20801 SOCIALASSESSMENT of the Community-BasedRural Public Disclosure Authorized InfrastructureProject (CBRIP) Hanoi, March2000 Preparedby Oxfam Hong Kong consultants Oxfam Hong Kong Consultants for the Ministry of Planningand Investment and the World Bank Lead consultantand author: Natasha Pairaudeau Public Disclosure Authorized Sub-teamleader: Dau QuocAnh Researchcollaboration and contributions: Phan Lac Tuyen NguyenThi Nghia Tran Quy Suu Nguyen Van Linh Ha Thi PhuongTien Le Thi Phi Van Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Acronyms CBRIP Community-Based Rural Infrastructure Project CEMMA Committee for Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas CF Community Facilitator CIDA Canadian International Development Agency CMC Commune Management Committee DPI Department of Planning and Investment GOV Government of Vietnam GP Good Practice (World Bank Policy Guidelines) ha hectare HCMC Ho Chi Minh City HERP Hunger Eradication and Poverty Reduction Programme IPDP Indigenous People's Development Plan MOLISA Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs MPI Ministry of Planning and Investment NCFAW National Committee for the Advancement of Women NGO Non Governmental Organisation PMT Project Management Team PMU Project Management Unit PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal SA Social Assessment UBND Uy Ban Nhan Dan (People's Committee) UNESCO United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund VASI Vietnam Agricultural Sciences Institute VLSS Vietnam Living Standards Survey VMC Village Management/Maintenance Committee VND Vietnamese Dong (unit of currency) WB World Bank WU Women's Union VietnameseTerms ap remote village; form used in southern Vietnam ban ethnic minority or mountainous village; term used in north central and northern mountainous regions ban nghiem thu inspection board can bo giao thong va xay dung transportation and construction cadre; commune-level cadre assigned to oversee infrastructure work chu ho household head Dinh Canh Dinh Cu literally, "fixed cultivation, fixed residence": government (re)settlement and development programme for upland ethnic minorities: referred to in this document as the Fixed Settlement Programme doi moi renovation du an project (usually refers to an externally-funded project) gia lang village elder, traditional leader ho goc literally 'root households': used in (spoken) Vietnamese to refer to indigenous communities in areas of high in-migration ho khau household registration book; required in principle across the country for each household and its members Kiem Lam Forest Department staff Kinh term used for the (Vietnamese) ethnic majority lac hau backward liet sy martyr /op hoc classroom-refers to temporary classrooms for early grades built in remote villages in some communes mau giao mau he literally,"matriarchy"; used to refer to matrilocaland matrilinealcustoms of some ethnic minoritygroups me tin superstition muong former Thai and Muongadministrative unit nguoi tin nghiem respectedperson nha rong traditionalcommunity meeting house nha tre day care centre Phong Giao Thongva Xay Dung Co Ban (district level) InfrastructureBureau phong tuc tradition ray swiddenor uplandfield tho cam handicrafts thon village thung unit of measurement trinh do thap low level of education truonghoc school xa commune Equivalents 1 USD = 14,000VND (approx.March 2000) 1 sao = 100 m2 (in centraland south central regions) Notes:The terms "CBRIP"or "the project" refer to the Community-BasedRural InfrastructureProject. "Subproject"refers to any projectoption chosen by communesfrom the list of eligibleworks. Communeswithin the projectarea are called "project communes"to distinguishthem from "poor communes"which may be any communeon the national list of 1715 poor communes.Terms in Vietnameseare written in italics. ii ExecutiveSummary Part One: Introduction This Social Assessmentwas commissionedin order to incorporatesocial developmentand capacity buildinggoals into the design of the Community-Based Rural InfrastructureDevelopment Project, or CBRIP.The CBRIP is under preparationby the GOV Ministry of Planningand Investmentfor funding by the World Bank,and is being designed in supportof GovernmentProgrammes 133 and 135. Its aims are to enhancethe capacityfor decentralisedand participatorymanagement of small-scaleinfrastructure works in these regions, provide essentialpublic infrastructureto 532 of the poorest communesin 12 provincesin north-centraland south-centralVietnam, and create opportunitiesfor paid off-farmemployment. The key elementof projectdesign is the direct involvementof communeauthorities and local peoplein all stages of the projectcycle. Communeswill be allowedto prioritise and choose for themselvesthe type of small-scaleinfrastructure