Hanoi (VNA) – Party General Secretary and State President To Lam, recently becoming Honorary President of the Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS) for the 2026-2031 tenure, has vowed to partner with the Party Central Committee’s Politburo and Secretariat, to improve the VRCS’s operating efficiency and fulfill its noble humanitarian mission with all possible support.
From relief to resilience
Addressing the VRCS’s 12th National Congress for the 2026-2031 tenure in Hanoi on July 28, which drew 500 delegates representing more than 5.6 million officials, members, volunteers, and youth nationwide, General Secretary and President Lam said the Vietnamese Party, State, and people look forward to continued cooperation from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, international organisations, and development partners to strengthen humanitarian capacity, friendship, solidarity, peace, and sustainable development.
Humanitarian work should not be confined to emergency relief when natural disasters, disease outbreaks, or other crises occur. Instead, it should become an integral part of the country's human development strategy, social welfare, risk governance, and community resilience, he said.
The leader called for a pivot from reactive response to proactive prevention, from post-disaster relief to early warning and action, from one-off aid to livelihood support and capacity building, and from isolated initiatives to an integrated humanitarian ecosystem linking the State, society, business, and citizens. The most effective assistance, he said, enables citizens to rebuild their lives and achieve lasting stability.
Endorsing the broad orientations, targets, and six action plans in the Congress’s political report, he said the newly elected 12th VRCS Central Committee and local chapters should refine the legal and institutional frameworks and tighten enforcement of legislation protecting vulnerable groups.
He also urged expanded education, vocational training, livelihood support, and sustainable job creation to integrate disadvantaged groups more firmly into the community.
The VRCS should take a more active role in community-based disaster risk management by building early warning systems, local emergency response forces, first-aid networks, and safe community models, he said. Each commune, ward, and special zone should gradually create trained volunteer teams with action plans and the capacity to deliver timely aid to vulnerable groups, particularly children, the elderly, the disabled, the seriously ill, and those in remote, border, and island areas.
It was urged to continue serving as the leading coordinator and bridge in humanitarian activities, with all efforts centred on the people, driven by actual needs and measured by tangible improvements in lives. Priority must go to the most in need, ensuring no one is left behind because of geographical distance, bureaucracy, or limited technology skills.
Transparency, tech, and resource mobilisation
He stressed that the VRCS must anchor operations in transparency, integrity, accountability, and openness. All donations must be managed and allocated as intended, with donors entitled to track use, beneficiaries, and outcomes, and recipients able to give feedback on relevance, fairness, and timeliness.
The organisation was directed to build a unified humanitarian database linked, where possible, with national databases and the social security system. He pushed for greater use of big data, artificial intelligence, geospatial mapping, and digital platforms to pinpoint needs, prevent duplication, coordinate resources, issue early warnings, manage volunteers, and assess impact.
He also underscored the need to build a strong, professional, modern VRCS by leveraging the contributions of its officials, members, and volunteers and expanding international cooperation.
The Ministry of Health, healthcare facilities, and medical staff should continue working closely with the VRCS to spread the “Florence Nightingale Spirit” featuring compassion, dedication, courage, and tireless service, he said. He called for identifying, nurturing, and honouring outstanding contributors to patient care, disease control, disaster response, and community health.
The VRCS’s international humanitarian work should become a key channel of people-to-people diplomacy, projecting Vietnam as a peaceful, compassionate, and responsible nation, he said.
To deliver on these responsibilities, the entire political system, from central to local levels, must keep improving institutional mechanisms and policies, tighten coordination and information sharing, pool resources, and provide full support so the VRCS can play a bigger role in disaster prevention and response, community healthcare, first aid, blood donation, social assistance, and international humanitarian work.
He also pushed closer health sector coordination with the VRCS on blood and tissue donation campaigns, first-aid training, disease prevention and control, and aid for disadvantaged patients.
The education sector, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, media, and social organisations should collaborate to cultivate compassion, volunteerism, life skills, and social responsibility among young people, he said.
He closed by calling on businesses, organisations, individuals, philanthropists, overseas Vietnamese, and international friends to keep backing the VRCS with resources, knowledge, technology, and shared responsibility./.
