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EU-VN update deal on costs involved in ODA
A new version of the UN–EU guidelines for financing local costs in development co-operation was signed here yesterday, June 3.
It is aimed at providing better management of Official Development Assistance (ODA) in the country.
Representatives from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the United Nations and the European Union have all agreed with the new guidelines.
The new version provides clear and transparent guidelines for the management of ODA in Viet Nam, said Cao Viet Sinh, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment.
The version was first introduced two years ago and included unified costs, norms, valuable inputs, and recommendations from a "Baseline Study on Existing Cost Norm Systems for ODA Loans and Grants in Viet Nam". Merged salaries for different categories of project staff and national experts, fees for translation and interpretation, and costs for in-country meetings and domestic duty travel are also included.
These guidelines have improved the previous version of 2007 that did not have the expected impact in Viet Nam, said Rafael Ramirez, chief of UNICEF operations.
Rates too low
Rates in the old version were based on older calculations and were sometimes lower than real market costs.
As an example, he said valuable information from international and expat experts was missed at a conference last year in Viet Nam because good translators were not available.
"We could not hire good translators because we offered a fee based on the 2007 version of the guidelines," said Ramirez.
This time, the revised rates were market oriented to attract high quality human resources and services to encourage full collaboration, he said.
The signing also kicked off an action plan for training and orientation workshops on how to apply the cost norms for Vietnamese Government, UN, and EU staff. Partners of the UN and the EU’s ODA projects in Viet Nam are able to use the new cost norms.
The new version should help increase ODA ownership and ensure much greater transparency and accountability in utilising ODA resources, said UN Resident Co-ordinator John Hendra.
VietNamNet, VietNamNews
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