ISG_TOR

a) Maintain and improve a database of ongoing and planned foreign funded projects. Information should be collected from provinces, donor agencies and ministry departments and entered into a computerised database. This activity need to be undertaken in close cooperation with the the on-going REFAS-project at the Information Unit. There should also be close collaboration between the databases of MARD and of MPI to avoid unnecessary duplication of work.

b) Disseminate information from the project database. By the production of periodic overview of MARD project/programme implementation and by providing reports from the database on request from donors, departments in the ministry and provincial authorities

4 Project organisation

4.1 Mechanism and Implementation arrangement

It is important that the proposed ISG-process has a mechanism and structure that ensure a productive dialogue between partners, that promotes a programme and partnership approach and at the same time produces concrete results. It is also essential that it keeps its forum/partnership characteristics, and most importantly, is Vietnamese owned. MARD-ICD will manage the ISG-process. ISG chart is shown in Appendix 1 and a diagram showing the envisaged steps of the work of ISG can be found in Appendix 2. The proposed new process is envisaged to have the following institutional arrangements:

4.1.1 Plenary Meetings

Plenary meetings that continues to have wide support and participation from departments and agencies of MARD, other key ministries engaged in rural development, donors and NGOs.

To ensure a close coordination within MARD leadership, the Minister of MARD will chair the meeting.

The Plenary will meet once a year to have (i) discussions of key topics identified by and worked on in the Steering Board and; (ii) review and discuss in a wider context findings and results presented by TAGs.

A Steering Board (SB) with permanent membership and continuing responsibilities will have a limited number of members not exceeding fifteen persons. Five elected members within the donor community - including NGOs; seven from MARD (ICD, Planning Dept., Policy Dept., Agriculture Extension Dept., Forestry Development Dept., Water Management Dept. and Women Advancement Committee); one from MPI and another from MOF. Representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, and the Office of Government may be invited to participate when needed. The Minister of MARD will chair the SB.

The SB meets every quarter, prior to Plenary meeting and when necessary and other special meetings when needed, (i) to identify topics to be studied, (ii) to plan, guide and support the work of the Thematic Ad-hoc Groups, (iii) to approve ISG year plan and budget.

Sincecoordination role of external funding is an ICD function, ICD shall in first hand ensure its in-house coordination. To function and provide necessary technical support to the ISG-process an ISG-secretariat will be set-up under ICD. The ISG-secretariat will support the organisation and implementation of the ISG-process, through the following activities:

Keep contact with national and international actors
Organise the meetings of the SB and the Plenary
Assist in coordination of TAG activities
Provide information and documentation services, and update database on externally funded development projects.

The Director General of ICD will head the secretariat. He will be assisted by a National Manager, and a part-time information specialist. These persons shall be competent professionals and will be supported by a secretary, an information assistant and an accountant. Short-term national and international consultants will be contracted for specific tasks, particularly in relation to e.g training, and work of the TAGs. The staff - both long- and short-term - may comprise of both MARD´s personnel, staff from other Ministries and contracted staff.

Associated to the SB will be a number of Thematic Ad-hoc Groups (TAG). The function of TAGs is to study and penetrate topics identified by the SB and the Plenary Meeting. The process for identifying topics of the TAGs is described in Appendix 2.

To ensure their relevance and diversity, each TAG is temporary by nature and only work on a well-defined and specific topic. Its establishment and duration of existence depend on study needs. Many TAG can be working in parallel and shall report to the SB and the Plenary. The ISG secretariat will play a crucial role in coordinating the work of the TAGs and ensure that the necessary linkages between the TAGs and other activities are made.

Members of each TAG shall consist of persons that have a particular interest and knowledge in the TAG topic and who are willing to work and commit considerably time to the group. A Vietnamese, not necessary from the SB, should chair each TAG.