Decision No. 277/2006/QĐ-TTg On approving the National Target Program for Rural Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation for the period 2006-2010

1. Views.

a) To mobilize the internal strength of the whole society to implement the Program, while taking into account the characteristics of each region, locality, and the needs of users to select appropriate scale, technology, service level, financial capacity, and management, operation, and utilization of facilities after investment.

b) To promote socialization, develop the clean water market and environmental sanitation services in rural areas in line with the country's socio-economic development situation.

c) The State shall have mechanisms and policies to support poor households, policy families, ethnic minority regions, and particularly difficult regions regarding clean water and environmental sanitation in rural areas.

2. Guiding principles.

a) Ensuring that the Program develops sustainably, linked with the comprehensive growth strategy and poverty reduction of the Party and State; clean water supply and environmental sanitation facilities in rural areas, when repaired, upgraded, or newly constructed, must ensure sustainable operation and effectiveness.

b) Prioritize centralized water supply for densely populated areas; upgrade and expand existing facilities; seek stable water sources for particularly difficult areas, which are frequently drought-prone, polluted, mountainous, coastal, and island regions.

c) The National Target Program on Clean Water and Environmental Sanitation in Rural Areas shall be managed and implemented in accordance with the law.

3. Scope of implementation of the Program: all rural areas across the country; initially prioritizing remote, border, ethnic minority regions, coastal areas, and regions frequently affected by drought and water scarcity, and regions with polluted water sources.

II. Objectives of the Program

Ensure that by the end of 2010, the Program achieves the following main objectives:

1. On water supply: 85% of the rural population will have access to hygienic drinking water, of which 50% will use clean water meeting the standard 09/2005/QĐ-BYT dated March 11, 2005 of the Ministry of Health, with a quantity of 60 liters/person/day.

2. On environmental sanitation: 70% of rural households will have hygienic toilets; 70% of rural farmers engaged in animal husbandry will have hygienic livestock sheds.

 All kindergartens, schools, health stations, markets, commune offices, and other public facilities in rural areas will have sufficient clean water and hygienic toilets.

 Reduce environmental pollution in craft villages, especially those involved in food processing.

III. Main solutions

Continue to organize and direct the implementation of Decision No. 104/2000/QĐ-TTg dated August 25, 2000 of the Government Chairman approving the National Strategy on Clean Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation in Rural Areas until 2020, including the following main solutions during the period 2006-2010:

1. Promote socialization, develop the clean water market and environmental sanitation services in rural areas.

a) Enact mechanisms and policies to create favorable conditions to encourage the participation of all economic and social sectors in developing clean water and environmental sanitation in rural areas;

b) Mobilize community participation, ensuring transparency, democracy, and openness in the process of implementing projects and works;

c) Strengthen the legal framework and penalties for violations in clean water supply and environmental sanitation activities in rural areas.

2. Promote information, education, and communication work and mobilize community participation.

Management agencies, economic and social organizations, and mass media shall ensure full, accurate, timely, and regular information to the community about health and environmental sanitation, related policies, financial support systems, exemplary models, science and technology, management methods, and operation of clean water supply and environmental sanitation facilities in rural areas.

The State encourages international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and economic and social sectors to participate in information, education, and communication activities on clean water and environmental sanitation in rural areas.

3. Develop and implement planning.

Regularly review, supplement, and update the overall and detailed planning on clean water supply and environmental sanitation in rural areas in a timely manner, serving as the basis for five-year and annual development plans. The Program plan must be based on people's needs and compiled from grassroots, commune, district, provincial, and central levels, ensuring high feasibility.

Strengthen decentralization, while having inspection and supervision mechanisms to ensure effective implementation of the Program.

4. Solutions on science and technology.

 Diversify types of water supply technologies suitable for the natural, economic, and social conditions of each area, ensuring sustainable development; rationally exploit and utilize water resources through appropriate technologies; improve the quality of facilities and water.

 Select and develop household, school, and public toilet models that meet hygiene standards, suit usage needs, customs, and local culture. Promote the application of biogas technology to treat livestock waste.

 Study and pilot models for treating craft village waste, focusing on food processing villages.

5. Investment construction management, operation, and protection of facilities.

Invest in constructing facilities based on approved planning and plans by competent authorities, ensuring the intended purpose; establish management, operation, and protection organizations for facilities appropriately.

Service prices should accurately cover reasonable costs, ensuring that organizations and individuals providing services can finance themselves independently.

||| The service user is responsible for paying for the service according to the actual quantity and the prescribed price.

||| 6. Training and human resource development.

||| Strengthen training to improve professional skills and expertise for staff and technical personnel at all levels in the water supply and environmental sanitation sector, initially focusing on training management staff and workers involved in operation, repair, and maintenance of clean water supply and environmental sanitation facilities. Emphasis should be placed on enhancing practical capabilities to meet operational requirements; priority should be given to training workers and maintenance and operation staff at the grassroots level.

||| 7. Expanding international cooperation.

||| Promote international cooperation to exchange experiences, share information, transfer technology, and mobilize non-refundable aid and preferential credit funds.

