Success of National Partnership Platform in Vietnam

Although it is now widely accepted that governments and civil society must work together to create effective responses to HIV and TB, in many cases civil society lacks the tools to engage meaningfully with policy-makers.

The NPP initiative sets out to address this issue by creating a space at the national level for genuine collaboration of civil society organisations and constructive dialogue between civil society and government bodies. These platforms also serve as hubs for unified advocacy activities and campaigns.

Vietnam has a history of low civil society participation in the national response to HIV and TB. The Vietnam Civil Society Partnership Platform on AIDS (VCSPA) was founded in 2007 by the Institute of Social and Development Studies (ISDS), Bright Future Network (BFN+) and HDN to address this issue.

VCSPA’s aim is to unite Vietnamese civil society to meaningfully and effectively participate in the national response to HIV and TB. Since its inception the coalition has grown rapidly – it now has over 160 members in 38 provinces in Vietnam. Together they have achieved some impressive results.

In 2008 VCSPA played a leading role in the civil society consultation for the UNGASS country-level reporting process. The coalition conducted two country-level civil society consultations in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in collaboration with UNAIDS and the Ministry of Health.

This level of involvement contrasts sharply with the UNGASS experience in previous years in Vietnam – in 2006 no civil society organisations took part in the process.

Similarly in capacity building and cross-platform learning, the VCSPA has accomplished a lot in a short time. The platform has trained representatives of 48 grassroots level organisations in computer and internet skills. They have also trained people from 19 groups in proposal writing and resource mobilisation.