Media as a Development Partner On 15 September 2011, a media workshop on poverty reduction and propoor policies was held in Hanoi

by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Developments Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture. The workshop saw the participation of almost 30 journalists from Vietnams key media agencies and was created with the understanding that an active on-going involvement of the mass media is crucial to achieving an awareness of poverty issues among both public and private stakeholders. Government Portal, Vietnam News Agency, Radio Voice of Vietnam, National Assemblys Deputies, Fatherland Fronts Solidarity Vietnam Law, the Labour, VietnamNet, VCCIs Vietnam Business Forum, MoLISAs Labour and Society, MoETs Education Times and Rural Today newspaper of Vietnam Farmers Union were among the agencies participated. Discussions focused on how the media can collaborate more effectively on poverty and agriculture related issues to influence policy agenda. Participants looked at ways the media can pro-actively, correctly and quickly deliver relevant messages and information to policy-makers, civil society, mass organizations and the general public. Ms. Atsuko Toda, Country Programme Manager of IFAD in Vietnam emphasized medias crucial role saying, Good journalism can shape public opinion and act as a lever for policy change. It can raise questions and champion the views of poor people. According to an IFAD report, poverty in Vietnam is predominantly rural: 73 per cent of the population in rural areas make up 94 per cent of the nations poor. The poorest regions are the northern midlands and mountainous areas and the central highlands and central coastal areas. Poverty also has an ethnic dimension: although ethnic minorities account for less than 13 per cent of the population, they account for nearly half of the poor. Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, IFAD Country Programme Officer found the problem was not a lack of information, but rather the ability to interpret and potently apply that information and target the right audience at the right time on the right issues. Talking on the same page, Mr. Nguyen Dang Vu Long, Managing Editor of Foreign Investment Review

passionately pointed out that it is not about statistics, We [journalists] must localize the stories by giving them a human face. We have to learn that poverty is real. It is about people, living, walking and surviving. It is these people we have to report about telling readers about what is happening in a world they do not know, he said. Participants appreciated the practical, hands-on and open discussions at the workshop. As a reporter for the Radio Voice of Vietnam's Government and Citizens Programme, Ms. Le Tuyets interest was attracted right from the outset. She believed the workshop would provide her and other journalists with a panoramic overview of poverty realities in Vietnam, and that the knowledge acquired would enable them to write better informed, more empathetic articles on these issues. The workshop also briefed participants on IFADs past and current work since its establishment in Vietnam in 1993. IFAD has carried out its sustainable development programmes in 11 provinces, working with the poorest of the poor, including ethnic minorities and landless farmers. Thousands of peoples lives have been touched and improved thanks to its support through micro-finance, market participation, gender equality and advanced agricultural methods. These programmes are run within the context of the Governments Decree 26 on Agriculture, Farmers and Rural Areas. Speaking at the media workshop, Phan Thanh Bien, Manager of the IFAD-financed Programme for Improving Market Participation of the Poor in Ha Tinh province, said the lives of the rural poor there have been significantly improved thanks to IFADs involvement.