AECID Needs a Greater Involvement of Key Local Actors

AECID´s cooperation programs in Vietnam over the period 2005-2008 were outlined in the Country Strategy Paper 2005-2008, which was aligned with Vietnam’s Socio-Economic Development Plan 2006-2010. AECID has promoted the implementation of projects and programs in Vietnam through two basic cooperation instruments: bilateral cooperation (including projects and partnerships co-managed by Spanish ONGs) and multilateral cooperation, mainly in collaboration with United Nations and the World Bank.

 

Bilateral cooperation between both countries has been implemented by way of projects and programmes managed by ministries, government agencies and civil society organizations. Bilateral cooperation has focused on the following main sectors: rural development, environment conservation, education and vocational training, gender, social security, tourism and micro-credit. This cooperation includes specific projects and programmes such as the following: (1) “Social services for vulnerable groups and workers” (implemented by MOLISA); (2) “Study of policies and recommendations for the support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the aquaculture sector in rural areas” (implemented by the Institute of Policy and Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development); (3) “Model of territorial-based rural development in the northern zone of Vietnam” (implemented by the National Institute of Agricultural Planning and Projection); (4) “Program of cooperation in the tourism sector between Vietnam and Spain” (implemented by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism); (5) “Center for women, children-victims of Human Trafficking” (project implemented by Vietnam Women’s Union); etc. 

 

Regarding multilateral cooperation, AECID in Vietnam is actively involved in a growing number of multilateral frameworks of cooperation including donors, multilateral institutions and the Vietnamese government such as the following: (1) Implementation of UN Reform process in Vietnam (“One UN Initiative”) and UN joint programs through financial support from the Spain-UNDP MDG-Fund, and engagement with the Tripartite National Task Force for UN Reform and the Donor Informal Group; (2) Strategic Partnership with UNDP for Poverty Reduction in Vietnam; and (3) General budget support to the Government of Vietnam in the framework of the Poverty Reduction Support Credit (PRSC), a comprehensive development program led by the World Bank and co-financed by a number of donors.

A new country strategy paper and partnership framework is due to be drafted and come into force in 2009/2010. Strategic lines of upcoming legal and technical frameworks are expected to focus on: (1) sound selection and reduction of priority areas in line with Vietnam’s rapid development process and Spain’s comparative advantage. Priority areas are preliminary identified as follows: rural development; local governance and decentralization; gender; environmental protection and climate change; (2) active commitment to multilateralism, division of labour among donors, and engagement with multilateral partnerships in areas of mutual interest and expertise.    

The Partnership Group for Aid Effectiveness (PGAE) is a multilateral framework of development policy dialogue aimed at implementing in Vietnam the Paris Declaration, the Hanoi Core Statement and the Accra Agenda for Action. According to Mr Benito Alvarez Fernández, Resident Representative of AECID in Vietnam, the PGAE is a very useful instrument to address cooperation-related matters to enhance aid effectiveness. In this regard, at the moment one of the main challenges is, from AECID’s point of view, to promote a greater involvement of key local actors in the consultation processes on international cooperation and development, such as civil society organizations and provincial and local governments.