Challenges to Rural Poverty Reduction in Viet Nam - Oxfam Blogs

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Participatory poverty monitoring in rural communities in Viet Nam 54 People participate more in designing and planning programmes and projects. In 2007 villagers were only invited to meetings to be informed of a programme or project’s implementation. By 2011 local residents were more involved in the design and planning phases. A typical example is the ‘Housing support for the poor’ programme under Decision 167, which provided households with the opportunity to select the design and take part in planning the construction of their own houses. Household beneficiaries under Decision 167, with assistance from relatives and village, spent more on materials and labour in digging foundations, levelling the floor, transporting materials and mixing mortar for the construction of their house. Some provinces (Nghe An, Quang Tri) are applying participatory approaches to improve socio-economic planning and the delivery of demand-driven public services. See Section 8 “Participatory socio-economic development planning and decentralized investments at commune level”. However, people’s participation in the designing and planning phases is still limited for many investment projects. Projects funded by district and province are managed by contractors: local residents, and commune and village cadres have little opportunity to contribute to the design and planning phase. As leaders of the People’s Committee of Luong Minh commune-Nghe An reported on a rural road project in the Settlement and Sedentary Farming Programme in a local village: “The district came to implement the project without informing our commune. After completing it, the contractor told the commune that he had just built a road in Cham Puong”. Community-based monitoring of investments is not effective in many places. When the investor is the commune, community-based monitoring is effective. However, for projects funded at higher levels, with no local contributions of cash or labour, contractors make it difficult for the Community Supervision Board to carry out its monitoring responsibilities. In Cu Hue-Dak Lak contractors undertaking construction projects in the commune in 2009 and 2010, did not inform the Community Supervision Board of the project’s progress. Community Supervision Boards had similar experiences in Thuan Hoa-Ha Giang, Thanh Xuong-Dien Bien and were reported by Fatherland Front cadres in Luong Minh-Nghe An. In some other cases members of the Community Supervision Board lacking an understanding of construction techniques are unable to read construction drawings and are unclear about the division of responsibilities. After five years participation in project management and operation is still limited. Many projects, after construction, do not have regulations regarding participatory management and operation. In others regulations aren’t implemented, adversely affecting the quality and efficiency of the project. On the other hand in some villages with a strong sense of community project management and operation has been implemented well (Box 1.10).
Five-year Synthesis Report Part 1: Poverty Trends and Key Themes of Rural Poverty Reduction BOX 1.10. Project management and operation: advantages and disadvantages 55 Water supply project in Khu Chu Tung 1 village - a favourable case In 2005, the H’Mong people in Khu Chu Tung 1 village, Ban Lien commune (Bac Ha, Lao Cai) were supported by a Programme 135 water supply project. After receving the water system from the contractor, the village elected a three person management team. Members of the team are re-elected annually. Households pay management fees of 5 kg paddy/rice/ household/ year (10 kg since 2011). All households who use the water pay full management fees. The project management team divides the work among its members. Whenever it rains and the water pipeline is blocked, the team members visit, clean and clear it. The team reminds users to use water reasonably and consider the uses of other households. After six years of operation, the water supply project is still operating well. Maintenance of the main road in Cu Hue commune- a difficult case The portion of the main road running through Cu Hue commune (Eakar, Dak Lak), funded by the province, was completed in 2009. In late 2010, local authorities and households living along the road joined forces to repair it. By September 2011, the repairs was completed. The road can only bear 10 tons, but many lorries of more than 15 or even 40 tons use it, causing significant damage. The Dong Tam village Management Board has fined some lorries about 200 - 300,000 VND but large lorries continue to use the road. Residents are very concerned but do not know who to report the problem to. For community-initiated small construction projects, local residents show their good ownership through their self-motivated and active participation in the whole project implementation process. In the last five years, at the monitoring points, there have been many community initiatives, contributed and implemented by local people themselves, for example the community house project in Minh Phong village (Thuan Hoa-Ha Giang) in 2008, the concrete road built by the inter-family group No. 6 in Huong Tho village (Duc Huong-Ha Tinh) in 2009, the Cultural House in Chan Nuoi 2 Village (Thanh Xuong-Dien Bien) in 2010, bridge spanning the stream in Chan Puong village (Luong Minh-Nghe An) in 2011... With community initiatives, people participate very actively in designing, planning, contribution of cash and labour, locally available materials, project monitoring and supervision and operation and maintenance. Active participation helps these projects have high quality, showing the common intelligence and strength of the community. Role of community institutions in enhancing people’s participation Community institutions play an active role enhancing people’s participation in programmes and projects. In the last five years, some community institutions have been maintained and developed effectively; but others are fading away and reducing their role in community life. Village heads Village heads play the most important role in promoting villagers’ participation. Village heads organize people’s participation in village activities. They play different roles, such as the head of the reconciliation team, member of the Fatherland Front and
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Page 7: PREFACE 1 7 In early 2007, Viet Nam
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Part 3 Toward Sustainable Rural Pov
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