On June 23, a meeting was held at the NGO Resource Centre for international NGOs and local NGOs to discuss how they could collaborate on preparing policy recommendations on SEDP 2006-2010 [1] implementation (meeting minutes [2]). This NGO contribution is part of the consultation process being led by the World Bank. The process will form the basis for the next Vietnam Development Report (VDR 7) to be presented at the December 2006 government-donor Consultative Group meeting and the elaboration of specific, sequenced and strategic policy actions that can be supported by the international community through the direct budget support funding mechanism of the Poverty Reduction and Support Credit (PRSC).
At the meeting, a presentation [3] was given on the Poverty Reduction and Support Credit (PRSC) experience from PRSC 1-5 and the workplan for PRSC 6-10. At another meeting held on July 7 at the NGO RC, 30 participating NGOs discussed and produced an initial 'Overview of Policy Areas and Interests of Organisations', and in extension to that, a number of Policy Groups were identified. Some of these were initiated with NGOs taking lead and meeting dates being set. It was also presented what the World Bank is expecting with regard to the content and format of the NGO contribution. It is expected that NGOs will contribute with so-called policy papers for each specific policy issue.