grantees » Ly Quoc Dang

Ly Quoc comes from an ethnic Kmher community in Vietnam’s Mekong delta, one of the areas predicted to be most adversely affected by global climate change. Because his family was not in the position to pay school fees, he struggled throughout his youth to gain a formal education. Due to strong motivation he excelled in his study of environmental science, and has brought the knowledge and skills he has gained directly back to his community through participatory environmental awareness activities. He possesses the capacity to motivate other people to work in defence of community rights and the environment.

After succesfully participating in one round of the JWH initative Ly Quoc Dang has received another grant to prepare himself International Executive Master in Development Studies (IMAS) program at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. 

In his own words he would wants to “set up the local Non-Government Organization in Mekong Delta to build the capacity of the civil society in the region of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam and the Mekong region. My organisation aims to do advocacy work, on issues such as  gender, poverty and climate change, youth, and the minority voice.”

EarthRights International (ERI) combines the power of law and the power of people in defence of human rights and the environment—our earth rights. We specialize in fact-finding, legal actions against perpetrators of earth rights abuses, training for grassroots and community leaders and advocacy campaigns. Through these strategies, ERI seeks to end earth rights abuses, to provide real solutions for real people, and to promote and protect earth rights.