The Wind of Change Vietnam’s mission is to participate in the process of building a pluralistic and sustainable democratic system, and to advocate for freedom of expression, basic human rights and rule of law.

Goals:

Our goal is to become a driving force in mobilizing Vietnamese society to visualize and actualize that collective vision of tomorrow, which is “the right to live with dignity and the freedom to participate in building and strengthening a democratic, transparent, multi-party government whose duty is to ensure equal opportunities, fundamental human rights, justice, prosperity and national stability for all of its citizens”.

(The above Vision of Tomorrow was a collective vision derived from discreet but extensive interviews of  pro-democracy activists, human rights defenders, college students, intellectuals and citizens living in Vietnam).

Objectives:

We pursue our mission and goals by attaining the following two (2) objectives; which will be carried out in parallel and served as catalyst for one another: Building People’s Power and Weakening the Oppressive Force of the Rulers.

1. Building people’s power

• Mobilize the people to understand the contents of the Vision of Tomorrow and to deeply aspire it, to act upon it and making that dream a reality.

• Educate the public on the essential needs of:

  a. building the foundation for a strong civil society,

  b. standing up for their rights,

  c. acting upon his/her rights and duties, and

  d. defending for freedom of information and thoughts;

• Recruit and retain resources for the movement leadership in strategic areas such as media, publishing, law, community development and civil society building.

• Promote freedom of expression by means of popular education, training and capacity building for the network of independent journalists, citizen journalists, bloggers, independent publishers, as well as providing legal protection for journalists.

• Establish alliances with social action activists to advocate for a strong Civil Society in Vietnam through community development initiatives focusing on women, young students, farmers and workers.

2. Weakening the Oppressive Force of the Rulers

• Weaken the dictatorial authority’s political pillars of support which are: State- control Media, Judiciary System, Security Police/Military Forces; and at the same time pull resources from their pillars of support over to the People’s side.

• Mobilize people to stand up for themselves to demand justice, liberation from political opprestion, and reforms in government policy that affects their life or the well being of the country. Corruption, environmental destruction or abuse of power are some of the key issues that will galvanize the people.

Strategic Guidelines:

We accomplish our goals and objectives based on the following strategic core approaches:

• Religiously adhere to the people’s vision of tomorrow. The People’s aspirations will guide the struggle to its victory.

• Faithfully conduct a grass-root movement using non-violent struggle methods. Never tolerate nor resort to violence in any situation.

• Always seek alliances and promote solidarity with other pro-democracy groups, organizations with common goals as well as working with individuals that influence or have an impact on social and political changes, not excluding people who serve in the current system that agree with the people’s vision of tomorrow.

• Actively seek support from other governments and international institutions to address the need for democracy, transparency and respect of human rights in Vietnam as well as support the non-violent movement for reforms and a peaceful transition.

Activities:

1. Advocacy:

Focus specifically on Freedom of Expression, Independent Media, Freedom to Publish, Rule of Law and Religious Freedom.

Several forms of advocacy will be applied to bring about influencing outcomes in the aforementioned issues: mass advocacy, interest-group advocacy, legislative advocacy as well as the pursuit of international community support and diplomatic, economic pressures from bilateral or multilateral relationships with the Vietnamese government for changes.

2. Civil Society Groundwork:

Assist in building movements and establish various independent citizen organizations, social action groups targeting specific segments of the population.

3. Conduct of Non-Violent Strategic Struggle:

Conduct grassroot movements using non-violent struggle methods, application of mass mobilization techniques, campaigns, protests on national concerns, and widespread issues which directly affect either the emotional, physical, mental, social and/or economic well-being of the people.

4. Capacity Building:

Invest in developing and strengthening the skills, instincts, abilities, processes and resources that each grassroot movement, social action groups and communities need to survive, adapt, and thrive in their restrictive environment to make meaningful contribution toward the common mission.

Recruitment:

• Each movement, organization, community will establish its own core leadership in its respective area to oversee its own operation, under the holistic co-ordination, direction and overall support of the Wind of Change Vietnam.

• Membership will be actively sought in relevant segments of the population by different organizations, community social action groups for the whole movement.

Training:

• Strengthening Core Leadership of each respective social action group by providing trainings on various life skills, telecommunication technology, internet security and especially on proven methods of strategic non-violent struggle and strategic estimates.

• For Independent Publishers: training on updated-publishing software, improved techniques and international publication standards and relevant laws.

• For Independent Journalists: on how to propagate the concept of Citizen Journalism to the mass and provide online technical know-hows.

• For Human Rights Defenders and Pro-Democracy Activists: training on internet security, online anonymity, internet propagation, and use of blog websites…

• For Independent Lawyers, Human Rights Legal Defenders on Trial Observation, International laws, Universal Human Rights, Media Laws…

Other Forms of Support:

• Provide various mediums for activists to stay safe and operate underground or above ground.

• Provide emergency support in times of need, and financial help to activists in prison and their family members.

• Enhance activists’ profile and highlight cases within the international community in order to deter the authorities’ further repression against them.

Funders and Supporters:

Wind of Change Vietnam and/or its affiliated member organization(s) work with PEN International, Human Rights Watch, Foundation PEN Emergency Fund, Eva Tas Foundation, SEAPA, SEACeM, CPJ, IFEX, Southeast Asia Media Defense Litigation Network, IBA, IPA, ICORN, RSF, Rory Peck Trust, Freedom House, and Mekong Press Foundation etc… in various campaigns, joint alerts, providing financial support, training and the opportunities for Vietnamese activists, front-liners on the ground, to participate in international forum / conferences to further bring the attention of the world to the human rights situation in Vietnam and to advocate for the much-needed support for their cause.