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JUNE 2002
Vietnam 5 Cities Project Wins A Stockholm Partnerships Award

On the World Environment Day, 14 final winners were announced and received the Stockholm Partnerships Award from His Majesty, the King of Sweden, at a ceremony in Stockholm City Hall.
The winners represent innovative solutions for sustainable development in metropolitan areas from thirteen countries around the world.

Our good friend Nguyen Thu Houng
accepts the Partnership award from the King of Sweden

On this page are the EARLY UPDATES
from 2000 to 2003

Go HERE for 2004

We are now working
with 8 cities in Vietnam

Hai Duong,
Viet Tri,
Vinh,
Hue,
Danang,
Qui Nhon,
District 2 HCMC, and
Can Tho

VIETNAM UPDATES

AUGUST 2003

REPORT FROM VIETNAM from Huong Thu Nguyen

We are now working with 8 cities Hai Duong, Viet Tri, Vinh, Hue, Danang, Qui Nhon, District 2 HCMC, and Can Tho. with support from ACHR and more recently ENDA Vietnam.
Most support is used for exchange visits and the recent workshops. Over the past few months we organized 8 city level workshops to consolidate saving and credit activities at the community level and also to assess the Community Development Fund in each city. We also bring in other cities to share experiences so the workshops were actually like sub-regional workshops (North, Center, South). City workshop participants were around 60-80 people and mostly community people who are directly involved with saving and credits activities in the city. The leader of each city such as Mayor, Community Development Fund (CDF) management committee and mass organization people also participated in the workshops. Most of the workshops we have very thoughtfully prepared and the discussion was mainly about how the saving and credit groups could improve their performance and mobilize more people and resources. Workshop participants very pleased with the idea of networking savings groups coming together at the Ward level first and ask for the support from local government at Ward level. The local authority is still very committed with this process even though in most cases the people who really handle the management of this CDF is woman union. We are very fortunate to have 3 new members in our city network.

Danang, Vinh and District 2 Ho Chi Minh City agreed to become new member of our network and they are very active.

In fact Danang has so much to offer to other cities to learn such as the S&C system develops by woman union is very effective there both in term of mobilizing people and in managing its money. The way they manage they system is very impressive and the money it is able to mobilize from different sources is around 1.2 Million $.

On the other hand, Vinh is a good example of City Development Vision/Strategic Planning (development of 5-year project under UNCHS framework - LA21) and how community participation can contribute toward city development plan as a whole.

Ho Chi Minh City also gives us very lively experience from their model of "Spring Saving" or "Self Help" saving groups (advantage and disadvantage of these initiatives). For example a clearance of the treasure at the end of each New Year time creates many difficulties for group member to access any financial support at least 3 months in the beginning of the year.

However, the 5 secondary cities is bringing practical example of how "Community Development Fund" helps to improve living condition of the poor. CDFs is not only for income generation but how to use the fund to collect more people to work together. Via CDFs how local authorities really do to support and promote these activities at city level.... It also helps to realize the role of saving network as a necessary condition for any further financial support to these cities.

The next workshop in Danang at the 24-25 of August will help those cities to plan their own activities in the next two-year but also do plan for this network and define the direction in which they want to go.

August 2003

Vietnam Exchange Visit to Thailand

CONTACT
Nguyen Thu Huong
nguyenthuhuong@hotmail.com

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS
Programme in Vietnam

Jan 6 –192001

ACHR in collaboration with CASE Thailand and MIT US and Oxford Brookes UK and the University of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam organised a 2 week summer school for Young Professionals in Ho Chi Minh City.

MIT and Oxford-Brookes bought 30 post graduate development students to the workshop and practicum in the communities.

ACHR CASE YP Patama Roonrakwit coordinated this with the Faculty of Architecture at the University in HCM City.

YP's comprised: 30 students from UK and USA, 20 from Vietnam; Cambodia 3 and Thailand 6.

