Non-governmental organisations (NGOs), in their funding of projects in Vietnam, have made significant contributions to alleviating poverty and advancing the rural development process, particularly in remote regions that are home to many poor and ethnic minority people.
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat made this comment in a dialogue on cooperation with NGOs, held in Hanoi on March 23.
The Minister called on NGOs to provide additional assistance toward agriculture development, pointing out priorities such as promoting the country’s wide variety of foodstuffs, animal and plant epidemic control, assistance to districts with poverty rates exceeding 50 percent, environmental protection, and preventing and responding to natural disasters.
While Official Development Assistance (ODA) inflows into the country are declining, donations from NGOs are continuing to increase. Total aid has gone up from 20 million USD each year between 1986-1990 to 260 million USD in 2008 alone.
Vietnam now has official relationships with 650 NGOs, 500 of which have pledged long-term assistance.
According to the People’s Aid Coordinating Committee (PACCOM), all provinces and cities nationwide have received some sort of NGO-sourced assistance in various fields, primarily health care, education, and social and economic development.
The funding is also prioritised for rural and remote regions, and particularly areas populated by ethnic minority groups and those heavily impacted by the aftermath of war.
A report on NGOs’ assistance toward agriculture indicates that nearly all the projects are high-efficiency, primarily because they prioritise local participation.
However, a recent survey conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with the support of the International Support Group (ISG) has pointed out shortcomings in the coordination between management agencies, officials and NGOs, and thus, several projects have not been in harmony with master sector development plans.
Also during the dialogue, Minister Phat said that the Vietnamese government, aiming to fully tap all resources being put toward social development, has implemented a number of legal documents to help facilitate the operations of NGOs and their projects in Vietnam.
Agriculture, one of Vietnam’s highest-priority sectors, in recent years has maintained strong growth, reaching 3.44 percent in 2007 and 3.8 percent in 2008. However, the sector also bears the burden of current impacts from the global recession.