Background
In June 2007, the Aid Monitoring Group (AMG) was initiated by a group of international and Vietnamese NGOs, who have been involved in aid effectiveness activities and the official development assistance (ODA) agenda for several years.
The AMG was initiated with the purpose of developing and carrying out independent monitoring of the implementation of aid in Vietnam, in order to enhance the accountability of donors and government to citizens in Vietnam, and ensure that donor strategies and programmes reflect the priorities of the Vietnamese people - particularly poor and vulnerable members of society. By enhancing coordination among NGOs and civil society organisations (CSO) in the monitoring of aid, the AMG also seeks to strengthen the dialogue and interaction between development actors and donors in Vietnam.
Co-chairs & Members
The AMG is organised on a voluntary basis and co-chaired by the VUFO-NGO Resource Centre (NGO RC) and the Vietnamese NGO Centre for Cooperation & Human Resource Development (C&D) . A number of international members of the NGO RC are part of the AMG, as are members of the newly established Vietnam Development Forum (VDF), which consists of six different CSO networks.
Networks
At the regional level, the AMG is linked to the NGO Forum on the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Bank Information Centre (BIC), which are both involved in work on multilateral development banks, and in particular, safeguard policies.
Future activities
The AMG is in process of designing an independent monitoring initiative, which will link national-level, policy-focused work with community-level, people’s monitoring activities. The outcome of this initiative will be a report, which will be submitted to the National Assembly (NA) and form part of the ongoing capacity building of the NA in relation to aid monitoring. This process is expected to start in November 2007.
Organised between October 9-12, 2007 by the Reality of Aid Network and the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association (VUSTA), with support from S-CODE, the VUFO-NGO Resource Centre and UNDP, this workshop was held to raise awareness regarding aid effectiveness among regional civil society organisations (CSOs), and specifically to discuss the role of CSOs in enhancing AE, particularly in relation to the Paris Declaration towards the High Level Forum in Accra, Ghana in 2008.
Presentations & Discussion points
Held between October 3-4, 2007 with participation from members of the Committee of Social Affairs, Parliament members, elective members of People's Councils, Action Aid London's Ms Romilly Greenhill, Director of C&D, Director of Action Aid Vietnam, and Managing Director of NGO Resource Centre, this workshop aimed to promote understanding and knowledge among elective members on supervising aid for social programmes, policy and the Law on Charity Activities.
Presentations
Organised on October 2, 2007 by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association (VUSTA), with support from S-CODE, the VUFO-NGO Resource Centre and UNDP, this workshop was held to raise awareness regarding aid effectiveness among national civil society organisations (CSOs), and specifically to discuss the role of CSOs in enhancing aid effectiveness.
Presentations
Documents
On September 12, 2007, the AMG organised a consultation meeting on World Bank conditionality. The consultation was part of the WB’s multi-stakeholder consultations currently being carried out in 10 IDA countries as part of preparations for the WB Second Progress Report. Two members of the AMG - Action Aid Vietnam (AAV) and C&D - co-chaired the meeting, which was attended by more than 30 participants from a range of NGOs, CSOs and academia.
Background papers
The Partnership Group for Aid Effectiveness (PGAE) is a formalised forum to coordinate, discuss and monitor aid effectiveness in Vietnam. The High Level Forums on Aid Effectiveness and, finally the Paris Declaration in 2003 and localised Hanoi Core Statement provided the final impetus to formalisation of the PGAE as the coordinating body responsible for following up on Vietnam's Paris commitments. The forum ultimately acts as a coordinator in Vietnam for GoV, donors and other stakeholders to implement the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Hanoi Core Statement on Aid Effectiveness.
Participants
Membership of the PGAE consists of:
PGAE meetings are co-chaired by a government and a donor representative, with the latter being appointed by mutual consensus among all donors on a rotation basis every six months. Participants to the meetings include GoV officials and representatives of all donor agencies present in the country, namely: representatives of the Like Minded Donor Group (Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Australia), the 5 Bank group, EU, UN/UNDP, Japan and the US. The Director of the Foreign Economic Relations Department (FERD) of the Ministry of Planning and Investment acts as government representatives but representatives from key ministries such as Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development, etc. have also been progressively more involved in the group. Development counsellors normally represent donors.
Non-government stakeholders
CSOs, INGOs, the private sector and other community groups are increasingly engaged in the aid effectiveness agenda. They play an important and productive role in assisting Vietnam to reach its development goals, including through helping to achieve the objectives of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Hanoi Core Statement on Aid Effectiveness.
In terms of the PGAE, non-government stakeholders have a role in terms of advocating on development issues, funding development activities with their own resources, and tracking how effectively ODA is used in Vietnam. They play a key role in feeding lessons learnt on the ground from their activities to the PGAE and other partnership groups. They also engage communities in the development process, thereby contributing to the improvement of ODA utilisation in Vietnam,
especially with regards to aid effectiveness, and are therefore seen as important stakeholders in PGAE operations.
Activities
The PGAE is an effective platform to discuss the challenges, lessons learnt and practical ways to advance the implementation of the Paris commitments in a participatory and binding environment. Although there is no formal mandate or Terms of Reference (ToR), participants meet on regular bases (at least once a month) to address different issues of the harmonisation agenda and propose solutions. Participation is completely voluntary and decisions are based on mutual acceptance and consensus.
The PGAE takes a pro-active role in sharing information and in building consensus on aid effectiveness issues through:
For more information on the PGAE, click on the articles below or visit the Official Development Assistance homepage of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.
Further reading