Posted June 2001

Country Thematic Groups

The Thematic Group - known as the ACC/Technical Working Group - is the only national forum and partnership group on food security and since its inception has used advocacy to create awareness and mobilize commitment from all levels. It acts as the technical support organ of the Ministry of Agriculture on food security issues.

Recently, the Group helped place food security in a prominent place in the country's development agenda preparing a note for the Vietnam Development Report 2001, Vietnam 2010: Entering the 21st Century, a joint World Bank/ADB/UNDP report presented at the Consultative Group Meeting (13-15 December 2000). The Consultative Group Meeting - replacing the International Donor Conference and chaired by the Government and World Bank in Viet Nam - is an opportunity for the Government and the donor community to take stock of and develop new directions for their cooperation.

The note discussed the long-term vision for food security in the country; the key steps needed to attain the vision; the role of different partners at all levels - UN, government and civil society - particularly in the context of theme groups and the ACC Network affliated Thematic Group; and the key monitorable indicators.

The Group has also helped formulate a Strategy on Food Security toward 2010 to be presented to the Communist Party Congress, the country's most important quinquennial political event in May 2001. The Group is also to technically support the Government-planned Seminar on Food Security in June 2001 (funded by UNDP/FAO and GTZ) to discuss the inter-ministerial role of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) in the conception, implementation and monitoring of food security activities, particularly within the framework of poverty reduction programmes.

The Group has set up a Food Insecurity and Vulnerability Information and Mapping Systems (FIVIMS) working group with the participation of MARD, the National Institute of Nutrition, the Viet Nam Women's Union, and the General Department of Statistics and MOLISA). The FIVIMS focal point (MARD) has prepared profiles on the food security status of most vulnerable groups in the country and these will be presented at the next ACC/TWG meeting. MARD has already used the provisional version of these profiles for the preparation of the National Plan for Food Security to be presented at the IX Communist Party Meeting mentioned above.

For further information, contact: FAO-VNM@field.fao.org