1 Rights based rural development in practice 6 years of experience Chia sẻ Vietnam - Sweden.

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Rights based rural development in practice

6 years of experience

Chia sẻ Vietnam - Sweden

How was it doneDecentralization to the lowest level

by

Enabling villagers to choose the activities for village development plans and to control their development budget.

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How was it doneTransparencybyAnnouncing funds at the start of planning and making budget decisions in open village meetings

Assuring equal say of all groups in the village

AccountabilitybyVillagers managing and monitoring implementation

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Verified Results 2003 - 2009

• Poverty fell faster in Chia sẻ areas than in comparable areas

• There are clear indications that Chia sẻ contributed to this difference

• There are indications that the poverty reduction is more sustainable than in comparable areas

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Verified Results 2003 - 2009

• Increased efficency of local implementation of National Targeted Programs for Poverty Reduction

• Strongest of all studied programs in practical implementation of grass root democracy

• Active participation in villages increased significantly

• Sense of empowerment increased, especially among women and minorities

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Why was efficient poverty reduction accomplished?

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Why efficient poverty reduction

• Villagers owning the process led to more demand-driven development priorities

• Villagers were effective in avoiding waste by removing non-profitable activities and taking care of investments

• Villagers managed to avoid social discontent through local planning and decision-making

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…why efficient poverty reduction

• Corruption risks reduced through local supervision and increased local knowledge about finances

• Decentralized capacity building

• Decentralized operations and maintenance

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Four lessons learned

1. Poor people can come together in village meetings to assess their development needs and agree on a joint plan for improving their living conditions.

2. The development plans adopted by village meetings have proven effective in promoting economic growth and sustainable poverty reduction.

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…four lessons learned

3. Empowerment of local communities requires that the poor gets influence on decision making and control over public resources.

4. Effective use of the Chia se approach to empowering the poor requires significant capacity building of villagers and local officials.

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What now?

Chia sẻ 2009-2013 will:

• Contribute with experiences and support to other programs

• Test integration into national and local development planning

• Continue supporting New Rural Development in four districts

• Implement the road map for further assistance to New Rural Development

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What now?

Sweden will continue to support development activities in Vietnam

The core of Swedish development funding will be partner driven cooperation activities

Sweden will continue to be an active partner in donor forums in Hanoi

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