An important impact of the process was the fact that local, regional and international students were permitted to work together in 8 different urban poor communities in Ho Chi Minh City

Patama Roonrakwit reported that "this was the first time that this kind of participatory workshop was allowed in Vietnam …. and government and administrative systems in Vietnam were very cooperative. "

JUNE 2001 UPDATE Community Development Fund Workshop

Groups from the 5 cities met to strengthen the networking process between the 5 city’s savings organisations. They also initiated a Community Development Fund in Vietnam. Somsook Boonyabancha (ACHR Sec Gen) and a group of community and support persons went along to help organise. The concept of the CDF is similar to the Urban Poor Development Fund [UPDF] established by ACHR in Cambodia and currently being developed in Laos and Nepal.
The key purpose of the CDF is to provide a stimulus to the existing and new community based groups, to work more closely together through the mechanism of sharing the fund as well as managing it with city level participation, to promote a more balanced partnership for future local development initiatives.

NOTE:
The 5 cities in Vietnam were participants in the UNCHS Support to Provincial Cities Program Vietnam. The UNCHS project has run into some funding hurdles and while these are being attended to (over a probable 12-19 month period) UNCHS Fukuoka has now sub-contracted ACHR to keep the programme active.

ACHR WEB SITE
In VIETNAMESE

Discussions are being held with Tran Minh Chau to plan translation into Vietnamese of selected materials relevant to urban poor development in Vietnam.

Minh Chau will also begin translating relevant parts of ACHR’s Web site and help prepare a Vietnamese language site.

Earlier City Reports VIET TRI CITY APRIL 2000 In Duu Lau Ward communities are working to manage their solid waste collection and provide secure jobs for local scavengers. In Tho Son and Tien Cat Wards poor women’s savings and credit groups are building low cost toilets for their families. JUNE 2001 A community built walkway (financed partly by loans and partly by community contributions of cash and labor) has been completed and a point of pride in the city. The garbage collection project has provided secure jobs for local scavengers. Also there has been lots of loans to start livestock breeding and sewing enterprises.
HUE CITY In Phu Binh, Kim Long and Xuan Phu Wards low income communities are organising small scale improvements. With technical support from the city and the ward, they hire contractors and monitor the work. In Vi Da Ward poor women are gaining access to credit through their savings groups.
CAN THO CITY In Xuan Khanh Ward low income families have formed savings and credit groups to generate finance for improving their sanitation. In An Hoa Ward women’s savings groups provide credit to start up and develop the members’ small-scale enterprises.
HAI DUONG CITY In Ngoc Chau and Nguyen Trai Wards community savings and credit groups are financing infrastructure improvements like concreting lanes, installing street lighting and improving drainage. A lot more income generation loans are going on here, including one project to cultivate difficult land.
QUY NHON CITY In Hai Cang Ward small scale infrastructure improvements are being initiated and paid for by the communities with some technical assistance from the ward. In Le Hong Phong Ward savings and credit groups are helping poor families develop their livelihoods.
VIETNAM EXCHANGE VISITS IN ASIA JUNE - SEPT 2002 Thailand - Vietnam Exchanges A series of Community Exchanges between the 5 Cities project communities and Thai groups continues May through to September. And similarly with groups from ENDA working in Ho Chi Minh City. MAY 2002 Groups from the 5 Cities visit Thailand Focus: Daily Savings and Networks APRIL 2002 Govt and Community groups visit Surabaya and Thailand Jan - April: Advisory visits by Somsook Boonyabancha to Vietnam Local workshops and Exchange to strengthen the Urban Poor Fund APRIL 2000 The first exchange visit organised by ACHR for this programme comprised Mayors, Vice Mayors, government officials and UNCHS project officers working with communities in the 5 cities. In 10 days they visited 3 cities - Bangkok and Kohn Kaen in Thailand, and Surabaya in Indonesia - with 27 field visits and meetings with local authorities and urban poor communities. The second exchange visit took place in April to Thailand and Sri Lanka and comprised participants from community and ward levels involved in the pilot projects summarized above	Click HERE for a brief summary and photo story of the first exposure.