Project on providing microfinance services of VBSP for HIV-infected and affected people and former drug users

A customer in District 4 with project loans has a job with stable income

As reported by the Ministry of Health dated on 30 September 2012 there are 180,312 people with HIV and 42,339 AIDS patients who are currently alive. Realizing that these are vulnerable people who need medical care and jobs in order to help themselves earn their living and remove social discrimination; Therefore the Vietnam bank for Social Policy (VBSP), the Family Health International (FHI) and the Chemonics has cooperated to build a pilot model on providing microfinance services and job creation to HIV infected and affected people and drug-detoxified users.

The purpose of the pilot project aims to build cooperation models in order to provide appropriate micro financial services based on the  job creation program created for drug-detoxified users of VBSP, savings services, loans and job creation for HIV/AIDS infected and affected people and drug-detoxified users through the cooperation model between the three parties.

The project is funded VND 1,398,500 by FHI to provide credit projectparticipants and this is  a non-refundable assistance. Besides, Chemonics sponsor funds to VBSP 574,750,000 VND to implement training activities for VBSP staff and collaborators  of FHI and potential borrowers as well as the monitoring and implementing activity of central  VBSP.

The project was officially signed on 27 April 2011 and implemented in 03 pilotdistricts 4, 8 and Binh Thanh in Ho Chi Minh City.

After more than 01 year, the project has achieved encouraging results as follows:

Up to 30 June 2012, it has provided capitals to 88 clients with total loans of VND 1,048 million, of which District 4 lend VND 422 mil to 26 households, VND 510 mil to 30 households for District 8 and VND 476 mil to 32 households for Binh Thanh district.

Finding a suitable business and therefore generating income from VBSP loan, borrowers always have responsibility for paying s according to the bank regulations. Moreover they have savings. Those money amounts are deducted partly from principle debt and interest or to add to their capitals.

The grant amount of project is not so big but the project has created positive social impact to help HIV infected and affected and drug-detoxified users have access to the appropriate microfinance service, get jobs and become financial independence, and reduce discrimination from society as well as from themselves. Besides the project has been received so much care and support from all levels of local government where it has been implemented. People Commitee of Ho Chi Minh city agreed to support 8 billion VND in 05 years to widen the program to other district in the city.

Seeing the great social impact that program has created, the concerned parties hope to apply the model to other cities and provinces with high HIV/AIDS infected rate after the pilot projcect comes to an end.