GENDER EQUALITY RESULTS IN ADB PROJECTS
Viet Nam Country Report
Kate Nethercott Tuyen Nguyen Juliet Hunt
Asian Development Bank
© 2010 Asian Development Bank
All rights reserved. Published 2010.
Printed in the Philippines.
ISBN 978-92-9092-099-1
Publication Stock No. RPT101458
Cataloging-In-Publication Data
Nethercott, Kate, et al.
Gender equality results in ADB projects: Viet Nam country report.
Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, 2010.
1. Gender equality.2. Asian Development Bank.3. Viet Nam.I. Asian Development Bank.
The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent.
ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use.
By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term “country” in this document, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area.
ADB encourages printing or copying information exclusively for personal and noncommercial use with proper acknowledgment of ADB. Users are restricted from reselling, redistributing, or creating derivative works for commercial purposes without the express, written consent of ADB.
Note:
In this report, “$” refers to US dollars.
Asian Development Bank
6 ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City
1550 Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel +63 2 632 4444
Fax +63 2 636 2444
For orders, please contact:
Department of External Relations
Fax +63 2 636 2648
Acknowledgments
This report is one of a series of four country reports and one synthesis report presenting findings of rapid gender assessments of selected loan projects financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in four developing member countries: Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam. This series follows the first round of rapid gender assessments carried out in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, and Pakistan in 2004–2005. The authors prepared this report under the guidance of Shireen Lateef, director, Social Sectors, Southeast Asia Department, and chair, Gender Equity Community of Practice; Asian Development Bank (ADB); and Sonomi Tanaka, principal social development specialist (gender and development) at ADB. A national dissemination workshop was conducted in Ha Noi on 6 November 2009.
The authors acknowledge the assistance provided by staff and consultants working on the projects in this assessment, including from the ministries and provincial departments of Construction, Health, and Education. ADB team leaders also provided much assistance, including Do Nhat Hoang, Eiko Izawa, Lisa Studdert, and Vincent De Wit. The authors also acknowledge the assistance provided by project gender advisers Nguyen Thanh Tam and Vu Manh Loi and by the Viet Nam Women’s Union in Dong Ha and Ha Tinh, in particular Bui Thi Cuc, chair of the Viet Nam Women’s Union. The authors also thank all ADB staff who provided valuable feedback and comments on the rapid gender assessment report during its development. Aldrin Roco assisted in production.
The authors hope that the report will be useful to governments, nongovernment organizations, development practitioners, researchers, and other individuals working in the field of gender and development.
Abbreviations
| ADB | – | Asian Development Bank |
| CBS | – | community-based sanitation |
| CRUEIP | – | Central Region Urban Environmental Improvement Project |
| CMC | – | community management committee |
| DMF | – | design and monitoring framework |
| GAP | – | gender action plan |
| GEMAP | – | gender and ethnic minorities action plan |
| HICH | – | Health Care in the Central Highlands |
| HIV | – | human immunodeficiency virus |
| IEC | – | information, education, and communication |
| MOET | – | Ministry of Education and Training |
| NPIU | – | national planning and implementation unit |
| PPC | – | provincial people’s committee |
| PMU | – | project management unit (national level) |
| PPMU | – | provincial project management unit |
| RGA | – | rapid gender assessment |
| RRP | – | report and recommendation of the President (loan document) |
| Sida | – | Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency |
| URENCO | – | Urban Environmental Company |
| USEDP | – | Upper Secondary Education Development Project |
| VWU | – | Viet Nam Women’s Union |
Currency Equivalents
(as of 24 February 2010)
Currency Unit – dong (VND)
D1.00 = $0. 0000536769
$1.00 = D18,630.00
Executive Summary
Rapid Gender Assessments
Rapid gender assessments (RGAs) of 12 loans in four countries (Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, and Viet Nam) were undertaken as part of the ongoing commitment of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to aid effectiveness and to assess gender equality results. With three loans selected from various sectors in each country, the RGAs were not designed to meet the broad range of criteria for an evaluation. The aim was to assess the extent to which project-specific gender action plans (GAPs) or gender provisions in ADB loans contributed to gender equality results and overall project outcomes, and to share knowledge on the key features of GAPs and gender provisions that contributed to these results.
The three loan projects assessed in Viet Nam were:
| (i) | Central Region Urban Environmental Improvement Project (CRUEIP), loan 2034, approved 8 December 2003 for $44 million, completed 31 December 2009; |
| (ii) | Health Care in the Central Highlands (HICH) project, loan 2076, approved 6 January 2004 for $20 million, anticipated completion, June 2010; and |
| (iii) | Upper Secondary Education Development Project (USEDP), loan 1979, approved 7 December 2002 for $55 million, anticipated completion, June 2011. |
This report is one of a series of four country reports that assess gender equality results in the following areas: participation in project activities; access to resources; practical benefits delivered to women; and changes in gender relations at individual, community, and institutional levels. A synthesis report compares results and summarizes lessons across all four countries, and provides recommendations to assist ADB to meet its commitments to gender