Saigon Children's Charity CIO

In 2025, more than 13,000 disadvantaged children and young adults across Vietnam directly benefited from saigonchildren's programmes. With the generous support of GlobalLiving donors and partners worldwide, saigonchildren continued to remove barriers to education by improving learning environments, reducing financial barriers, and preparing young people for employment and independence.

This support provides children and young adults with the resources and opportunities needed to pursue education, develop their potential, and build more secure and self-sufficient futures.

1. Child Development Scholarship Programme

As saigonchildren's flagship programme, the Child Development Scholarship Programme has supported 49,000+ disadvantaged students over the past 30 years, helping them remain in school and pursue higher education.

In 2025, 1,900+ students received scholarships from primary school through university. The programme achieved a 96.6% school-year completion rate, while 189 students graduated from university or college.

Students also received essential learning resources, including 18,600 notebooks, 215 desk lamps, 85 bicycles, and 85 laptops. Through 107 workshops and sessions with 18 different sharing topics, these activities help build confidence, strengthen communication, and develop practical skills, supporting students to engage more actively in their education and explore their next steps.

2. School Building and Learning Environment Programme

In 2025, the programme delivered 09 built or renovated classrooms and 04 new computer rooms, 20 reading corners providing children in underserved communities with safer and better-equipped learning environments. It also supported students' health and learning through improved toilet facilities benefiting 8,700+ children accessing purified drinking water and 2,200+ children developing computer literacy.

In late 2025, severe flooding and tidal surges across several regions of Northern Vietnam left many early childhood education centres damaged and unusable, disrupting learning for thousands of young children. In response, saigonchildren launched the Back to Learning 2025 campaign, calling on supporters to help restore safe and welcoming environments so that children could return to school. The campaign supported 13 kindergartens, benefiting 1,000+ children aged 3-5 in Hue City, Khanh Hoa and Tuyen Quang provinces. 

3. Getting Ready for Work Programme

Over the past 30 years, saigonchildren has supported over 10,000 disadvantaged young adults in their transition from education to employment.

In 2025, the short-term vocational training achieved 74 young adults supported with 87% graduates achieved good or excellent academic results and 100% target for graduates to secure employment in their chosen field upon completion.

Alongside short-term vocational training courses, saigonchildren also provides support for disadvantaged young people pursuing long-term vocational education. Through partnerships with vocational schools, donors, and other stakeholders, 262 trainees receive support through programmes lasting from 1.5 to 3 years at partner institutions in Ho Chi Minh City and Tra Vinh province.

In the same year, we also launched the 3.5-year project "Connecting and Providing Support Services for Groups of Vulnerable Children and Children at Risk", supporting more than 400 students at two charity schools in Ho Chi Minh City as part of the Getting Ready for Work Programme. This project provided 70,000+ cartons of milk, delivered 500 age-appropriate books with 1,200+ reading sessions, as well as issued 273 health insurance cards aimed at nourishing bodies, minds, and futures at charity schools.

4. Special Needs Education Programme

Saigonchildren's Special Needs Education Programme supports children with a range of learning and developmental needs, including autism, ADHD, and intellectual difficulties, through early intervention and broader system support in Can Tho City, Dong Nai City, Dong Thap, and Ho Chi Minh City.

In 2025, the programme delivered 5,400+ free intervention sessions through child-centered, evidence-informed approaches, supported directly 880+ children through intervention sessions and LEGO clubs through play-based approach, trained 860+ kindergarten teachers in autism identification, trained 100+ teachers to help support early intervention.

Saigonchildren also launched dadangthankinh.com, a Vietnamese-language resource hub on neurodiversity, providing professionally translated, expert-informed content on conditions such as autism and ADHD, alongside guidance on identification and intervention. Additionally, the Network Gathering, themed "Applying Play-Based Learning for Children with Neurodiversity", brought together 40+ special educational needs specialists from across Vietnam to exchange practical experience, strengthen professional connections, and support one another in their work. A highlight of this year's event was the participation of nearly 50 parents, who joined guided "Directed Play" activities to better understand their children's perspectives and explore ways to support learning and development at home.

Thank you

The progress achieved in 2025 reflects the collective impact of a dedicated community of donors and supporters. With your support, more than 13,000 children and young adults across Vietnam have been able to overcome barriers to education and move towards greater independence.

From scholarships and safer learning environments to employment preparation and specialised support for children with additional needs, your contributions are helping create meaningful and lasting opportunities.

Saigonchildren sincerely thanks all donors and supporters for your continued trust and partnership. Together, we are helping disadvantaged children and young people across Vietnam learn, develop, and build more independent futures.

Links:

• Saigonchildren Annual Report 2025
• Our Works
• Financial Transparency