Adapted from a presentation made during National Steering Committee Meeting

1. UN Government of Vietnam Joint Programme on Gender Equality (JPGE) Delivering as One Viet Nam :Experience with Joint Programming to address Gender Based Violence Bruce Campbell, UNFPA Representative in Viet NamJoint Executive Board Meeting, January 15, 2010, New York Adapted from a presentation made during National Steering Committee Meeting on 16 December 2009, Ha Noi, Vietnam

2. Presentation Outline Outline of Presentation • Delivering as One • Delivering as One : Viet Nam context • Delivering as One : What has been delivered thus far • Gender Based Violence • GBV context: in Viet Nam • Joint Programme Overview • Major achievements • Major challenges • Lessons learned and conclusion

3. “We recognize the UN achievements, and we now see a more effective UN, engaging with us ‘as One’ on key policy priorities, we see a UN ready to take steps to simplify and harmonize their procedures, we see the One UN working better together to ensure they build programmatic linkages and synergies for enhanced development impact and taking concrete steps to avoid duplication. The UN now clearly is not the same as the UN 3 years ago.” Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyễn Quốc Cường at the Roundtable on UN Reform, 19 January 2009

4. A snapshot of the development context Rationale for UN Reform in VN RAPID AND DYNAMIC DEVELPMENT • Movement toward Middle Income Country Status • Unprecedented economic growth and membership in WTO • Growing middle class with increasing disposable income • Population mobility and demographic bonus • National aggregate MDG attainment largely on track BUT… • Bilaterals withdrawing, ODA shifting to credit, national resources focused on economic development • UN contribution declined from >50% to <2% of ODA over 30 years • Aggregate MDG achievement mask huge geographic differentials • Pockets of poverty remain: ethnic minorities, migrants, urban poor and elderly • Weak coordination mechanisms and inconsistent technical assistance

5. What DaO process results have been delivered thus far ? DaO Process Results 1 One Plan + One Budget One Plan Fund One Plan Management Plan One Set of Management Practices One Leader One (Green) UN House One UN Communications Team

6. Beyond process results: Increased contribution to development policy dialogue Development Results • Active consultations on social policy challenges and options within the new Socio-Economic Development Plan • Policy analysis and option appraisal related to gender equality and Gender Based Violence • climate change issues paper with a focus on related vulnerability • assessment of vulnerability of ethnic minorities • policy papers on population growth, demographic bonus, aging, two-child policy and sex-ratio at birth • the role of migration on economic and social development • taking a more explicit human rights-based approach for example, UNCT paper on the Universal Periodic Review on Human Rights (May 2009)

7. Programme Coordination Groups (PCGs)

8. Gender Based Violence: the Context • No official, national statistics relating to GBV in Vietnam, • However, growing evidence from numerous small-scale studies and extensive anecdotal information that indicates GBV is a significant issue in Vietnam.  Small-scale studies give estimates that range from : • 16%-37% physical violence, • 19%-55% emotional violence, and • 6.6% to 33% sexual violence • (Vung et.al.2008, Luke et.al. 2007, UNFPA 2007, Loi et.al. 1999). According to “Human Trafficking Crackdown” in the Thanh Nien News (26 December 2007) at least 2,200 women and children were victims of trafficking from 2005 to 2007 (humantrafficking.org).

9. Gender Based Violence: the Context • Overall, most GBV is under-documented and reports to authorities for anything other than physical violence and trafficking are rare in Vietnam. • Global literature ethnic minority and poor women suffer more negative consequences from GBV than other women suggests that, however, the evidence base relating to ethnic minorities in Vietnam is weak. • In a 2004 study in five communes in Cua Lo Town involving 465 couples, 50% of men reported they beat their wives, while only 36.8% of these men’s wives reported they were beaten. Of those women who reported they were beaten, 65.5% of women said they did nothing in response (Bui Thi Thanh Mai et.al. 2004:3-4).

