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ISG History The establishment of a group in support of sector development assistance coordination was first taken into consideration and discussion in the former Ministry of Forestry in 1994. Many donors, Vietnamese relevant authorities and national and international consultants have made valuable contributions to the idea, based on the approach that co-ordination of donor support should be the task of the Government in order to ensure that ODA responds to country priorities. 1995: A Coordination Group for Forestry Development in Vietnam (CGFV) was proposed by the Ministry of Forestry, for effective management and coordination of projects and programmes and improved planning, implementation and evaluation. The CGFV approach was supposed to fit in as a forestry sub-sector coordinating body in the framework of the Vietnam Agricultural Sector Aid Coordination Forum, which was proposed to be initiated during the Agricultural Sector Aid Coordination Meeting in June 15-16, 1995 in Hanoi. November 1995:The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), was established by merging several Ministries, as a result of the Governmental restructuring, and became a multi-sector ministry. 9 April 1997: MARD officially established the International Support Group (ISG) by the Decision No 541 NN/TCCB-QD. The ISG process aimed at general coordination, harmonization, and better dialogue on issues relating to development concepts and approaches in the field of agriculture and rural development. Several Technical Working Groups were set up by MARD Decision No. 2819 NN-TCCB/QD dated 9 October 1997 with the task to elaborate on agriculture and rural development issues based on field level experience. The ISG was meant to be a forum for dialogue in the agriculture and rural development sector in preparation for donor-Government Consultative Group (CG) Meetings. At the beginning, the funding for ISG activities was done through the Vietnam-Sweden Mountainous and Rural Development Program (MRDP). After several years of operation, ISG has made its contributions to the strengthening of the awareness of the need of a forum, a mechanism where Government authorities and donors can meet for discussion and consideration of priorities, policies, strategies and experience in agriculture and rural development. End of 1999:
ISG was evaluated by a joint mission, which basically endorsed the
concept and approach taken so far, and made some proposals towards
further development of the ISG. Based on the evaluation results,
the concept of a 'new' ISG process was introduced. 24 November 2000: Minister Le Huy Ngo signed The Decision No. 120/2000/QD/BNN-TCCB dated 24 November 2000 on the establishment of the ISG Steering Board. MARD has shown its active role in the chairmanship and the deputy chairmanship of the ISG Steering Board with the participation of 10 representatives from the donor community, international organizations and non-governmental organizations and also with 12 members from Vietnam's side. At the same time, ISG Secretariat was consolidated, and was officially established by Minister's Decision No. 121/2000/QD/BNN-TCCB also dated 24 November 2000 as an office under the direct management of ICD/MARD. 18 December 2000: The Government of Vietnam also expressed its support to ISG activities through the Decision by the Prime Minister No 1167/CP-QHQT dated 18 December 2000, allowing MARD to establish a Trust Fund for the ISG process. 22 December 2000: The first meeting of ISG Steering Board approved the ISG work plan 2001, established two new Thematic Ad-hoc Groups (TAG) on International Agro-economic Integration and Policy and Water Resources Management Support. The 'new concept' of the ISG process came into reality. January 2001: The quarterly ISG News Letter No.1 was published. 8 May 2001: The second meeting of ISG Steering Board approved the Terms of Reference and work plans of the two TAGs. ISG Management Information System including a newly updated sector ODA Database and a trial version of the ISG Website in service of development were introduced. 30 May 2001: The ISG Plenary Meeting attracted more than hundred participants from Vietnamese Ministries, donor community, international organizations and INGOs. Apart from on-going activities of the two Thematic Ad-hoc Groups, several new Thematic Activities were suggested by the participants: Evaluation of ODA Disbursement in Rural Sector, Evaluation of Rural Micro and Macro Credit. Further more, ISG's role in supporting the establishment and implementation of sector partnerships (5 Million-Hectare reforestation partnerships-5MHRP, and the Natural Disaster Mitigation Partnership-NDM) was emphasized. The ISG process began to perform as a development forum with new methods and activities, which supported policy dialogue, experience and information exchange:
22nd October 2002: Hanoi International Water Conference was successfully held with support from ISG. 18th December 2002: at the Sixth Meeting of ISG Steering Board, the Board agreed: to establish TAG3 on Support the implementation of the Comprehensive Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy (CPRGS). TAG 2 was renamed to Support to Hydraulic Works Development, Disaster Control, and Rural Water Supply, in response to the restructure of the Government and the newly established Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE). 22 September 2003: The ISG Plenary Meeting 2003 with the theme "International Integration and Development of Rural Areas" was organized, co-chaired by MARD, AusAID and ADB. Around 200 national and international participants attended the meeting. January 2004: ISG Monthly Briefing No.1 was officially introduced. 30th March 2004: at the Eight Meeting of ISG Steering Board, the Framework Arrangement (FA) was signed between MARD and the Core Donors (AusAID, Danida, Netherlands and Sida) to fund the implementation of the ISG Work Plan 2004-2006. The concept of the Advisory Briefing and provincial dialogue platforms were introduced by ISG Secretariat and commented by the Board members. The Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) became the 23rd official member of the ISG Steering Board. 9 November 2004: The ISG Annual Plenary Meeting 2004 entitled "Growth for Poverty Reduction in Agriculture and Rural Areas" was held, co-chaired by MARD and the Royal Netherlands Embassy. Around 200 national and international attended the meeting. Thematic
Ad-hoc Groups (TAGs)
ISG Information System in service of policy dialogue, exchange and sharing of information and lessons learnt: |
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| ISG History | ISG TOR | ISG Docs | ISG Work Plan | ISG Plenary Meeting | | What is ISG | InfoServices | Jobs | ODA Directory | ODA Projects |Proposals | ISG - International
Support Group, Room # 209, Building A9, 2 Ngoc Ha, Hanoi, Vietnam |