International NGOs and the Vietnam Consultative Group

The Consultative Group (CG) meeting is a platform for discussion between Government and donor agencies on development policies and donor pledges. The first Vietnamese CG meeting was held in Paris in 1993 and since 1999 it has been held in Vietnam, co-chaired by the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the World Bank in Vietnam. Two meetings are held each year: an informal meeting in June, usually held outside Hanoi in order to combine it with a field visit, and a formal meeting during December held in Hanoi.
 
Four representatives of international NGOs (INGOs) are invited to the meeting; they are invited as observers and share one seat at the meeting table. They usually divide the meeting sessions between them, and, as with other participants, have the opportunity to make one comment during each session.
 
A joint statement by INGOs is published for each formal December meeting, prepared by the four INGO representatives and the VUFO-NGO Resource Centre after consultation with the member INGOs of the centre, and made available in English and Vietnamese to all meeting participants. Recent statements are:
 
INGO Statement for CG Meeting 2010 English  Vietnamese
INGO Statement for CG Meeting 2009 English  Vietnamese
INGO Statement for CG Meeting 2008 English
INGO Statement for CG Meeting 2007 English
INGO Statement for CG Meeting 2006 English
INGO Statement for CG Meeting 2005 English  Vietnamese
 
In addition an annual report on the activities of the working groups hosted by the Resource Centre, International NGO Partnerships for Development, also in English and Vietnamese, is made available at the CG meeting.
 
The INGO four representatives to the CG meeting are elected, for a term of two years, by member organisations of the VUFO-NGO Resource Centre at one of the centre's INGO Forums. The current  representatives are:

  • Kim N. B. Ninh, Country Representative, The Asia Foundation
  • Thao Griffiths, Country Directory, Vietnam Veterens of America Foundation
  • Dung Le Kim, Associate Country Director, Oxfam Great Britain
  • Peter Newsum, Country Director, CARE

The Managing Co-Director of the NGO Resource Centre, Marko Lovrekovic, also participates in the CG Meetings.
 
Further information
World Bank media release regarding mid-year Consultative Group meeting 2009