ANTECEDENTES BIBLIOGRÁFICOS
1.1. A NTECEDENTES HISTÓRICOS
At the regional level, the ACCA programme was managed by a joint ACCA committee, including 15 members, founded on the commencement of the programme31. These members are in charge to
coordinate activities, review and approve proposed projects. At the national level, the ACCA programme is implemented by ACHR’s country-based CDF networks, mainly involving community organizations, NGOs, development institutions and architects, in partnership with local governments and other stakeholders (World Bank, 2014; Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2014). At city level, City Community Development Fund networks (City CDF) are established as joint financial
29 City Net is the largest association of urban stakeholders committed to sustainable development in the Asia
Pacific region http://citynet-ap.org/about-us/.
30 These activities resulted from the gathering of grassroots groups and housing right activists to protest the
eviction of 800,000 people for the beatification of Seoul city in preparation for the Olympic Games (ACHR, 2015).
31 Includes 9 representatives from countries currently active in the programme, 3 community representatives,
mechanisms; they were considered key partners of national networks to implement the projects locally (Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2014, p.2).
The ACCA programme in each country consists of four components: tertiary infrastructure upgrading (small projects), housing upgrading (big projects), support for cities’ and national networking
activities (Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2012). The total budget for all ACCA projects of each city is US$58,000 within which a limited amount of money is set aside for each project component. This regulation aims to de-emphasize the budget aspect of the programme, mobilize local resources and spread available opportunities to enable a larger “working together” network of communities and cities (Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2012, p.3). Figures 4.3 and 4.4 illustrate the amount of money allocated for each ACCA programme component and the funding mobilized from other sources for implementing ACCA projects. Among ACCA programme components, housing upgrading (big projects) is targeted by this study. For each housing upgrading project, US$40,000 is granted to each participating city CDF and provided to communities as a collective loan. The loan has to be repaid to the city CDF for future projects in other communities (Archer, 2012b; Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2014).
The ACCA programme was originally funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BAMGF) through the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) (World Bank, 2014, p.11). Reading the detail of its on-line, self-describing documents, the goals of the BAMGF are primarily to increase the use of digital financial transactions (Voorhies, 2016), which is justified as a means to help those living in extreme poverty, especially women, to move from a cash economy to a capital based economy, notably through reducing the costs to financial institutions of financial transactions (cash transactions are high cost for banks). The ACHR’s CDF networks fit this model well. However, it is important to recognise that the ACCA funds go well-beyond simply providing funding mechanisms, but invest in social capital through setting modest budget ceilings in the form of collective loans for communities and promoting communities’ collective voice to interact with other urban development agencies (Leonhardt, 2012, p. 482).
The ACCA programme principles are reported to draw on ACHR’s experiences and lessons learnt from 25 years of action (Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2014, p. 1). The programme’s primary goal is to support informal settlements improve their living conditions (Boonyabancha & Mitlin, 2012, p. 404). Other important goals of the programme are to establish citywide networks of community organizations and promote their collaboration with local government (Boonyabancha & Mitlin, 2012, p. 403). The programme’s key principles identify the primary role of urban poor communities in planning and implementing their projects. In this way, poor communities were
described as “key doers” to tackle city scaled problems of land, infrastructure and housing in partnership with their local government and other local stakeholders (Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2014, p.1). Figure 4.5 illustrates, in brief, ACCA programme principles.
Additionally, the ACCA programme follows a flexible mechanism of approving projects that meet the diverse needs of poor communities (Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2014). Project proposals are developed by local communities and submitted to the regional ACCA committee for approval. Specifically, communities need to formulate proposals defining the reasons for the project, how they would manage the project financially and what the impacts might be in terms of community and government relations (Galuszka, 2014, p. 4). By November 2014, the programme had been
implemented in 215 cities, in 19 countries; 146 housing projects had been implemented in 127 cities in 15 countries (Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2014, p. 7). Figure 4.6 illustrates the extent of ACCA programme projects in Asia and is indicative of its regional significance and consequently the potential importance of studying how its programme invests in social capital through urban housing renewal projects.
