Board at Work
Written by Hoang Thi Thuy Hang – DME Cluster in Hung Yen
Agreement was reached. Local authorities and villagers must work together in maintaining and developing the Village Development Board (VDB) model to improve living conditions in remote and rural areas.
The consensus was achieved at a workshop – organised by World Vision on 11 July in Phu Cu district, Hung Yen province – in which participants shared their experiences of operating and being subject to the VDB model.
“We’re currently implementing a new rural development programme, which the VDB model is a part of alongside other projects,” said Mr Pham Van Hieu, Phu Cu district Vice Chairman and Head of the Project Management Board. “So, we need to develop the model and promote its use.”
Mr Ta Quang Tuan, Vice Head of the Project Management Board in Ngoc Thanh community, Kim Dong district, Hung Yen province, commented, “Following the success of World Vision’s pilot project, we’ve used the VDB model in more locations and now three-quarters of local villages have their own boards.”
“Our community has continued to develop the VDBs though World Vision’s programme, which was phased out in Kim Dong district,” Mr Tuan added. “Local officials have included VDBs in long-term plans to achieve the socio-economic development targets set and promote our new rural development programme,” he continued. “And our community is in the top ten in the district because we’ve achieved 10 out of the 19 targets, in part due to the VDBs.”
In total, 80 people attended the workshop, including representatives from local Project Management Boards, VDB members from Yen Bai, Hoa Binh and Hung Yen, and World Vision staff.
The participants discussed the success of World Vision-formed VDBs in Kim Dong, Phu Cu and Tien Lu districts in Hung Yen province, as well as lessons learned from operating the model in Yen Bai and Hoa Binh provinces. The attendees identified factors affecting the sustainability of VDBs and drafted strategies to promote the model in the future.
Those at the workshop also had the opportunity to visit locals growing dragon fruits and raising tortoises and a village library, all three of which projects are managed VDBs in Phu Cu.
VDB is a village-level project management team. Each team consists of five to eight members, who are village leaders, World Vision’s volunteers and villagers. Their main roles are to implement development work in their village and to promote its sustainability.