67985 EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC REGION Social Development Notes I N N O V ATI O N S , LE S S O N S , A N D B E ST P R A CTI C E Pathways to Development Empowering local women to build a more equitable future in Vietnam Strategic Context Vietnam’s economic emergence is perhaps best experienced along its rural roads: over 175,000 km of pavement, rubble and dirt track extend to two-thirds of the country’s popula- tion and nearly all of the poorest people, who live among its productive farms, lush forests and meandering river valleys. In recent years, road investments in Vietnam’s rural areas have improved socio-economic development and have promoted gender equity, social participation, improved school atten- dance and more inclusive health services to impoverished regions. All but a few hundred com- munes remain off grid. Yet infrastructural roadblocks and bureaucratic potholes have delayed the goal of a fully integrated road system. Connecting everyone through better main- tained road networks will pave the way to a The Third Rural Transport Project smoother future. supported ethnic minority The World Bank’s Third Rural Transport women to sustainably manage Project (RTP3) identified missing links that left many rural Vietnamese communities off road maintenance through the map from the country’s remarkable de- an innovative participatory velopment successes. The project prioritized road maintenance and local infrastructure approach to local development. management above new construction proj- ects, and collaborated with the government institutions to address steep increases in travel costs per kilometer across crumbling rural roads. Project staff identified barriers along the route to more accessible road networks, in- cluding a lack of incentives to local bureaucracies to regularly maintain rural roads in remote areas. This situation has lead to deteriorating roads in places that are desperate for improved access to goods, services and social networks. GAP funded gender equality as smart economics A World Bank Group Gender Action Plan 2 East asia and Pacific REgion — social dEvEloPmEnt notEs before an integrated rural transport system can Third Rural Transport Program: Objective move ahead. “This program directly contributes to the poverty reduction and economic Presently, the rural roads network is largely man- growth objectives set out in the 2002 Comprehensive Poverty Reduction aged by Vietnam’s provincial Districts and Com- and Growth Strategy (CPRGS), and the Government’s last 5 year Socio- Economic Development Plan (SEDP) 2001-2005. It is also consistent with munes; they receive a small allocation from the the draft SEDP for 2006-2010 which states the priorities of the rural trans- provincial budget which is often supplemented port sector to be: the completion of basic access; the upgrading of access through district and commune revenue generation. quality and an increase in maintenance budgets. The program will continue Commune arranged “labor days� are an intermedi- the task of completing access to all communes in Vietnam and as such will ary way to ensure that byways are marginally open contribute directly to the Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) objective of to traffic. This is a pretty novel solution to inad- ensuring equitable growth in Vietnam. equate maintenance, but clearly more can be done. The project also recognizes that the nature of the rural transport sector is Impediments to shifting from new construction to upgrading, maintenance and manage- Road Maintenance ment of the network. The focus on governance of the sector—in particular The RTP3 task team analyzed how local socio- the role of the decentralized provincial governments, is a reflection of this economic conditions and the excessive costs of shift. Work to support Provincial planning and implementation capacity will maintaining roads in mountainous areas places directly contribute to the CAS objective of governance and administrative reform in Vietnam.� additional burdens on people living in remote ar- eas. Their investigation showed that up to a third of the population in the Northern Uplands prov- inces would be expected to contribute up to ten percent of their total annual household expen- A Path to More diture to ensure safe passage along local roads; Inclusive Development? this is too much for most to afford. Compound- The Project team discovered that Government ing these challenges, when adequate resources support, adequate financing and community are made available for maintenance, contractors participation are among the most critical com- have sometimes been unwilling to work in inac- ponents for success. Local interest in overseeing cessible regions, due to fears of mudslides during road maintenance is necessary, but not sufficient, the rainy season. to ensuring lasting transportation links from urban to rural areas. It is also important to have support Women Volunteer to Help from governmental institutions, such as the Provin- The situation appeared intractable; the political- cial Department of Finance, to effectively adminis- economic realities insurmountable. Project team ter road maintenance. Inadequate finance remains members realized a solution was at hand: women a challenge: The department’s funds account for from communities along rural roads. In speak- less than five percent ing with people across of the total provincial Vietnam, the project expenditure on roads, team discovered that which is insufficient for many women from eth- covering the entire road nic minority communi- network. ties expressed interest in volunteering and As a result, the Gov- actively participating ernment’s infrastructure as stewards of their lo- strategy has often been cal roads. The World directed to major high- Bank’s task team soon ways and trans-shipment