Nordeco undertakes an appraisal of two proposals by CARE Denmark under the Danida strategy for strengthening civil society in developing countries. The proposals concern improvements of livelihoods of mainly members of ethnic minority groups. The improvements will come from direct interventions and by increased access to government programmes, through active participation in the Vietnamese government’s efforts to decentralize planning and involve the population. The projects are suggested to be implemented by CARE Vietnam, through CARE DK and selected ‘alliance’ partners, such as Local Government Denmark, Danish Folk High Schools, Danish-Vietnamese Association, Seniors without Borders and the Organization for Sustainable Energy.