they want from a list of eligibleworks. Budgetswill be transferreddirectly to communeswho will then be responsiblefor financial accountingand projectmanagement. This is in line with governmentefforts to encouragegreater decentralisation to local levels. Emphasis will be on the maximumuse of local labourand materialsand on informingand being accountableto local people. The aims of the Social Assessmentare: 1. to ensure that the project benefitsthe poorest and most vulnerablein the project area, includingethnic minoritiesand women; and 2. to strengthenthe participationof beneficiaries,including the poorest,women and ethnic minorities,and other vulnerablegroups, in all stages of the projectcycle. The Social Assessmentis based on findingsfrom four main exercises:a field study in 11 communesin the project area, a questionnairecovering all 532 communesin the projectarea, a selective survey and two stakeholderworkshops, held in Nha Trang. Part Two: Social and EconomicSituation in the ProjectCommunes Economicand social conditionsvary acrossthe project area, from the changing livelihoodsof ethnic minorityfarmers in mountainousareas; to in-migrant communeswhere indigenousgroups are marginalisedby pressuresto sell land to in-migrants;to coastal and lowlandcommunes which experiencepoor agricultural opportunitiesand harsh climaticconditions. The 30 distinct ethnic minoritygroups within the projectarea are among the poorest peoplewithin the projectarea. Similaritiesbetween some groups may built upon for planning purposes,despite policiesand approacheswhich to date have not often made use of the local knowledgeof these groups. Elementsto work into a strategywith these groups includeethnic differenceswithin the communes,low Vietnameselanguage and literacyskills, and prevalentspiritual beliefs. Some indigenousforms of social organisation-the role of traditional leaders (gia lang) and of women in some matrilinealand matrilocalminority groups-remain strong. iii Aside from those peoplewho are economicallypoor within the project area, and the constraintsfaced by ethnic minorities,a numberof other sociallymarginalised groups exist, includingsome types of women-headedhouseholds, the disabled, elderly, and children. Part Three: Key Playersin InfrastructureWorks Three types of infrastructureworks exist in the project communes:formal governmentprojects built with externalfunding and assistance,works financed and implementedby local peoplebut motivatedby government,and works financed without govemmentfunding and built entirely by local people. District administrators are the key players in the first type, althoughthere is a will to hand greater responsibilityover to communelevel in many districts.The second type are constructedlargely by local people,motivated by govemment'sguarantee to provide social services.The third type are constructedentirely by local peopleusing local forms of socialorganisation. An opportunityto build upon this type of local self- reliance existsalongside the need to improvelocal capacity to implement govemmentprojects. Part Four: ParticipationIssues The distributionof benefits of infrastructureprojects may be uneven across communesand within communes.It is influencedby road accessto the commune itself, the distanceof remotevillages from shared communeinfrastructure, the designand layout of infrastructure(such as water supply systems)within villages, insufficientinvestment, and, most importantly,the existence of appropriateand affordablesocial services.Some types of infrastructuremay be particularlybeneficial to the most vulnerablepeople or groups in the projectarea. The infrastructure priorities of local peoplecome from the practicalneeds withintheir communities,and people rarely separatethe interestsof individualswithin their householdsfrom the interestsof the householdas a whole. Obstaclesand opportunitiesexist for beneficiaries'greater involvementin all stages of the projectcycle under the CBRIP.Consultation of beneficiariesabout governmentinfrastructure is presentlylimited, and knowledgeof governmentpolicy and programmesis poor. Hesitationto air grievancespublicly is exacerbatedby a lack of knowledgeof proceduresfor doing so; similarly,there is little knowledge among local peopleabout the budgetsfor infrastructureworks built in their areas. Local design and constructionskills are strong in many project communes;these could be incorporatedto better fit infrastructureto local preferences,to increasethe local labour used on such projectsto lowercosts and to increasecapacity for maintenancethrough use of local materials.Currently, those governmentprojects that pay for labourpay very low rates, penalisingpoor householdswhich tend to contributetheir labour rather than cash to such arrangements.Administrative delays