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DFID's development role in Vietnam is managed by
DFID Vietnam (Hanoi)
Vietnam
has made extraordinary
progress in reducing poverty
and increasing economic
growth during the last 10
years. In 1992, 58% of the
population had an income of
less than $1 a day. By 2002,
the number had halved to
29%. This is due to the
commitment of the Government
and people of Vietnam to
develop their country, and
the support of international
donors.
However,
that still leaves some 23
million Vietnamese people
living in poverty today, and
around 11% living in hunger.
There is an increasing gap
between rich and poor, and
some areas of the country
and groups of society,
particularly ethnic minority
people, are being left
behind. The challenge now is
a continued and sustainable
reduction in poverty and
increase in economic growth,
and to ensure that everyone
benefits.
DFID's
programme in Vietnam
supports the Government of
Vietnam's own poverty
reduction and economic
growth strategy. Our
programme is set out in our
Country Assistance Plan
2004-06, which has three key
objectives:
Objective
(i): Promote the efficient,
effective and equitable use
of public financial
resources, eg. by
strengthening Government
budgeting and planning
processes and by supporting
improvements in public
financial management and
efforts to tackle
corruption.
Objective
(ii): Strengthen the
Government's efforts to
achieve socially inclusive
development and
accountability to citizens, eg.
by improving the quality and
reach of education and
transport services for poor
people, by improving the
Government's systems for
gathering data about poverty
and using it in policy
making, and by supporting
the Government's own
programmes to help the poor.
Objective
(iii): Support the process
of economic and social
change in Vietnam, eg.
by supporting a wide range
of economic and social
reforms, providing our funds
directly to the Government
of Vietnam's budget, and
helping the Government
reform State Owned
Enterprises and develop the
private sector, which will
create more jobs, including
for poor people.
An
objective which runs
throughout our programme is
helping to make the overall
development effort in
Vietnam (from Government,
bilateral and multilateral
donors and NGOs) coherent
and well coordinated so that
it will be as effective as
possible. We do this by
working where we can through
the Government of Vietnam's
own systems (and contribute
to strengthening them)
rather than creating new
systems; and by financing
our activities where
possible with other donors
to reduce the time
Government officials have to
spend dealing with donors.
As
a result of Vietnam's rapid
progress and the remaining
need to reduce poverty and
further increase growth,
DFID is increasing its
funding to Vietnam from £24
million in financial year
2003/04, to £60 million in
financial year 2005/06.
Additional Information about DFID's involvement
in Vietnam can be found in the current edition of
Statistics
on International Development
and in the current
DFID Departmental Report
The Vietnam
Country Assistance Plan, available
here in PDF, contains more detailed information about DFID's development objectives and commitments.
The Foreign &
Commonwealth Office
website here
holds detailed
information in its
Country Profiles
section. The 'World
Factbook', accessible here,
covers the following
issues: Geography,
Population, Government,
Economy, Communications,
Transportation,
Military, and
Transnational Issues.
Detailed statistical information, including indicators of social and economic development over the past thirty years, gender, health, nutrition and population statistics, is available from the World Bank Group at
www.worldbank.org/data/countrydata/countrydata.html
For further information about DFID's development priorities and activity, contact:
DFID Vietnam
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