Affirming the success of the project funded by the Belgian Development Agency in Nghe An

Attending the conference were Ms. Krista - Chief Representative of the Belgian Development Agency in Hanoi. On the side of Nghe An province, there were comrade Le Xuan Dai - Member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; representatives of provincial departments, branches and sectors and Quy Chau, Quy Hop districts, and Cua Lo town.

On the side of Ha Tinh province, there were comrade Dang Ngoc Son - Vice Chairman of Ha Tinh Provincial People's Committee and representatives of leaders of departments, branches and sectors of Ha Tinh province.

Conference scene. Photo: Thanh Le

The project "Supporting Accountable and Responsive Local Governance" funded by the Belgian Government for the three provinces of Nghe An, Ha Tinh and Kon Tum aims to improve interactions between the government and the people, improve public services and increase people's satisfaction.

In Nghe An, the project is funded by the Belgian Government with 1,000,000 EUR, with a counterpart contribution of 150,000 EUR from the Vietnamese Government, and will be implemented from August 2017 to June 2019.

The project is implemented in 2 districts of Quy Chau, Quy Hop and Cua Lo town, of which 12 communes were selected to implement in Quy Chau district, 10 communes in Quy Hop and 7 wards in Cua Lo town. The entire RALG Nghe An project has 55 activities including 40 at the provincial and district levels and 15 at the commune level.

Delegates chairing the Conference. Photo by Thanh Le

The project has supported training in editing and publishing skills of news/media products, through all types of media, on public relations for spokespersons of government agencies; Organized administrative reform workshops to improve the business environment and attract investment in Nghe An province.

Providing communication equipment for the District Women's Union 3; supporting the construction of a wireless FM radio loudspeaker system for 4 communes in the 2 districts of Quy Hop and Quy Chau to increase the effectiveness of communication and news reporting.

Ms. Krista - Chief Representative of the Belgian Development Agency in Hanoi spoke at the conference. Photo by Thanh Le

Coordinate with the Department of Information and Communications, the Department of Justice and the Ethnic Minorities Committee to develop communication products. Specifically, including: 1,500 handbooks for spokespersons and information providers, 73,400 leaflets on the right to participate in people's opinions, 59,000 leaflets on the rights and obligations of civil registration; and 4,000 handbooks on preventing child marriage and incestuous marriage.

Enhance the capacity of People's Councils and mass organizations to facilitate two-way communication through training activities and study tours from other provinces. Enhance the capacity of local authorities to collect, analyze and utilize citizen feedback. Support information technology equipment for 29 one-stop departments at commune and district People's Committees in 3 project units.

Mr. Hoang Vinh Truong - Director of the Enterprise Support Center of Nghe An Department of Planning and Investment reported on the results of the RALG project in Nghe An. Photo: Thanh Le

Currently, the project is coordinating with the Administrative Procedure Control Department - Provincial People's Committee Office to train professional skills on reviewing administrative procedures, steps, implementation time, and responsibilities of organizations and individuals in handling administrative procedures.

Coordinate with the Provincial People's Committee Office, the Department of Home Affairs and relevant parties to pilot an online system to assess the satisfaction of people and organizations with public administrative services in 7 units from the provincial level down to the ward level. Enhance the capacity of the government in planning and coordinating administrative reforms. In addition, in the coming time, the project will focus on implementing activities at the commune level.

Speaking at the conference, Ms. Krista - Chief Representative of the Belgian Development Agency in Hanoi acknowledged and highly appreciated the remarkable results achieved by the project's activities.

Emphasizing that according to the specific Agreement between Vietnam and the Kingdom of Belgium, the project will be completed in September 2019. There is not much time left to complete the project, so it is recommended that the two provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh and relevant agencies have strategic solutions and creative approaches to implement the remaining activities of the project so that the project can be completed on time, with the highest quality and efficiency.

Representative of Nghe An Department of Information and Communications speaking. Photo: Thanh Le

At the conference, delegates focused on exchanging and discussing solutions to promote project implementation such as: Close and effective coordination between project coordination boards between relevant agencies and localities in implementing, monitoring and evaluating project activities as well as solutions to "speed up" the project,...

Speaking at the closing ceremony of the conference, Permanent Vice Chairman of Nghe An Provincial People's Committee Le Xuan Dai acknowledged and highly appreciated the results of the project management board of the two provinces and the international organization, contributing to improving the effectiveness of administrative reform in the two provinces; enhancing the capacity of local authorities at all levels.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Le Xuan Dai delivered a closing speech at the conference. Photo: Thanh Le

The Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee requested that in the coming time, relevant agencies and localities need to coordinate closely and focus on speeding up progress to implement the project according to the set goals and roadmap.

To ensure the progress and quality of the project, the Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee suggested that in the coming time, the project prioritizes completing the procedures for payment and settlement of activities that have been and are being implemented; carefully prepare capital calling documents to promptly prepare the budget.

In parallel with focusing on grassroots activities, the project will also provide additional resources to monitor and measure project outputs; document outstanding results and actively share project achievements.