’s Youth Union, Phạm Tuấn Vinh, said the youth union received attention and leadership from the provincial Party Committee, and they were gradually developing and had made worthy contributions to the cause of nation-building.

Vinh said that volunteer activities would be the highlight of Nghệ An Province to affirm the pioneering and exemplary role of youth union members.

The youth union members have focused on implementing movements in order to bring into play the bravery of the young generation in many fields.

In recent years, the central province of Quảng Bình’s Youth Union has set up 200 volunteer teams to respond to flooding and storms. They also organised rescue drills for natural disasters and epidemics.

Secretary of Quảng Bình Provincial Youth Union, Nguyễn Quốc Tuấn, said besides planting and protecting trees at schools and in residential areas, many union members were growing forests for economic development.

Nguyễn Quang Huy, secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s Youth Union said volunteer activities had been expanded, becoming a highlight of the youth union members last year.  

He said the union members implemented different volunteer movements, including providing warm clothes and blankets for poor people in mountainous regions, food for disadvantaged families and people with disabilities in Hà Nội, Lào Cai and Phú Thọ provinces. They also helped build roads in Hà Tĩnh, electrical infrastructure in Phú Thọ, and cleaned up beaches in some central coastal provinces.

This year, the ministry’s youth union will continue to organise and develop the youth volunteer movement to attract more young people living in poor areas, according to Huy. — VNS

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Hà Nội Youth Union commends 352 young people.

HÀ NỘI — As many as 352 young people were honoured for their work in the fields of academia, scientific research, entrepreneurship, production and business, administrative reform, crime fighting, social order and safety, volunteering, building new rural areas, art and sports in Hà Nội on Monday.

The list included 88 youth union secretaries, 88 young intellectuals, 88 young officials and armed forces, 88 young people in production and business, start-ups, young artists, and volunteers.

Attending the event, Nguyễn Ngọc Việt, member of the Standing Committee of the Central Youth Union, Secretary of the Hà Nội Youth Union, said the capital’s young people will always have creativity in labour and learning, as well as bravery and confidence in international integration. — VNS