On behalf of the Buddhist nuns' delegation, Venerable Thich Nu Nhat Khuong reported to the Deputy Prime Minister on the development process and key activities of the Buddhist nuns. According to Venerable Thich Nu Nhat Khuong, the country currently has nearly 7,000 nunneries and more than 25,000 nuns. Practicing the spirit of compassion and salvation of Buddhism, in order to alleviate the difficulties of unfortunate lives in society, Buddhist nuns nationwide actively carry out many meaningful charity programs such as giving charity gifts on major Buddhist or national holidays such as Lunar New Year, Buddha's Birthday, Vu Lan Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival.
Buddhist nuns nationwide carry out relief activities for people in provinces and cities affected by natural disasters and floods. Most recently, the Central Buddhist nuns delegation donated 1,500 charity gifts to poor people and 1,180 boarding students in 3 mountainous provinces: Ha Giang , Lao Cai, Yen Bai, with a total value of more than 1.5 billion VND.
The nuns also carried out many charity trips such as giving scholarships and study materials to poor and studious students, donating charity houses, building charity houses, performing eye surgeries to replace cataracts for poor patients, distributing wheelchairs and bicycles, supporting the Fund for the Poor, building bridges, drilling wells, supporting loans to improve workers' lives, opening charity centers such as centers for orphans and disabled children, nursing homes for the lonely and destitute elderly, examining, treating and giving free medicine to poor patients...
In particular, in 2021, when the COVID-19 epidemic broke out across the country and Ho Chi Minh City, the Central Buddhist Nuns' Committee called on nuns and Buddhists from nunneries to participate in donating 100 billion VND to the COVID-19 Vaccine Fund; donate ventilators, oxygen tanks, ambulances, COVID-19 treatment support drugs, masks, protective gear, gloves, antiseptic water, food and provisions to support the work of disease prevention and control.
Preschool education is an activity that nuns pay special attention to. Some pagodas have organized preschool classes for children of Buddhists, organized retreats for young people, students, intellectuals, businessmen, and enterprises. In the field of environmental protection, some nunneries organize many activities such as encouraging nuns and Buddhists not to use plastic bottles; nylon bags; regularly collect garbage, nylon bags, plastic bottles in public places; classify garbage at source, at home, at the pagoda.
Regarding foreign affairs, with many contributions to the Buddhist nuns and society, the Vietnamese Buddhist nuns received the International Buddhist Women's Award in 2017 in Thailand, the Award of the Indian Government Cultural Relations Association presented by the Embassy of India in Hanoi in 2023, and hosted the 11th Sakyadhita World Buddhist Women's Conference in 2009 in Vietnam. The Vietnamese Buddhist nuns were invited to attend the International Sakyadhita Conference, typically the 18th Sakyadhita Conference in Seoul, Korea in June 2023, leaving many impressions and beautiful images of the Vietnamese Buddhist nuns' delegation in the eyes of international friends.
At the meeting, on behalf of the Government leaders, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang acknowledged, highly appreciated and sincerely thanked the great contributions of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha, monks, nuns, and Buddhists at home and abroad to the country.
The Deputy Prime Minister emphasized that Buddhism has always made important and worthy contributions to the cause of building and defending the Fatherland. Buddhist activities and social activities are always innovative, closely following vivid reality, always aiming at people, for people. Charitable, humanitarian and social security activities are widely supported by followers, Buddhists and people.
The Deputy Prime Minister highly appreciated the participation and active material and spiritual contributions of Buddhism in the prevention and fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, together with the whole country to consolidate and promote the spirit and strength of great national unity, overcome difficulties, defeat the pandemic, and contribute to socio-economic recovery and development.
In the coming time, the Deputy Prime Minister requested that the delegates of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha continue to promote the tradition of solidarity, set good examples, implement and encourage monks, nuns, and Buddhist followers to well implement the Party's guidelines and policies, and the State's policies and laws.
The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his hope that the Buddhist nuns of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha will continue to work with the Sangha to promote people-to-people diplomacy activities, especially religious diplomacy, contributing to promoting the image of Vietnam, its land and people, and the policy of respecting and protecting freedom of belief and religion for all people of the Vietnamese State, while affirming the position of Vietnamese Buddhism in the international arena./.
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