promoted the idea of routes at the expense of Construction crew upgrading the road between Lai Chau having ethnic women rural roads. These policy and Lao Cai towns, northern Vietnam, Photographer: Tran work as road main- issues must be addressed Thi Hoa, 2002. tenance crews. Con- i n n ovat i o n s, l E s s o n s, a n d B E s t P R a c t i c E 3 sequently the Bank sent out calls for proposals under the Gender Action Plan to address “Just in Learning by Doing Time� gender gaps to effective, inclusive develop- Staff from the provincial Department of Transport (PDOT) spearheaded ment. the critically important road maintenance training programs. An innova- tive training program utilized a number of resources, including handbooks The team secured funds to pilot an initiative and on-site experiential modules to build capacity for their new employees. across four communes in Bach Ha District in Lao Cai Province. The project sought to: (i) increase The course followed a demand-driven approach built upon the willingness and awareness of the need for rural roads maintenance commitment of ethnic minority women to be guardians of their local commu- among the ethnic groups; (ii) promote a sustainable nity’s transportation networks. Representatives from a wide range of organiza- road maintenance culture within the community; tions and institutions participated in the training: and (iii) improve the local livelihoods by providing additional off-season jobs for the ethnic minority n Office of Urban and Infrastructure Management women in Vietnam. n District Women’s Union n Provincial Women’s Union Establishing a Framework for n Project Steering committees from each of four communes (commune leaders, chairwomen of women union, cadastral staff) Inclusive Road Maintenance: n Village heads village sub-women union, deputy village heads; and Empowering Women Volunteers traditional leaders A novel Rural Transport Project soon began to take shape. A pilot effort trained local ethnic The training program presented opportunities and challenges to successful minority women in engineering and road build- culture of road maintenance. An important challenge was language: Viet- ing practices, and provided formal employment nam’s richly diverse linguistic tapestry often kept prevented effective com- opportunities for those tasked with responsibil- munication. Many, if not most, rural women did not speak the Vietnamese ity for specific sections near their communities. language. The Women’s Union co-operated with Transportation Depart- The Lao Cai Provincial Women Union (PWU) ment to provide training combined with on-the-job practice to rural women acted as a key implementing agency for the proj- whose previous work experience was mainly related to shifting cultivation ect, given its deep roots in the community and and swidden agriculture. Besides providing an overview of the project’s goals and approaches, hands-on engagement provided an effective way to transfer solid reputation at the District, commune and knowledge. village levels. The Women’s Union managed and monitored the recruitment of women in Ban Lien, Nam Mon, Nam Tri, and Hoang Thu Pho villages, and provided them with training and equipment. Result A total of 1,533 ethnic minority women from four communes were trained as rural transportation managers; many more eagerly await the oppor- tunity. Following the training courses, women “Women like to do this work; they are became road maintenance workers for the PWU, and paid a salary of about 100,000 Vietnamese competing to join. They think that maintaining Dong (VND) a day per person for each section the road makes the roads nicer, and more of the road completed. In order to ensure high- quality work, the district Office of Urban and In- convenient for transporting commodities to frastructure Management within Bac Ha district develop the household economy. During this supervised and monitored work along the road sections, assisted by community supervisors and time of the year, it often rains so maintaining technical guidance from PDOT staff. the roads during this time is good.� Across the road networks, between ten and thirty — Phung Pha Sui, women are responsible for maintaining a one to an ethnic woman trainee two kilometer section for three months. Each person who participates in daily maintenance is 4 East asia and Pacific REgion — social dEvEloPmEnt notEs guaranteed VND 100,000. A typical timeframe A Woman’s Day on the Job for maintenance includes five to ten days per Mission Diary – Tour of Rural Road Innovations in Vietnam month of active work, depending on the main- Submitted by Peter O’ Neill tenance workload and requirements for different Thu, 2010-04-22 road sections. “At 7:00a.m., I am eating, with my team, a tasty breakfast—Pho, a Vietnam- Beginning at sunrise, women from Hmong, Tay ese noodle soup. The World Bank team is ably led by our TTL, Phuong Thi and Dao ethnic communities walk ten kilome- Minh Tran, who having been on the sleeper many times before , wisely ters by foot carrying shovels and hoes to their turned in the earliest of us. We are assisted by Sombath Southivong, the workplace—for many the first formal employ- Senior Transport Specialist from the WB office in Laos, who brings with ment opportunity of their lives. They work all him the Laos innovation and experience. Breakfast finished, we leave to day clearing debris, repairing broken sections, meet with the provincial transport department to learn more about their innovative program, hiring women’s groups to manage and maintain select filling potholes, grading the surface and de- road lengths. signing irrigation canals. Together, they share the work—enlivened with stories and a com- The Provincial Department of Transport, Lao Cai Women’s Union, DFID and mon bond. the World Bank are working together on introducing innovation for