1. ASEAN + 3 Village Leaders Exchange Program Summary and Evaluation Session
Zuo Ting
Professor, College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University,Beijing
Sichuan Hotel, April 12, 2013

2. Contents
(Re)Thinking roles of village community leaders in poverty reduction in China
Summarizing the implementation of “ASEAN + 3 Village Leaders Exchange Program”
Evaluation

3. I. (Re)Thinking roles of village community leaders in poverty reduction in China

4. Village Leadership in China
Government System down to Township Level (Central, Provincial, Prefecture, County, Township)
Village Autonomous System:
Administrative Village
Sub-Village

5. Village Autonomous System
Village autonomous system has been defined by “Organic Law of Villager Committee” (enacted in 1998), which is one of the basic political system in China.
Elected by villager assembly (VA), villager committee (VC) manages village collective affairs
VC consists of director, deputy directors, secretary, and other committee members (including at least one female member).

6. Duties of The VC
Basic duty of VC is the representative (as well as management) of “Village Collective Economy/Assest” which is unique in China
The VC manage the public affairs and public welfare undertakings of the village, mediate disputes among the villagers, help maintain public order, and convey the villagers’ opinions and demands and make suggestions to the people’s government.
The VC often assists government for policy and project implementation (economic development, environment protection, social welfare, etc.).

7. Current VC Task in related to poverty reduction in China
Manage collective land (including forest land) contraction into individual households
Develop village development/poverty reduction plan
Foster and support farmer cooperatives and other enterprises
Assist government to enforce social programs, e.g. subsistence security (Dibao) system, New medical cooperative, Social pension insurance, etc.
In general , village leaders are busy in collect fee, deliver/transfer resources, apply project, recommend candidates, organize land for specific projects, etc.

8. Challenges of Village Committee Leadership in China
There is no predictable budget for VC, no salaries for village leaders, only some subsidies
Village leaders become aging, this is why the University Graduated Village-Leaders proposed as a complementary measure
VC should report to Village Assembly, however, due to villager mobility, VA organization become difficulty
Community identity and collective action become a problem, due to social transition, which requires V Leaders better quality.

9. II. Summarizing the implementation of “ASEAN + 3 Village Leaders Exchange Program”

10. Review the Objectives To learn from best practices of China
To enhance the capacity of village leaders
To initiate cooperation between village leaders and government official / NGO
To contribute towards an enhanced ASEAN community

11. Progress/Activities Completed
Briefings and Discussion (D 1)
Country Presentation (D 1)
Regional Workshop on ‘Key Success Factors for Sustainable Rural Development’ (D 2)
Visit to Village / Micro Industries (D 3)
County Stay (D 3)
Visit to rural development projects (D 3&4)

12. Photo
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

13. Outcomes ?
What have we learned from host Country (China) and participants of other countries?
Knowledge? information? best practices? Lessons? Others?
What are your suggestions in related to further/future cooperation on capacity building of village leaders for poverty reduction? To whom?
10 minutes discussion within each country delegate
3 minutes presentation (keywords written in white papers)

14. III. Evaluation