Thanh Hoa is a province with a large area and population, located in the North Central socio-economic region, holding a position of importance to defence, security, and diplomacy of Military Region 4 and the whole country. Over the years, the province’s political and social situation is basically stable; its socio-economic, cultural development has continued to be fostered; defence, security, and diplomacy have been strengthened; law-abiding awareness among citizens and within the provincial armed forces has been raised. However, political security and social order and safety, particularly in mountainous, border areas and industrial zones have been faced with potential destabilising factors. Hi-tech crimes, cross-border crimes, social evils, online scams, and distortions in cyber space have continued to be complex and greatly impact on the people’s life. Taking advantage of the issues of “ethnicity”, “religion”, “democracy”, and “human rights” as well as some citizens’ grievances with authorities, hostile forces have intensified their propaganda tactics against our political system, aiming to undermine national great unity. In that context, the provincial armed forces have promoted their core role in conducting propagation work to encourage the people to observe the law, thereby cementing the people’s faith, achieving consensus among the people, ensuring political - social stability, contributing to the province’s sustainable development.

Giving rewards to individuals with outstanding achievements in executing Phase 1 of Project 1371 (2021 - 2024)

Under the Party’s lines and the State’s laws and policies, particularly the Project on “promoting the role of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) in law dissemination and education, encouraging the people to comply with the law at grass-roots level in the period of 2021 - 2027” according to Prime Minister’s Decision 1371/QĐ-TTg, dated 30 July 2021 (hereinafter referred to as Project 1371), the Provincial Military Command (PMC), in its capacity as the Standing Agency of the Steering Board for Project 1371, has advised the Provincial People’s Committee to issue a system of directing and guiding documents, assign a Deputy Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee to be Head of the Steering Board, and encourage the participation of sectors, departments, unions, and localities in the process. At the same time, it has directed district-level military agencies to give advice to local party committees and authorities on establishing steering boards and working groups, issuing regulations, designing and realising action plans relevant to each area, with “priority given to border, coastal, and religious people inhabited areas”.

In phase 1 of Project 1371, the PMC has proactively collaborated with the Department of Justice and competent offices in carrying out surveys to grasp the need of law dissemination and education among target groups and areas. According to those surveys, law propagation, dissemination, and education work across the province has been conducted synchronously, effectively, making a fundamental change in law-abiding awareness among people from all walks of life. Those surveys have also included objective assessments of drawbacks and correctly reflected the people’s need to study the law as the basis for the province to develop models and forms of law propagation, dissemination, and education in accordance with each target group and locality.

Viewing law rapporteurs and communicators as a deciding factor in encouraging the people to observe the law, the PMC has directed its offices and units to regularly review and reinforce this corps both qualitatively and quantitatively, ensuring that those staff members would have political steadfastness, pure morality, a strong sense of responsibility for their work, a scientific, proactive, people-oriented working method, and capabilities in addressing the people’s concerns and properly guiding public opinion. To meet their task requirements, the PMC and its affiliates have frequently organised refresher courses for law rapporteurs and communicators. Emphasis has been placed on providing updated information about the Party and State’s lines, policies, regulations, important legal documents on state management, defence, security, and social life, as well as international agreements to which Vietnam is a member, with a view to conducting law propagation and dissemination work appropriate to the country’s international integration context. Great value has been attached to improving rapporteurs and communicators’ skills in organising onstage activities, applying information technology, interacting with the people, handling situations, and responding to inquiries, thereby enabling those staff members to convey information clearly, convincingly, attractively to the people. Forms of law propagation, dissemination, and education have been diversified and employed flexibly, such as refresher courses, law rapporteur contests, and performance of tasks; superiors have been required to train their subordinates; experienced cadres have been asked to train young cadres. Moreover, offices and units have frequently deployed their law rapporteurs to refresher courses held by the Justice Sector, while working with the Public Security Force, Border Guard Force, Justice Sector, Procuracy, and Courts to hold forums and conferences to exchange experience and learn from each other. Those efforts have allowed rapporteurs and communicators to take part in practical activities, conduct field surveys, and broaden their experience for the sake of the raised quality of law propagation.

In order to effectively convey legal issues to the people and make knowledge of law easy to remember, easy to understand, and easy to realise, offices and units have regularly renewed forms and methods of propagation relevant to each target group. When executing Project 1371, the PMC has given advice to the Provincial People’s Committee on selecting 2 - 3 districts and directing every district to develop 1 - 2 communes into models of law propagation, dissemination, and education as the basis for multiplying those models and creating positive spillover effects within the armed forces and people. Besides, the provincial armed forces have included law propagation and dissemination in their field training marches associated with mass mobilisation as well as in exchange and twinning activities, thus helping the people acquire knowledge of law in the simplest and most effective way. Knowledge of law has also been brought onto the stage and included in meetings of mass organisations, clubs, and cultural institutions at grass-roots level. Offices and units have promoted their law bookcases, proactively applying information technology, designing videos and presentations, enhancing propagation via local portals, district-level and commune-level radio stations, and cyber space in accordance with intellectual levels of cadres, soldiers, and citizens. At the same time, law propagation has been aligned with fostering economic development, improving the people’s life, and settling the people’s legitimate aspirations, thereby achieving strong consensus within society and cementing the people’s faith in local party committees and authorities.

Coordination between military agencies and same-level authorities in law propagation and dissemination has been closely maintained via diverse forms relevant to each office and unit’s functions and tasks. In addition to propagation work aimed at raising each citizen’s awareness and sense of responsibility for military and defence tasks, due attention has been paid to making breakthroughs in disseminating legal documents, such as the Military Service Law of 2015, the Law on Prevention and Control of Harmful Effects of Alcoholic Beverages, and newly-promulgated legal documents as well as clarifying issues relating to social life and citizens’ rights and obligations. The PMC has cooperated with the Provincial Party Committee’s Information and Communication Commission, the Provincial Radio and Television, and Thanh Hoa Newspaper in conducting propagation regarding national border security, national sovereignty over seas and islands, fishing operations, and troops’ activities in border, sea areas. It has collaborated with local departments, sectors, unions, and Fatherland Fronts to give advice to all-level Defence and Security Education Councils on seriously, closely organising defence and security education courses for target individuals under regulations. It has worked with political and social organisations to hold over 235,980 propagation sessions with the participation of more than 1,493,749 members of youth unions and other unions, thus arousing national pride and a sense of responsibility among the youth towards Fatherland construction and protection. The provincial armed forces have also actively taken part in building political bases, ensuring political security, and maintaining social order and safety across the province.

Thanks to those above-mentioned effective approaches, since Project 1371 was implemented, law-abiding awareness among cadres, soldiers, and citizens within the province has been unceasingly raised. Violations of law and fishing regulations, free migration, and complaints bypassing the level of authority within the province have been sharply reduced; a sense of responsibility for observing regulations on border protection and reporting criminal offences has been raised; military - civilian unity has been cemented; the noble image and virtues of “Uncle Ho’s Soldiers” have been bolstered; the PMC has always excellently accomplished its assigned tasks. Those good results have contributed to maintaining stability and creating a favourable condition for Thanh Hoa to keep strengthening defence and security and fostering its sustainable socio-economic, cultural development.

Sr. Col. LE VAN TRUNG

Political Commissar of the PMC