rural road provision and maintenance to lower the cost of supplying increasing Approximately 51 kilometers of roads were main- demand. The women have formed a group to undertake the routine main- tained under the pilot initiative, covering: tenance tasks in keeping roads and tracks in good condition, and the trial is about to be extended to other provinces. Key to success factors has been Nam Mon Nam Mon – Coc Ly roadlink: the training received on good maintenance practice and receiving supplies of commune 17 km maintenance material. Nam Det Nam Tri – Nam Det roadlink: In no time it is 7 p.m., and we return to the station, exchanging each other’s commune 11km learning experiences, talking about the day’s events, the field visits and the Hoang Thu Ban Pho – Hoang Thu Pho transport department’s meetings in those reinforced concrete buildings Pho commune roadlink: 8.5km that always take on a sense of anonymity. . . We will put it into practice tomorrow at our next regional transport department meeting.� Ban Lien Road leading to Ban Lien: commune 14.5km Solidifying Benefits from Road Maintenance “Dig soil . . . Take out the grass . . . Trim The World Bank’s rural roads maintenance pi- lot project has achieved significant development the bushes . . . Clear sewers . . . [this] successes, including, and while promoting and is a new job for us who previously only improving for their families. Stakeholder con- sultations undertaken by the task team have also knew how to cultivate. Although we are identified several specific advantages relating to sometimes tired, the work is more the initiative: satisfying than working in the fields n Road maintenance is more efficiently man- aged by local people, who have clear incen- alone. After maintenance, the road tives to promote quality and limit corrup- will be much safer for villagers heading to tion; Project funds provide direct benefits to communities and rural women rather the market, and more convenient for teachers than be spent on leisure activities, includ- going to schools.� ing alcohol consumption or gambling. n Improved awareness of the critical impor- — an ethnic female road worker tance of road maintenance among local communities creates trust and account- i n n ovat i o n s, l E s s o n s, a n d B E s t P R a c t i c E 5 ability across villages and builds coopera- tive capacity; “Regarding efficiency, I think—for the n Women have achieved greater voice in community decision-making and a more first time women have started to visible role in managing affairs at the realize that maintenance is necessary for household level, arising from increased economic power and social status. commuting, and serves the local n Participation of women in road mainte- communities that they live in� nance contributes to enhanced social cohesion among members of local — Tran Thi Khanh, women’s unions and neighborhoods, Vice President of Lao Cai Women’s Union which in turn strengthens mutual coop- eration, and social capital endowments in rural areas. Meeting the Challenges of Inclusive maintenance. Involving local ethnic women in Road Maintenance rural road maintenance can: Local maintenance groups received lump sum payments of 100,000 VND a day ) per person for 1) Enhance the role of women in communi- each for each section of road completed. This ties where husbands’ decision making is presented a challenge for team members and still dominant, and where income genera- organizers for selecting workers, since in many tion opportunities are limited to during instances supply outweighed demand. Thank- off-farm season. fully, citizens from Nam Mon, Nam Det, Hoang 2) Improve awareness of value added by Thu Pho and Ban Lien provided an organic solu- maintaining rural roads. This in turn gen- tion: steering committees rotated available posi- erates indirect impacts on enabling gender tions among all women living in selected targeted equity in access to human development communes. This rotation scheme enabled total resources, which are often not available in participation and greater buy-in from participat- remote and relatively inaccessible areas. ing communities, and created an environment of trust and mutual support. Innovation The Road Ahead The experience highlights two major innovations: The World Bank’s task team recently initiated a dialogue with Vietnam’s Project Management 1) RTP3 demonstrates that productivity, Unit to incorporate a cooperative co-manage- profitability and accountability in rural ment approach into RTP3 in order to address networks management in Vietnam could remaining logistical problems to scale-up cur- be enhanced using innovative approach rent efforts to local infrastructure development. to educating and collaboration with rural With the closing of RTP3, it is hoped that the Government will adopt a number of lessons learned from this experience and promote par- ticipation of ethnic minority people in general and women in particular into future road devel- opment projects. Key Lessons Learned The recently piloted approach highlights two sig- nificant lessons for the transport sector relating to gender-based social inclusion and rural road 6 East asia and Pacific REgion — social dEvEloPmEnt notEs ethnic women. A collaborative learning Further Reading environment creates social benefits and http://www.worldbank.org/vn (Link to: Vietnam: increases the stock of social capital that Ethnic minority women participate in regular can be beneficial to other development maintenance of rural roads) projects. Vietnam: Third Rural Transport Project (P075407) 2) The pilot training program has established an innovative platform to quantitatively monitor tangible outcomes of road main- Contacts tenance at the household level among di- Phuong Thi Minh Tran {Senior Transport Spe- verse ethnic minority groups. cialist, Task Team Leader RT3 (P075407)}