Financial Performance, National Programme
Progress against the Warsaw Framework
Viet Nam has fully achieved the four key requirements of the Warsaw Framework. Having earlier completed its National REDD+ Strategy, NFMS and FREL/FRL, in 2018 the Government fulfilled the final requirement: an operational and online SIS, as well as the SOI on safeguards. The SOI was completed in November 2018 and submitted to UNFCCC in January 2019, outlining how the country will address and respect the safeguards throughout REDD+ implementation. Under the NFMS, development, institutionalization and documentation of REDD+ progressed. Development of standard operating procedures, including the NFI cycle V Quality Assessment and Quality Control (QA/QC) protocol, is under way. The programme provided suggestions for updating the FRL to put the country in a better position for accessing RBP under the GCF pilot. For the time being, Viet Nam has determined not to resubmit an FRL.
REDD+ Implementation
The midterm National REDD+ Action Plan Implementation Plan for 2018– 2020 was endorsed by MARD in December 2018. The implementation plan marks the successful cross-sectoral and in-depth engagement with key stakeholders. It lays the foundations for accelerating resource mobilization for implementing the National REDD+ Action Plan. A draft monitoring and evaluation framework for REDD+ implementation has been designed to track and support REDD+ implementation by stakeholders. Continued support was provided on REDD+ implementation in pilot provinces. In 2018, particular progress was made in engaging private-sector actors, including on the development of responsible investment guidelines, forest certification and engagement with commodity industry groups such as rubber, coffee and cashews, towards deforestation-free sustainable investments.
Moreover, the UN-REDD Programme helped develop a deforestation-free jurisdictional approach for the Central Highlands, with a focus on mobilizing finance to introduce deforestation-free practices in the coffee supply chain.
Challenges and Solutions
UN-REDD programme support is on track and 2018 marked the occasion of the national programme successfully achieving the programme targets, as assessed by the Final Programme Evaluation. The documentation of lessons learned and experiences is scheduled to be delivered by June 2019.
Gender and Social Inclusion
Building on the 2013 gender analysis of the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase I programme, the Phase II national programme focused on implementing gender-responsive actions. Beginning with integrating gender-responsive methods into key development guidelines for the Provincial REDD+ Action Plan and Sitebased REDD+ Implementation Plan, and extending to implementation and monitoring, activities in 2018 continued to engage men and women across activities at the national and subnational levels. Efforts included promotion of women’s participation in meetings and implementation activities specific to each site, and outreach to vulnerable households, including female-led households, for livelihood support activities. Women’s unions also continued to be active at the subnational level. A high-level forum on ethnic minorities and the development of a sustainable value chain of forest products was held on 20 August 2018, organized in collaboration with the Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs and the private sector, and attended by the Deputy Prime Minister.
An FPIC review is being finalized and the study findings will be shared to further inform engagement processes in Viet Nam.
Partnerships
The UN-REDD Programme has continued to coordinate on a regular basis with the FCPF, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), GIZ and other development partners that work directly on REDD+ as well as on areas that contribute to it, such as FLEGT and responsible agriculture. The programme has served as the core support programme for national REDD+ sector coordination. As such, the conclusion of the national programme in 2018 will present challenges for continued momentum, including coordination. However, the national programme has developed an exit and handing-over strategy that includes strategies on coordination.
Linkages to SDGs
The UN-REDD Programme is supporting MARD to develop a document that clarifies the role of the sustainable forestry agenda in achieving the SDGs in Viet Nam, to be finalized by mid-2019.