Time
is flying. While here, I have been building great relationships, getting to
know a unique and beautiful culture, and getting to represent my background as
an American. Of course, there’s been some work thrown in for good measure.
Where
to begin…
Certain
cities and municipalities throughout Vietnam have tinkered with the idea of
changing their governance structure to provide better public service delivery.
For the better part of my first three weeks here, I have been reading
literature on the current government structure of Vietnamese cities and combing
through research reports on a few of its shortcomings.
The
one large dilemma that stands out is that there is one model of governance for
all of Vietnam. Basically, whatever formal government structure is in place to
facilitate public service delivery in the rural highlands, is also the
government structure in place for cities like Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi, and Da Nang,
the three largest cities in Vietnam. There are no differences in the model of
government to account for population size, financial needs, or level of urban/rural
development. All cities and municipalities receive funding from the Central
Government and that is the money they use to operate their jurisdiction. Municipalities are limited in ways they can generate revenue in order to develop their
infrastructure as they see fit, and many public servants do not fully understand
the roles and responsibilities within their agency. This can lead to
duplication of efforts across government agencies and overall government
inefficiency.
The
Central Government has become more open to the idea of decentralizing
administrative policies at the various levels of government (from largest to
smallest: province, city, district, and ward). Decentralization would allow the
various levels of government in different regions to create a customized model
of governance that would promote regional advantages. This process will assist
urban and rural development in a more efficient and effective way. At least,
potentially more so than the present system.
 |
| Da Nang city and its six districts |
Having
this blessing from the top is a good first step. However, as you can imagine,
there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done. In my role with DESID, I
will be working with staff to create an initial project design for piloting a
new governance model in Da Nang city.
Over the last week, my colleagues and I have discussed breaking this
project into three phases.
Phase
One will be the research design and research facilitation stage. In this phase,
DISED will conduct surveys, focus groups, and facilitate public outreach to not
only understand the current governance structure and its limitations, but to
also collect data from local political leaders, administrative staff, and
community business leaders on what a new governance model may entail.
The
methodology of our research utilizes the Feasibility Framework. This framework
is being taught at PSU in a class titled: Sustainable Development
Implementation. The framework is a tool used to assess the current situation of
a topic, find where it is lacking in certain key areas, and then create
solutions based on the current need. It moves through these steps while staying
grounded in the practice of doing what is actually feasible. The Feasibility
Framework is broken down into seven dimensions of feasibility that include
technical feasibility, legal feasibility, fiscal feasibility, administrative
feasibility, political feasibility, ethical feasibility, and cultural
feasibility. For our research, DISED will be focusing on the first five.
 |
| Part of the presentation I gave the Director of DISED on Friday |
We
have estimated phase one to take between 8-12 months. This involves further
developing the research design by: specifying questions to obtain both
qualitative and quantitative data, identifying who to ask, choosing who will
facilitate the surveys/focus groups/advisory committee, choosing who will
record the data, setting dates for these meetings, and ensuring the public has
enough notice to participate where necessary. The designing and implementation of
a research project are no small tasks!
Phase
Two will involve analyzing the data collected in phase one, and from it,
producing a new governance model that can be piloted in Da Nang city. Phase two
will be an iterative process where DISED will draft ideas and concepts within a
new governance model, take these ideas to Da Nang’s political leaders and other
community stakeholders to get their feedback, and then redraft as necessary. The
deliverable at the end of phase two will be a new governance model.
An
employee at DISED asked me, “what if we create this new model, implement it,
and people aren’t happy with it after a few years? Won’t they blame us for
coming up with this model?” I said that’s exactly why it is imperative
throughout the first two stages that stakeholders are identified and
consistently solicited for their thoughts and feedback. This new model will be
built from those discussions. The people of Da Nang will have ownership of this
new model; it won’t just be DISED’s idea or the idea of an intern from the US.
This new model will grow from the people who will be affected by it on a daily
basis. We are estimating phase two to take between 8-12 months.
Phase
Three entails implementing this new model and moving forward with the pilot. We
are estimating phase three to take between 2-5 years to reach
sustainability. We are imagining
it will take one fiscal year to implement and to go through the initial major
hurdles. The second fiscal year will be where major adjustments are finished,
but minor problems still persist, and the third fiscal year will hopefully see
a standardization of procedures and practices moving forward.
I have three weeks left. What can I feasibly accomplish to help this process
move forward? Well, for one, I can help get phases one and two funded. There are a few international organizations interested in researching decentralization of the governance
system in Vietnam. My plan
is to have a letter of inquiry/concept paper completed and ready for submission
by August 1st. Though writing these papers won’t be the most exciting
part of my work, it is definitely necessary to get the ball moving on our
project plan stated above. Without a doubt, creating a rough draft of a project
plan has been an invaluable experience. It’s been even more fulfilling since I
have used a few nuggets of knowledge acquired at PSU.
So,
that’s work…
Oh – and I am also teaching one English class per week. It’s a great way to interact with other DISED staff with whom I do not directly work and also learn about the Vietnamese culture. Their English is already pretty good, so we’re mostly working on pronunciation. It’s a small part of my work here, but one that I really enjoy.
Thanks
for checking in and staying up to date with my life in Vietnam. If you have any comments/suggestions/recommendations on my work and the path we are taking, please do not hesitate to direct message me at pravin.mallavaram@gmail.com. I am open to feedback that has the potential to have a positive impact on our projects.
Thanks, also,
for making it through the long post. Your reward: a video of our dance performance from Saturday night. This a government agency dance competition, and when asked to participate, I brought my Peace Corps thinking to the table: say yes to every invitation. Thankfully, I am hidden in the back left.
Until
next time,
-P-
No comments:
Post a Comment