10. BUDGET: MDG Fund (Spain): USD 4,500,000 + Govt contribution: USD 94,706 PROGRAMME DURATION: 2009 – 2011 Twelve UN PARTICIPATING AGENCIES: FAO, ILO, IOM, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA (JP Managing Agent), UNICEF, UNIDO, UNIFEM, UNODC and WHO Three NATIONAL IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS: Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MOCST) Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) JPGE Key Facts

11. The Joint Programme on Gender aims to improve the capacity of relevant national and provincial authorities, institutions and other duty bearers to effectively implement, monitor, evaluate and report on the Law on Gender Equality and the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control by 2011. Goal & Joint Outcomes Improved skills, knowledge and practices for the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting of the Law on Gender Equality and the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control. Enhanced partnerships and coordination around gender equality and domestic violence within and outside of government. Strengthened evidence-base and data systemsfor promoting gender equality and reducing domestic violence.

12. Program Launch: 19 March, 2009 • Program Management Unit (PMU) and two Component Program Management Units (CPMUs) established in MOLISA, MOCST and GSO • 41 activities planned • Outcome One: 20 activities. • Outcome Two: 10 activities • Outcome Three: 11 activities • Total allocation for 2009: US$1,867,497, • 72% disbursement as of 31/12/2009 JPGE achievement in 2009

13. Key Achievements: Joint Outcome 1 • Improved knowledge and skills of officials to implement, monitor, evaluate and report on the two laws • Increased understanding and knowledge among key officials on how to implement and monitor on the two laws • Overseas study trips by key officials to explore ways to monitor the implementation of the laws • Training on DVL implementation for law enforcement officers • Increased awareness on the two laws among officials of key agencies through capacity assessment exercise • Training materials on GEL and DVL developed for validation, finalization, and use in 2010 onwards

14. Enhanced partnerships and coordinationamong government, civil society organizations, donors, and UN agencies working on gender equality and GBV • Gender Action Partnership (GAP) - a quadripartite policy forum promoting gender equality and addressing gender-based violence (GBV) – revitalized and held 2 meetings • Joint research by NGO networks (Gencomnet, Dovipnet, NEW) initiated and being finalized • Radio programmes on gender equality to raise awareness aired in collaboration with the Voice of Vietnam • Consultative workshop for development of National Strategy on GE organized • Training on life skills for women victims of DV organised • Press conference to disseminate the National Programme of Action to 2020 (2010 – 2014) to be organised in December Key Achievements: Joint Outcome 2

15. Improved evidence-based data systemsfor promoting gender equality and reducing domestic violence • Training on engendering various surveys: labour force, agricultural, rural and enterprise surveys • Implementation of a new survey on Women’s Health and Life Experience: a national survey to understand the current situation of domestic violence in Viet Nam • Compiling data on children and gender equality is in process: Draft report was commented Key Achievements: Joint Outcome 3

16. Finalization and pilot- implementation of M&E frameworks for Gender Equality Law and Domestic Violence Law • Finalization and pilot-implementation of multi-agency collaboration framework for Domestic Violence Law • Further strengthening of partnerships on gender equality and gender-based violence • Supporting the application of new skills and knowledge on generating data on gender by engendering surveys (e.g. labour force survey, agricultural and rural survey) 2010 Priorities in Summary

17. Lessons learned and the way forward What have we learned? • Explicit commitment by government is the foundation for successful reform e.g., “Hanoi Core Statement” • One UN has begun as a tripartite undertaking – Government leadership, active engagement and a coherent donor group are essential. Further work must be done to ensure civil society is fully represented. • Importance of each of the UN reform pillars and their interconnection is absolutely imperative • Start together and stay together… no differentiation between residential agencies, and clear agreement on role of non-resident agencies • Issues requiring a multi-sectoral and cross-cutting responses such as GBV can greatly benefit by the commitment to Deliver as One

18. Lessons learned and the way forward What have we learned? • Joint Programming for GBV (as all issues) is time consuming – temporary additional Human Resources may be needed as well as patience and perseverance from all stakeholders… • Transparency throughout is critical, and the PCG integrated workplan helps to insure this • Moving upstream, building partnerships, and leveraging resources are all positive processes, but these efforts are difficult to directly attribute to a specific development impact… Expected outcomes and outputs must be redefined to take this in to account • A successful national GBV response must be evidence-based and strategically focused, designed to ensure universal access to a minimum package of GBV information and services

19. Conclusion What have we learned? • In closing, we want to be able to answer the following question… “Is UN reform really worth the investment … and will the quality of UN support for such critical national priorities as Gender Based Violence be demonstrably improved through Joint Programming and Delivering as One?” • Based on our experience in Viet Nam, I believe we can say definitively …. Yes.

20. THANK YOU! Common Goals Collective Action