Fast_Facts_Viet%20Nam

Democratic Governance

PROJECT FACTS Viet Nam: Provincial Government and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) Project period: Location:

2009-2012 3 provinces in 2009; 30 provinces in 2010; all 63 provinces in 2011. Nationwide Implementing partner: Viet Nam Fatherland Front (VFF), Centre for Community Support and Development Studies (CECODES), UNDP Background The Viet Nam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) is developed in the context of increasing demands for engaging citizens in monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation to feed evidence for subsequent policymaking. PAPI provides objective and evidence-based measures, based on citizens’ experiences and direct interactions, of the standards of provincial level governance, public administration, and public services performance.

Viet Nam has seen a proliferation of instruments and mechanisms used to gauge non-state actors’ perceptions of local governance and public service delivery as well as citizens’ satisfaction surveys, yet these have been sporadic and lack sustainability and replication at the national level. An exception is the Viet Nam Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), which has become a recognized instrument in measuring economic governance for private sector development nationwide.

A similar initiative, the Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) is the first large scale exercise, measuring the standards of governance and public administration drawn from citizens’ experiences when interacting with governmental authorities at different levels. It gives voice to citizens from different demographic backgrounds on their experiences of public service delivery.

Having grown out of a 2009 pilot in three provinces, in

Respondents during a face to face, confidential interview Women voting in the 2009 Presidential Elections (USAid Photo Gallery)

2010 PAPI was implemented in 30 provinces and reflects on the direct experiences of 5,568 randomly selected citizens across the country on various aspects of local governance and public administration.

With the provision of objective information provincial and national policy makers are able to understand the impact of their decisions and draw concrete lessons, in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of governance and citizen satisfaction with public administration.

Measuring Democratic Governance PAPI uses an objective, rigorous and scientific methodology that relies upon international methodological standards. It includes: (i) selection of provinces using propensity matching score methods; (ii) objective selection of 90 districts, 180 communes/wards and 360 villages using both probability to population size procedures and purposively certainty units; (iii) a meticulous fieldwork process undertaken in which citizens were interviewed face-to-face between June 18th and October 20th, 2010, and (iv) a methodological construction of the dimensions, sub-dimensions and overall PAPI aggregate indices.

Governance and public administration are understood by referring to three mutually reinforcing processes: (i) policymaking, (ii) policy-implementation, and (iii) policy-monitoring.

There are two complementary ways of measuring government’s performance: from the perspective of service

Supported by the Global Programme on Governance Assessments

Oct 2011

providers (or the supply-side), and from the assessment of end-users (or the demand-side). PAPI, by design, belongs to the latter type of governance measuring since it evaluates outputs and outcomes of governance and public administration that are directly experienced by citizens.

PAPI’s multidimensional assessment (with sample of sub-dimensions) 1. Participation at local levels a. Civic knowledge b. Opportunities for participation 2. Transparency a. List of poor households b. Commune’s budgets 3. Vertical accountability (citizens monitoring) a. Interaction with local authorities b. People’s inspection boards 4. Control of corruption a. Limits on public sector corruption b. Willingness to fight corruption 5. Selected administrative procedures a. Public notary services b. Procedure for construction permits 6. Public service delivery a. Public health care b. Law and order Achievements By capturing citizens’ perceptions and experiences and comparing provinces by ranking their performance against each other, provincial governments had incentives and information on which areas their performance could be improved. In addition it empowers citizens to raise their voices about their preferences, frustrations and recommendations.

Results and preliminary findings have been extensively discussed through a series of consultation workshops and policy dialogues at the national and provincial levels. A wide range of Vietnamese members of the Communist Party, policy makers, government officials, VFF representatives, experts and researchers contributed with a great deal of ideas, feedback and suggestions to enrich and supplement the report.

The findings have support evidence-based policy making, implementation and monitoring at national and provincial levels. The vice-minister of Home Affairs confirmed this at the National Validation Workshop on

Explore data and results at

www.papi.vn The website is supported by UNDP Oslo Governance Centre and UNWomen and includes gender disaggregated analysis and presentation of findings.

December 2010 when he argued that “PAPI findings provide an important channel of evidence drawn from citizens’ experiences that contribute to reflecting the performance of public administration at the provincial levels.”

In addition, the availability of data allows state and non-state actors to inform policy development and implementation. For instance, the vice-chairwoman of the Justice Committee of the National Assembly, at the PAPI National Advisory Board group meeting in November 2010 expressed that “findings from PAPI research are a reference source that complements assessments from the Government”. She also added that results from the annual PAPI implementation would serve as inputs for discussions at the National Assembly and for reference to the Annual Report of the National Assembly.

Sustainability During the course of implementation, PAPI will be institutionalized in a way that can ensure its objectivity, robustness and reliability. The overall approach and orientation for it is based on the scientific nature and orientation towards beneficiaries, as well as the sustainability of PAPI as a set of indicators measuring performance of governance and public administration over time. These are ensured thanks to a close and effective coordination between national counterparts (VFF and CECODES) and international partners (UNDP). It is also ensured due to close coordination between the central level (i.e. the Central Committee of VFF) and provinces (VFF committees from provincial to grassroots levels), and through the substantive support from the National Advisory Board.

Further Information: Mr. Giang Dang, CECODES Giang.dang@cecodes.org

Supported by the Global Programme on Governance Assessments

Mr. Jairo Acuna-Alfaro, UNDP Viet Nam Jairo.acuna@undp.org

Oct 2011