The campaign will take place for nearly a month, with the focus of volunteer activities scheduled in cities and provinces in the Central Highlands and the southern region. Some activities will also occur in Laos. Officials have targeted participation by approximately 90,000 young people and students.

In HCM City yesterday, the HCM City Students Association and the Youth Union organised a launching ceremony for the 21st Green Summer Campaign, with an initial participation by more than 4,000 youngsters.

Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, HCM City Party deputy secretary, who attended the ceremony, expressed her appreciation for the Green Summer Campaign and praised the young volunteers for their contributions towards the general development of the community.

Immediately following the ceremony, several awareness-raising activities, such as encouraging people to stop running their motorbike engines at red lights or handing out 500 paper bags, were begun.

The same day, the southern province of Soc Trang also launched the youth volunteer campaign, which will see more than 500 college students, including those from other southern provinces of Can Tho, Hau Giang and Vinh Long, and from HCM City, along with local students, participate in volunteer activities in the province's remote and disadvantaged areas.

The volunteers will help clean roads, distribute information about hygiene to ethnic groups, and offer advice about rice farming.

Earlier on Friday, the southern province of Vinh Long also launched the summer campaign, with the participation of more than 1,200 students from 13 colleges and vocational schools.

Activities include offering education of soft skills to adolescents in residential areas, helping children with their summer homework and assisting the police in directing traffic.

Nguyen Huynh Thu, deputy secretary of the provincial Youth Union, said the Green Summer campaign is a good opportunity for the youth to improve their own soft skills.