UNDP Success Story Questionnaire
Programme Title: Policy Research on Addressing Governance and State Management Effectively:
Towards Evidence-Based Public Administration Reform in Viet Nam
UNDP Country Office or Headquarters Unit: Viet Nam
UNDP Practice Area: Democratic Governance
How has UNDP's involvement made a difference? (Please include concrete, quantifiable results
in 750 words or less):
In order to be able to generate strategic policy advice four policy advisors are part of the UNDP
Viet Nam country office team. Working on key policy issues (some of which are politically
sensitive), the advisors provide research and recommendations to high-level decision makers. In
2009, through policy work on public administration reform (PAR), UNDP’s involvement has made
a difference in a number of key areas.
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By conducting extensive research, UNDP has filled an acute information gap within the
Government on key PAR issues. This research, as well as the following dialogue and
discussion, has led to the publication of a series of policy discussion papers on reform
challenges. Further consultation led to the publication of a book (Reforming Public
Administration in Viet Nam: Current Situation and Recommendations), which includes upto-date ideas and options for reforming the public sector.
This analytical work is being used to inform the decision-making process. By presenting a
series of policy options for the next stage of reform, the research provides substantive
input for several important areas, some of them politically sensitive, which are currently
under review. This includes the review of the ten-year implementation of the PAR Master
Programme; implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy; and the drafting of the SocioEconomic Development Strategy for 2010-2020.
The policy research has also provided an opportunity to substantially engage with key
Government partners and establish new partnerships. A series of discussions on the
current situation of public administration reform and ways forward has been held with a
number of high-level officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs, the National Assembly,
the Communist Party, as well as civil society organizations. Also, UNDP now has a
partnership with the Viet Nam Fatherland Front (VFF) – an umbrella organization for all
other mass organizations in Viet Nam. This is the first time UNDP has worked with VFF and
it has proved an important way to engage with decision-makers on all levels (national,
provincial and local).
As a follow up to discussions at the national level, and as an attempt to understand public
administration challenges from the local perspective, a series of regional seminars were
held. These provided an opportunity to compare what is going on at the provincial level
with national level policies and to come up with a series of recommendations.
The discussion papers have given media an opportunity to report on these (sensitive)
issues and raise them in the public domain. Media interest in the research has therefore
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been high. Most recently, BBC World Service (Vietnamese) used the research to run a story
on PAR (see link below).
As a direct outcome of the policy research work a first-ever provincial Public
Administration Performance Index has been developed by UNDP, in partnership with VFF
and a local NGO. This novel tool measures how end-users of public services perceive public
administration and the performance of public services. It gives policy makers quality
information to assess public administration and also helps to empower civil society.
In 2009, the index has been piloted in three provinces. The results have provided
substantive inputs for advancing the public administration reform agenda and have been
discussed at three provincial seminars, attended by senior Party leaders, government
officials and media. The intention is to roll out the index to a larger number of provinces
during 2010.
Programme description (in 750 words or less):
Reforming the public administration is essential for Viet Nam if it is to ensure a smooth transition
towards sustained and higher levels of development. However, in order to continue the reform
process policy makers need to be informed by evidence. In light of this, UNDP conducted in-depth
analysis in 2008 and 2009 on the current state of public administration reform, with the
participation of a wide range of stakeholders. The process has led to the publication of a series of
policy discussion papers and in November 2009 the book ’Reforming Public Administration in Viet
Nam: Current Situation and Recommendations’. This publication has been edited by the UNDP
policy advisor and is based on an extensive process of research, analysis, dialogue and discussion.
The policy research aims to analyze trends in Viet Nam regarding the implementation of and
options for specific public administration reform areas, thereby providing solid discussion input to
the current policy debate. Three principles guided the production of the policy discussion papers:
(i) evidence-based research, (ii) academic rigour and independence of analysis, and (iii) social
legitimacy and a participatory process.
As the Ministry of Home Affairs prepares to review the implementation of the ten-year PAR
Master Programme, the research provides up-to-date ideas and options for this review process.
More importantly, through the identification of best practices, implementation issues and
bottlenecks, the book presents a series of policy options for the next stage of reform. The research
will also be used to review the implementation of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and for the drafting
of the Socio-Economic Development Strategy for 2010-2020.