||| Establish a clear and flexible mechanism for coordination between government agencies and donors to create a transparent and effective environment for the implementation of the Program; Vietnam's partnership activities with donors in the rural clean water supply and environmental sanitation sector.

||| 8. Enhancing inspection and supervision activities.

||| Establish a system and strengthen inspection and supervision work at all four levels: central, provincial, district, and commune.

||| Monitoring and evaluation should focus on the results of implementing the Program's objectives, including the quantity and quality of facilities, water quality, and the monitoring process from project surveying and planning, construction, management, and operation. Increase community participation to ensure transparency, openness, and democracy throughout the implementation process.

||| 9. Solutions regarding the management and implementation mechanisms of the Program.

||| a) Improve and reasonably organize rural clean water supply and sanitation organizations at all levels, particularly at the grassroots level, village, and hamlet;

||| b) The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall take the lead and coordinate with relevant ministries, sectors, and localities to direct the provision of clean water and environmental sanitation in rural areas, clearly assigning responsibilities and establishing good coordination mechanisms among ministries, sectors, and social organizations to ensure that the Program is effectively implemented from the central to local levels;

||| c) Ministries and sectors participating in the Program have the responsibility to manage state affairs in the assigned fields related to the tasks of providing clean water and environmental sanitation in rural areas, focusing on directing implementation, developing and issuing guiding documents; inspecting and supervising; training and developing human resources; developing communication materials and conducting public awareness campaigns through mass media; disseminating best practices;...

||| d) At the local level: concentrate on organizing implementation, proposing plans, managing and supervising, training grassroots cadres, mobilizing the community, evaluating implementation, reporting, conducting field surveys, developing appropriate communication materials for the locality, organizing communication and technical guidance activities at various local levels, especially at the community level.

||| IV. Priority Projects of the Program for the 2006-2010 Period

||| 1. Investment in constructing water supply and sanitation facilities in rural areas to ensure the achievement of the Program's goals for providing clean water and sanitation to communities, schools, health stations, and public facilities in rural areas.

||| 2. Research and perfecting policies and mechanisms.

||| 3. Selecting and applying technologies for rural clean water supply and sanitation.

||| 4. Strengthening information, education, and communication activities.

||| 5. Investigating, reviewing planning, and monitoring and evaluating investment in the Program.

||| 6. Vigorously promoting training and human resource development.

||| 7. Strengthening international cooperation.

||| A list of tasks and projects attached as an appendix to this Decision.

||| V. Financial Mechanism and Resource Mobilization

||| 1. Leverage internal resources, and the State creates a legal basis to encourage the participation of citizens, economic and social components, domestic and foreign organizations in investing in rural clean water supply and environmental sanitation.

||| Coordinate and integrate with other Programs and projects to attract additional investment sources.

||| 2. In the period 2006-2010, the total estimated investment capital is approximately 22.6 trillion VND, of which the central budget is 3.2 trillion VND; local budgets 2.3 trillion VND; international aid 3.4 trillion VND; contributions from the people 8.1 trillion VND; preferential credit capital 5.6 trillion VND.

||| Initially, it is necessary to prioritize and focus on urgent projects and make full use of resources within the scope and according to the approved objectives and schedule by the competent authority.

||| Sources of investment capital: annual state budget (central and local budgets, ODA funds), contributions from beneficiaries in the affected area, and other legitimate sources.

a) Direct the thorough understanding and organization of effective implementation of the National Target Program on Clean Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation in Rural Areas during the 2006-2010 period;

d) Organize inspections, audits, and periodic reviews to evaluate and draw lessons from the Program's implementation;

đ) Annually compile and report the results of implementation to the Prime Minister, and propose recommendations to resolve emerging issues beyond their authority; prepare annual plans and funding requirements, submit them to the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Finance for consolidation and submission to the Prime Minister for consideration and decision;

e) The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development shall decide to establish the Steering Committee for the National Target Program on Clean Water Supply and Environmental Sanitation in Rural Areas and stipulate its operational regulations; the Ministries of Planning and Investment, Finance, Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Technology, Health, and related agencies shall assign officials to participate in the Steering Committee.

2. People's Committees of provinces and centrally governed cities.

a) Organize and direct the effective implementation of the Program's contents at the local level according to the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and relevant ministries and sectors;

b) Integrate resources from other programs and projects within the locality to effectively implement the Program;

c) Mobilize resources (local budget, community contributions, and other lawful sources) to invest in building clean water supply and environmental sanitation facilities in rural areas; direct and organize the preparation, review, and approval of projects under the Program in accordance with regulations;

d) Regularly report to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on the results of the Program's implementation.

3. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment shall manage and utilize water resources sustainably; take the lead and coordinate with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and related agencies to prioritize and direct the implementation of environmental treatment for rural crafts and heavily polluted water sources based on the Program's content.

4. The Ministry of Health shall guide and disseminate rural clean water standards and hygiene; direct health facilities regarding hygiene, public hygiene, and household hygiene in rural areas; strengthen state management over the quality of drinking and domestic water, household hygiene, and community hygiene in rural areas.

5. The Ministry of Education and Training shall direct and guide teachers and students on knowledge about clean water and school hygiene; inspect and monitor the implementation of clean water supply and hygiene targets in schools and training institutions.