Figure 4.4: Implemented ACCA projects by November 2014 (Source: Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2014, p. 7)
Figure 4.5: ACCA programme key principles (Source: Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2012, p.1)
ACCA is a regional program of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights that is building a
community upgrading process in Asian cities which is:
- implemented by people - based in concrete action - driven by real needs - city wide in its scale - strategic in its planning - done in partnership
Figure 4.6: Asian Coalition of Community Action in Asia (Source: Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2015 - A clearer map is included in
appendix D)
4.4.3
Vietnam Community Development Fund Network
The Vietnam Community Development Fund Network (VNCDF), a member of ACHR, started its activities in Vietnam in the late 1990s. The establishment of VNCDF was in line with the introduction of the national economic reforms that led to open door policies and the cessation of US embargoes (in 1994). These events led to major growth of multi-lateral development aid programmes in Vietnam, especially in “Public Governance” and “Poverty Reduction”. Before 2008, VNCDF was managed by an NGO, called the Environmental Development Actions (ENDA)32. VNCDF primarily aimed to strengthen community saving groups, set up city-level community development funds (CDFs) and link these saving groups in a growing number of Vietnamese cities (ACHR website, December 2014). VNCDF started in five cities33 in 2000 and increased its membership to eight
32 Since 1988, UNDP/UNESCAP funding programmes for participatory governance have been introduced in
Vietnam. In 1992, UNESCAP was seeking to implement a pilot project in its second phase of community-based approach projects in Asia and the Ho Chi Minh government was the first one to take this initiative. However, in 1994, the city government changed the project’s upgrading policy from in situ upgrading to site clearance (information based on interviews with key informants and see Tinker and Summerfield (1999, p.66) for more information on this project). The project idea was continued by ENDA. ENDA is an NGO under the global ENDA network and a member of ACHR. It works to actively develop environmental, social and economic strategies to enhance the living standard of poor disadvantaged Vietnamese (ENDA website, downloaded December 2013).
33 The five original cities of the funding proposal application to UNHabitat were Hue, Quy Nhon, Can Tho, Viet
Tri, and Ho Chi Minh. To sustain the ENDA CDF network, ACHR committed its support upon the ending of the UNDP funding phase.
cities34 in 2004. In 2008, VNCDF was transferred to ACVN. Its membership increased from 8 to 28 cities35 during the five years from 2008 to 2013 (ACVN website, 2016). VNCDF activities in Vietnam were completed in 2014.
Under the management of ACVN, VNCDF operated under a National Steering Committee and a National Coordination Team (Fig. 4.7). The National Steering Committee included representatives of central agencies36, international donors37 and pioneering community leaders. The committee was
established to promote information sharing among stakeholders and to create better linkages between communities and policy making levels; members of the committee are invited to join the network’s major activities. The National Coordination Unit functioned on a daily basis to manage ongoing projects. The National Coordination Unit includes a Director (ACVN Secretary General), a manager (an ACVN Vice-Secretary General), a part-time coordinator, a full-time project officer, a part time community expert and a part-time accountant (ACVN, 2008). VNCDF also involved a voluntary group, called the Young Professional (YP)38, to provide technical assistance for project communities. The VNCDF office was based in the ACVN office. In each member city, a city CDF network was established, headed by a city government representative and a secretary, normally being a staff member of the Vietnamese Women’s Union39. The national network and each city CDF
network have a bank account (Asian Coalition of Housing Rights, 2014, p. 44).
Since the outset, the ACCA programme has been implemented in Vietnam by VNCDF, following the regional guidelines in terms of finance, components, principles and procedures, as presented above. Funding from the regional network was transferred to the VNCDF bank account, managed by ACVN. Once project proposals from communities were approved, funding was transferred from the VNCDF account to the city CDF bank account and then allocated to local communities.
34 Three other projects were merged into the network because of a changed coordination role (two projects in
Hanoi and Da Nang cities were under the management of ENDA and one project in Vinh city was under the management of the new coordinator)
35 The network of eight cities was enlarged after the involvement of the Association of Cities of Vietnam (ACVN). 36 Ministry of Construction, National Office of Housing
37 Un-Habitat partner
38 YP team includes voluntary young graduates or university students from different backgrounds, interested in
providing technical assistance for urban poor communities in their projects in VNCDF network.
39 Vietnamese Women’s Union (VWU) is a social organization, established from the country’s national
independence history, mandated to protect women’s legitimate rights and gender equality. It operates under the management of the State structure and is organized at four administrative levels of central, provincial, district and commune (VWU website, September 2016).
Figure 4.7: The structure of ACHR’s regional network of community development fund and VNCDF (Original)