Participatory village and commune development planning (VDP/CDP) and its contribution to local community development in Vietnam

Village development and commune development planning (VDP/CDP) encourages the participation of local people in analyzing their problems and opportunities, and finding out solutions. This method contributes to community development by improving capacity of local people and strengthening the roles of commune leaders; promoting local participation and ensuring transparency and equity among different community groups and contributing to efficient and effective use of resources in community development. To achieve sustainability of the approach, some agencies responsible for its introduction have considered integrating it into the governmental system. However, major challenges include complexity of the method, high costs (time and resources) and lack of skilled community facilitators. Experience shows that this method needs leadership that is dynamic and initiative taking at various levels. Lessons learned show that much can be achieved by simplifying the planning method, concentrating on capacity building measures and developing monitoring and financial mechanisms to help improvement of socioeconomic development planning, and thus community development.