Dear colleagues,<div><br></div><div>Following my email from 3 weeks ago asking for your comments on the UN-EU Guidelines for Financing of Local Costs in Development Cooperation with Vietnam I have received a few responses, which I consolidated and sent to the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam. I also suggested that the EU organise a meeting with INGOs to discuss the Guidelines deeper. They replied today and invited 3 representatives from INGOs to a meeting that will take place on:</div>
<div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_quote"><b>Monday 28 March from 9:30 am to 11:00 am (1hr 30min) at the EU Delegation</b></div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">Please note that the EU Delegation limited the number to three people only. If you are interested in attending please let me know; and I will nominate 3 directors based on 'first-come first-choice' basis. It will be a unique opportunity for those of you who implement UN/EU- or other European-funded projects to discuss the cost norms and to suggest improvements to the EU Delegation.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">I have only received two responses and two acknowledgements (within the deadline) from CHF, Care, Population Council and ADRA. Given their interest - Tuyet, Peter, Meiwita and Oscar are welcome to confirm their willingness to join the meeting. However, if they cannot make it and if somebody else has a strong view on the Guidelines, please let me know as soon as possible.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">Here is the summary of INGO comments received earlier:</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div class="gmail_quote">HOTELS:</div><div class="gmail_quote">
A number of rates have gone up significantly over the past couple of years. For example, it is increasingly difficult to find a decent hotel in Hanoi for the rates quoted in the 2009 Guidelines; while hotels keep on increasing their rates. We hope that this will be taken into consideration.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">CONSULTANTS:</div><div class="gmail_quote">INGOs would like to recruit highly-qualified local consultants but often they are obliged to recruit (much more expensive) international consultants since they cannot find adequate local consultants under the current rates. The same stands for highly-qualified national staff for longer term contracts.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">TRANSLATORS:</div><div class="gmail_quote">Nowadays INGOs pay 10 USD per page for translation of documents. In order to deliver highly-quality projects for their beneficiaries INGOs need to have rates that will allow them to procure high-quality services.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">TAXI FARES:</div><div class="gmail_quote">Taxi fares from the airport in Hanoi have always been a conflicting issue in discussions around the Cost Norms. Airport taxis have recently increased their rates significantly, so the fares in the Guidelines are already outdated in this respect.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">PER DIEM:</div><div class="gmail_quote">Due to currently high inflation in Vietnam, the rates for meals and incidentals are a low. INGOs have also asked if the Cost Norms apply equally to expatriate staff? From the perspective of many INGOs expatriates working in Vietnam should have the same per diem as national staff.</div>
<div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">GENERAL COMMENT:</div><div class="gmail_quote">When the previous Guidelines came out in October 2007 there were lots of reactions amongst INGOs that the Guidelines may contribute to corruption since some of the prescribed amounts were far below the market rates, which potentially created fraud in paperwork; for example, consultants needed to claim twice the time in order to get the same amount of honorarium as in the open market. The prescribed rates also contributed to competition between agencies.</div>
</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">I have re-attached the initial letter from the EU Delegation as well as the original document (UN-EU Cost Norms).</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div>
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Please respond directly to my email <<a href="mailto:director@ngocentre.org.vn">director@ngocentre.org.vn</a>> if you are interested in joining the meeting next Monday.</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">
Warm regards,</div><div class="gmail_quote"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote">Marko</div><div class="gmail_quote">-- </div>Marko Lovrekovic, Managing Co-Director<br>VUFO-NGO Resource Centre<br>La Thanh Hotel, 218 Doi Can<br>
Hanoi, Vietnam<br>Mobile: +84 904 191 871<br>Phone: +84 4 3832 8570<br>
Email: <a href="mailto:director@ngocentre.org.vn" target="_blank">director@ngocentre.org.vn</a><br>Web: <a href="http://www.ngocentre.org.vn" target="_blank">http://www.ngocentre.org.vn</a><br>
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