As a direct outcome of this research process, UNDP has developed an index which aims to
measure the standards of public administration and public services from the point of view of endusers of these services. In 2009, the Public Administration Performance Index was piloted in three
provinces in Viet Nam. The results of the pilot are highly promising and a roll out to a larger
number of provinces is planned for 2010.
In recent years, Viet Nam has seen a proliferation of instruments and mechanisms trying to gauge
non-governmental organizations’ perception of public services as well as citizen satisfaction
surveys. Yet, while there are definitely positive developments, these exercises have been sporadic
and lack sustainability and replication at the national level.
The Public Administration Performance Index is an attempt to set up a systematic approach to
measuring public sector performance and enable governments and civil society to encourage
efficient public administration systems. It provides policymakers with evidence-based information
to assess the quality of its public administration and public services delivery.
The index is also a way to address the generally limited participation of citizens and civil society in
policy making and policy implementation and a means to holding the government accountable. By
measuring public administration and public services from the point of view of civil society and by
ranking provinces and cities, a powerful tool is created which can help to empower civil society,
improve governance and, ultimately, support the objectives of the national PAR programme.
Who were the partners and what were their roles?:
A number of partners and stakeholders have participated in different stages of the reform
process, including government agencies (the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Communist Party,
provincial and local governments); the National Assembly; anti-corruption agencies; academic
institutions (such as the National Academy of Public Administration); and international
development partners.
Specifically on dissemination of the research findings and implementation of the Public
Administration Performance Index, UNDP worked with two partners:
 The Viet Nam Fatherland Front (the leading socio-political organization in Viet Nam), who
provided overall political support and coordination at the provincial level; and
 The Centre for Community Support and Development Studies (a local NGO), who provided
overall coordination and logistics for the discussion series as well as for the research used
to develop the Public Administration Performance Index.
Is the programme completed or ongoing?:
On-going
Has the programme been scaled up to a national/regional level? For example, is it being
replicated on a wider scale, or has it influenced policy makers at higher levels? Please provide
details in 750 words or less:
The next step is to continue and deepen policy advice research in more reform areas. In particular,
UNDP will support the Ministry of Home Affairs in the review of the PAR Master Programme for
2001 -2010 and the outline of the next stage of PAR reforms (from 2011 to 2020), as well as
provide support to set up a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system for PAR.
Another important next step is to roll out the Public Administration Performance Index to cover a
larger number of provinces in 2010. This will provide a good basis for comparing public
administration in different provinces. The findings are expected to be ready by November 2010
and will provide the Government with information and data to report to the January 2011
Communist Party Congress, which will set the policy directions for 2011-2020. The results will also
be used for the next phase of the PAR Master Programme (which covers 2011-2020). From 2011,
the expectation is that the survey will take place nationwide (i.e. in 63 provinces).
Please include links to any externally or internally published stories about this programme,
including news stories, promotional brochures and evaluation reports:
Link to the series of PAR papers (in English and Vietnamese) published on the UNDP website:
http://www.undp.org.vn/detail/publications/publicationdetails/?contentId=3013&languageId=1&categoryName=All&CategoryConditionUse
March 2009: Link to an article (in English) by Vietnam News, the Vietnamese news agency, on “Call
for rural area public service reforms”, following a national seminar on public administration
reform, during which the six policy papers were discussed:
http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn/showarticle.php?num=06SOC130309
September 2009: Link to an interview with Jairo Acuña-Alfaro, UNDP Viet Nam Policy Advisor on
Public Administration Reform and Anti-corruption, on VietnamNet (major on-line news-site) on
how amplifying the voice of citizens can help improve public services in Viet Nam (in Vietnamese):
http://www.vietnamnet.vn/chinhtri/2009/09/866627/
January 2010: Link to an article on BBC News, Vietnamese service, which reviews the book and
discusses its main conclusions (in Vietnamese):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/vietnamese/vietnam/2010/01/100113_admin_reform_book.shtml
Contact name, e-mail and phone number for follow-up:
Mr. Jairo Acuña-Alfaro, Policy Advisor on Public Administration Reform and Anti-Corruption
jairo.acuna@undp.org, tel +84 4 3942 1495 ext 248
Caption: Administrative procedures are made public at a commune people’s committee in Dong
Thap province. Picture taken during fieldwork to Dong Thap to collect data for the pilot Public
Administration Performance Index.