{"id":6824,"date":"2025-12-18T15:10:55","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T08:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/uncategorized\/2025\/intergenerational-self-help-clubs-the-journey-of-unwavering-dedication-honored-at-human-act-prize-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T12:44:34","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T05:44:34","slug":"intergenerational-self-help-clubs-the-journey-of-unwavering-dedication-honored-at-human-act-prize-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/news\/2025\/intergenerational-self-help-clubs-the-journey-of-unwavering-dedication-honored-at-human-act-prize-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Intergenerational Self-Help Clubs: The Journey of “Unwavering Dedication” Honored at Human Act Prize 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the evening of December 16, 2025, at the Ho Guom Opera House (Hanoi), the Intergenerational Self-Help Club (ISHC) model was named in the most prestigious category \u2013 Prize of the Year \u2013 at the Human Act Prize 2025 ceremony<\/a>. This accolade is a well-deserved recognition for a journey spanning nearly two decades of persistent companionship with older persons in Vietnam. It further affirms the position of an effective community-based model that not only contributes to social protection but also makes practical contributions to socio-economic development in the context of rapid population ageing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ms. Vo Thi Anh Xuan, Member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Vice President of Vietnam, presented the Human Act Prize of the Year. The ISHC of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly was honored to be one of five projects to receive this award.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Human Act Prize 2025: Honoring the “Unwavering Dedication”<\/h2>\n\n

The Human Act Prize<\/a> is a national-level annual award directed by Nhan Dan (The People’s) Newspaper in partnership with VCCorp (Vietnam Communications Corporation). Going beyond a typical award ceremony, the Human Act Prize aims to seek out, honor, and connect individuals and organizations that have been creating positive, sustainable values for society. With the overarching theme of “Unwavering Dedication”<\/strong>, the 2025 season placed special emphasis on initiatives and projects that chose not to take the easy path, but instead courageously embarked on long journeys, accepting challenges and persevering through difficulties to create fundamental, root-cause changes. As shared by Mr. Le Quoc Minh, Member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association, and Head of the Organizing Committee: “The moment of receiving the trophy is not the end, but the beginning.”<\/em> The award serves as a call to action to awaken and replicate acts of kindness within society.<\/p>\n\n

In this context, competition at the Human Act Prize 2025 was incredibly intense, with 160 high-quality submissions from major corporations, non-governmental organizations, and volunteer groups across the country. Overcoming rigorous appraisal rounds, the Prize of the Year <\/strong>\u2013 the program’s highest honor \u2014 recognized only the five most outstanding projects. These are the representative initiatives that demonstrated full and superior compliance with the Jury’s strict criteria, including: Commitment, Sustainability, Impact, Scalability, and Innovation.<\/p>\n

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Mr. Truong Xuan Cu – Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly, receives the Prize.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Achieving this prestigious recognition was not a solitary endeavor; it is the fruit of collective effort and unwavering support from esteemed international development partners who have trusted and walked alongside HelpAge International and the VAE from the initial piloting phase to nationwide replication. We extend our deepest gratitude to Age International, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), HelpAge Korea (HAK), the Japan Social Development Fund (JSDF), the World Bank (WB), The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), UNFPA, the European Commission (EC), USAID, and many others. Their invaluable financial resources and technical assistance laid the solid foundation that allowed the model to be successfully established, standardized, and robustly expanded, delivering sustainable impact to millions of older persons in Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n

Converging the 5 “Golden Criteria” of the Human Act Prize<\/h2>\n\n

The naming of the ISHC model in the most prestigious category of Human Act Prize 2025 is a clear testament to the model’s vitality. It affirms that the steadfast persistence for older persons over the past nearly two decades has borne “sweet fruit,” earning cherished recognition from the community and society.<\/p>\n\n

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Commitment:<\/strong> Starting from 60 pilot clubs implemented in 2006 with the support of HelpAge International, the ISHC model has been persistently maintained, refined, and expanded by the Vietnam Association of the Elderly (VAE) at all levels for nearly two decades. This includes three National Replication Projects approved by the Prime Minister across different phases. From those initial steps, there are now over 9,000 clubs operating nationwide, reflecting the long-term and consistent commitment of stakeholders in pursuing the mission to “leave no one behind.”<\/p>\n\n

