Vietnam has launched the Social Assistance System Strengthening Project costing total $62 million funded by the World Bank (WB). The project receives up to 96.7% of funding from the WB and aims to develop and pilot innovations in management and service delivery in four provinces of Ha Giang, Quang Nam, Lam Dong and Tra Vinh as the country strives to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). As a product of a partnership among the WB, UNICEF, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), and Vietnam’s Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, the project will consolidate a national database of poor and near-poor households and social assistance beneficiaries, improving the effectiveness of public spending on social assistance. Recipients of the assistance include poor families with children and pregnant women, local social officers, and program administrators at the provincial and central levels. “The project aims to support efficiency and enhance reforms in the social assistance system. I sincerely hope that the project will be implemented quickly and successfully and form the basis for scaling up improvements nationwide,” Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank Country Director to Vietnam. Meanwhile, Jesper Moller, Acting Representative of UNICEF in Vietnam, said “UNICEF views this as a sound economic investment that will better equip the future generations to sustain the country’s rapid development amid demographic change.” (www.worldbank.org [1] Aug 7)
