Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen The Phuong said the initiative is expected to help increase the country’s capacity to prepare socio-economic development plans which incorporate development goals, as well as to review existing plans.

Better social development monitoring and reporting will help provide more updated and comprehensive information about the implementation of plans, and pinpoint successful measures, Phuong said.

This will not only enhance capacity to meet development goals but to advance other social goals as well.

Vietnam reached its target of cutting poverty rate in half back in 2002 and instituted universalising primary education in 2000, Phuong said. It has also seen advancement in gender equality and children’s healthcare, consistent with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

UN Development Programme (UNDP) Deputy Country Director Bakhodir Burkhanov said progress on these goals is being reviewed and reported regularly as part of an institutional monitoring process.

This will provide much-needed evidence of how social development policies in Vietnam are working, Burkhanov said.

Ongoing monitoring and reporting needs to be transparent and inclusive, involving public institutions as well as civil society groups and professional and mass organizations, he said.

Stakeholder contributions, both in terms of providing data for the MDG reports and actively participating in policy consultations, will be key to ensuring the quality of reporting and its impact on policy-making, he added.

In today’s golbalised world, he stressed, international integration and south-south co-operation will continue to gain further prominence. This project will facilitate Vietnam’s exchange of experiences with other developing countries and its ability to study proven MDG-acceleration strategies and development solutions, he said.

Project launched

Another project funded by the United Nations Development Programme was officially launched on January 16 in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho.

The administrative reform project, which will be implemented until 2016, has a total investment capital of more than US$1.4 million, of which US$1.15 million is from non-refundable Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The four-year project will help improve the performance of Can Tho’s civil servants and the quality of public administrative services through a one-stop-shop mechanism.

It will also aim to create a more favourable investment and business environment in the city.

The UNDP administrative reform project began late last year in two other locations, Danang City and Bac Giang Province. It will be implemented in Ha Tinh province in the near future.