Impact:<\/strong> With a comprehensive approach across 8 core activity areas, the ISHC has created clear, multi-dimensional impacts for older persons and the community\u2014ranging from improved physical and mental health, enhanced social protection and economic autonomy, to promoting social participation and intergenerational bonding. These impacts are not only noted through implementation practice but also objectively verified through numerous independent studies, surveys, and evaluations by domestic and international organizations. Results consistently show that the model delivers sustainable effectiveness at a reasonable cost and is capable of replication in the context of population ageing.<\/p>\n\n

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Sustainability:<\/strong> Unlike short-term support programs, the ISHC is designed and operated towards self-reliance and self-management, placing older persons and the community as the central subjects. The model’s sustainability is ensured through long-term investment in human capacity and grassroots operational systems. By training and fostering skills for the management board and core members, clubs gradually enhance their capacity to self-organize, manage, and implement activities, including managing revolving loan funds and mobilizing community resources. In parallel, the model emphasizes coordination with local authorities, agencies, unions, and social organizations, thereby mobilizing diverse resources \u2014 financial, technical, professional, and public services. It is this harmonious combination of solidified internal community strength and a multi-sector support network that helps ISHCs maintain stable operations, adapt flexibly, and develop sustainably in the long term, even after initial support projects end.<\/p>\n\n

Scalability:<\/strong> The ISHC is built on a foundation of respecting and protecting the rights of older persons, stemming from their actual needs, and is community-led during organization and operation. Furthermore, the model has been standardized with clear, flexible processes for establishment, organization, and management, allowing for consistent application in villages and residential groups across varying socio-economic and cultural conditions. This combination of a person-centered approach and a standardized yet non-rigid operational framework has made the model easily accepted, proactively replicated, and maintained on a large scale by local communities, creating the nationwide spread of the ISHC model.<\/p>\n\n

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Innovation:<\/strong> The ISHC demonstrates an innovative approach by integrating 8 areas of activity into a comprehensive support “ecosystem” for older persons, rather than the fragmented, single-issue solutions of the past. On this foundation, the model applies an intergenerational approach, attracting participation from various age groups, creating two-way mutual support, and ensuring succession in community organizations. Notably, empowering older persons to directly manage and use livelihood capital, combined with mechanisms for autonomy and local resource mobilization, has proven the community’s capacity for ownership and created a sustainable financial foundation for the model. This combination has created an innovative, effective, and suitable solution to respond to the multi-dimensional challenges of population ageing.<\/p>\n\n

Vision for the Future<\/h2>\n\n

Winning the Prize of the Year at Human Act Prize 2025 is not only a source of pride for the VAE and HelpAge International in Vietnam but also a societal recognition of an effective adaptation solution for population ageing. This award serves as a tremendous motivation for officers, members, and volunteers to continue their compassionate journey.<\/p>\n\n

This event is particularly significant in the context of the Prime Minister’s recent issuance of Decision 1648\/Q\u0110-TTg<\/a>, approving the Project to replicate the ISHC model through 2035. This serves as a crucial legal and political basis, affirming the Club’s role as a national policy solution.<\/p>\n

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Ms. Tran Bich Thuy – Country Director (rightmost) and Ms. Chu Viet Nga (leftmost) – Program Manager of HelpAge International in Vietnam, participate in the Award Ceremony with representative from the VAE and ISHC.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Looking toward the future, HelpAge International commits to continuing its companionship with the VAE and government agencies in this new development phase. We define our goal not only to stop at expanding quantity but to place special emphasis on maintaining and enhancing the quality of club operations.<\/p>\n\n

The Human Act Prize 2025 is not merely a brilliant milestone recognizing past persistent efforts, but a solid launchpad empowering the Intergenerational Self-Help Club model to reach further. This will be a great source of motivation for HelpAge International to step forward with the Vietnam Association of the Elderly and the social community, remaining steadfast on the journey to create a comprehensive social protection ecosystem that is effective, humane, and adaptive to the era of population ageing in Vietnam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the evening of December 16, 2025, at the Ho Guom Opera House (Hanoi), the Intergenerational Self-Help Club (ISHC) model was named in the most prestigious category \u2013 Prize of the Year \u2013 at the Human Act Prize 2025 ceremony. This accolade is a well-deserved recognition for a journey spanning nearly two decades of persistent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,60],"tags":[282,111],"class_list":["post-6824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-news","tag-human-act-prize-en","tag-intergenerational-self-help-club"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6824"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6840,"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6824\/revisions\/6840"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helpagevietnam.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}