United Nations Population Fund
Speech
of UNFPA Representative, Bruce Campbell
Date:
Monday, 16 August 2010
Event:
Closing ceremony “Desire for Life” –VOV/UNFPA/DANIDA
Venue:
VOV
 Mr. Vu Van Hien, General Director, Radio Voice of Viet Nam
 Ms. Hoang Minh Nguyet, Deputy General Director, Radio the
Voice of Viet Nam
 Ms. Nguyen Phuong Bac, Programme Officer DANIDA.
 Ladies and Gentlemen
On behalf of the United Nations in Viet Nam I am honoured by your
invitation to be here to share a few words on “Desire for Life”, the
radio soap opera that today draws to a close.
I would like to thank Radio Voice of Viet Nam for organizing this
important event and for the work well done. UNFPA has had the
privilege of working closely with VOV by providing technical,
financial and programme management support to ensure successful
completion of this project and we are more than satisfied with the
final outcome. We highly appreciate the commitment and leadership
of the Director General and Deputy Director General of VOV in
ensuring quality production of the serial radio drama. Let me also
express our gratitude to DANIDA for its financial and technical
support to the project.
Aired on VOV beginning in April 2008 and ran for 104 episodes
through March 2010, “Desire for Life” has aimed to reduce stigma ad
discrimination against people living with HIV and to impart other
positive social values has been a success. It has received great
attention and support from audiences throughout the country and,
what it is more important, it has raised listeners’ awareness about
sexual and reproductive health and gender equality, promoting safe
behaviours.
We understand that this project has marked a milestone in the way
radio dramas are produced. For the first time in Viet Nam, a serial has
applied the Sabido methodology. This method is based on character
development and engaging plot lines that provide the audience with a
rage of characters –some good, some neutral and some not so good.
As listeners follow the characters as they evolve and change while
dealing with challenges, many apply the lessons to their own lives.
Through “Desire for Life”, listeners have followed the exploits of the
main characters in four typical Vietnamese settings: a big and
dynamic city; a rural village; a mountain village; and a suburb. And
this has been key to catch the attention of a wide audience.
The feedback received has been extremely positive with thousands of
letters, emails and telephone calls from the audience to express how
“Desire for Life” has impacted their lives. Just to put an example, a
listener recognized that she had been listening to the soap opera since
the first episode, finding it very useful. “It has helped us to live in a
cheerful way and provided us with energy to overcome difficulties
and challenges in life”, she said.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In addition to entertaining the audience, the soap opera has helped
people living with HIV to share their experiences and it has also
helped other listeners to empathize with them. In short, the project has
contributed significantly to the fight against HIV in Viet Nam,
representing a good example of concerted efforts to scale up actions
towards universal access to comprehensive HIV prevention,
treatment, care and support services; to achieve the Millennium
Development Goal of halting and reversing the epidemic by 2015 and
to move towards a sustainable national response to HIV.
This is an impressive achievement that should give us extra
motivation to keep on working to improve sexual and reproductive
health of Vietnamese people and reduce stigma and discrimination
towards people living with HIV.
Besides the key messages conveyed to the audience and the
methodology used, let me bring to your attention the role played by
this project in increasing national capacity. The same team that used
to produce traditional one-episode radio plays has been trained and is
now able to produce improved quality serial drama. This is a major
achievement in itself as it has developed the capacity of VOV to
produce similar drama using other topics.
Distinguished guests,
Our best wishes are with VOV. We hope VOV can continue this
endeavour to produce similar serial drama with the support of
DANIDA and other development partners as we are convinced that
media are key in promoting responsible behaviours and influencing
people’s life in a positive way.
Thank you for your kind attention, and I wish you all health and
happiness.
Xin cam on!