ICUN Vietnam, UNDP Vietnam, Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Danish International Development Assistance (DANIDA); Royal Netherlands Embassy in Vietnam; Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA); Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC).

Donor assistance to Vietnam increased significantly since the beginning of 1990s, when the country with an open-door policy, embarked on the road of reforms and renovation. But widespread environmental degradation from rapid economic and population growth continues, causing concern both to the Government and donors.

Assessing the level and effectiveness of foreign aid to the whole environmental sector has become an urgent and important issue, as the Government and donors seek ways to improve Vietnam’s capacity to balance social - economic development with environmental conservation. This study of lessons-learned provides needed experience and recommendations for the directions and nature of future actions both by the Government and donor support.

The project was the result of active involvement of many Government ministries, agencies, NGOs related to the environmental sector. Close to 200 people have contributed to the study, most of whom are Government officers representing 62 departments and institutes covering 13 ministries; others come from 21 donor agencies, 17 NGOs and 16 environmental aid projects currently operating in Vietnam.

Consultative methods were used to optimize the participatory and collective wisdom of a wide spectrum of stakeholders. This was ensured through working groups, questionnaires and interviews. Eight roundtables were held in two stages with Government, donors and NGOs to maximize ownership of results of the study.

• Detailed and comprehensive analysis of past and present situation of foreign aid to the environmental sector in Vietnam.

• Identification of achievements, impacts as well as short-comings, challenges and constraints.

• A groundbreaking initiative by the Government and UNDP, which critically reviews the national institutional capacity in aid coordination and utilization, as well as donors’ coordination and effectiveness. This could be replicated as an extremely useful exercise in other countries.

• Top 50 recommendations covering natural resources, urban and industry sector, environment protection and management, education, training and research, and crosscutting issues were identified for future actions.

• The study (about 235 pages) was published both in English and Vietnamese languages for distribution to Government ministries, agencies, NGOs as well as to all donors and interested partners in the environmental sector. The book was designed and printed by IUCN Pakistan Communications Unit.

• The study will be presented at the Government-Donor Conference on environmental aid in Vietnam.

The review of lessons Learned is not a one-off event. Rather it is a process in which organizations and individuals involved can benefit from their experience on a continuing basis. This time, it provided an initial round of feedback on the experience of Government and donors with environment ODA. This feedback process will hopefully continue and become a more methodical part of the ODA monitoring process within the Government and donor agencies.