The RHIYA in Viet Nam was built on the achievements of the RHI that greatly contributed to opening up the Government’s official Family Planning and reproductive health programme to the needs of adolescents and young people. As under the RHI, the RHIYA Viet Nam has targeted both in-school and out-of-school youth from urban, semi-urban and rural areas with a particular emphasis on gender equity in SRH education and services. Its overall strategy was to create an enabling policy environment for policy and advocacy, to encourage young people to adopt more responsible and informed RH behaviour and practices, to improve quality and access to services for vulnerable youth and to build capacity of local NGOs. Thanks to its community-based social-service approach through schools and peers, the programme was able to focus on promoting RH knowledge and healthy behaviour. At the same time, through the provision of medical services, it wasable to provide appropriate treatment and counseling to vulnerable youth, accompanied by peer education and support.

The major problem areas addressed by the RHIYA in Viet Nam were:

• A. Insufficient capacity of government authorities at all levels, mass organisations, and community-based organisations to implement national strategies and policies related to RH programmes for adolescents and youth
• B. Limited or no access to appropriate RH information for youth and adolescents
• C. Limited access to quality RH services, including preventive counselling
• D. Limited capacity of local NGOs in the planning and management of youth-oriented RH programmes