Training Manual Launched to Improve Social Equity in Forests and Climate Change Context

The USAID-funded Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong (GREEN Mekong) program recently completed a seminal training publication entitled “Improving grassroots equity in the forests and climate change context”.The manual aims to develop the knowledge and capacities of grassroots facilitators to conduct meaningful participatory processes that can improve social equity and inclusion in forest-based…

Mekong Partnership for the Environment Seeks Journalists to Participate in Workshops

The rapid pace of development leading up to the ASEAN Economic Community is creating opportunities for journalists to find innovative and important environmental, business, investment, health and culture stories.  USAID-supported Mekong Partnership for the Environment (MPE) is hosting a series of workshops for Mekong-area journalists who report on social and environmental impacts of development projects…

Laos Farmers Return Home with Hands-on Field Experience in Forest Restoration

A three-day regional training on forest restoration, held July 8 – 10 by the USAID-funded Lowering Emission’s in Asia’s Forests (USAID LEAF) Program in collaboration with the Forest Restoration Research Unit (FORRU) at Chiang Mai University, Thailand, concluded with hands-on experience for 13 Laos farmers and forest officers from Houaphanh and Attapeu Provinces.The farmers and…

Vietnam Educators and Partners Engage on Climate Change Curriculum

The USAID Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (USAID LEAF) program advanced development of its Climate Change Curriculum in Vietnam with open seminars at universities in Hanoi on June 19 and 20 and Da Lat on June 25 and 26.The seminars reached over 120 educators at Hanoi’s Vietnam Forestry University and Da Lat University with information…

NEWS: Results of the Lower Mekong Initiative and the Friends of Lower Mekong Senior Officials’ Meeting

As head of the Thai delegation, the Director-General of the Department of ASEAN Affairs, Mr. Arthayuth Srisamoot, has attended the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and the Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) Senior Officials’ Meetings.These two events took place in Yangon, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, on 8 June 2014.Founded in 2009, the…

The LMI English Support Project Phase Two Symposium on English for Specific Purposes: Collaboration and Innovation

Over one hundred ministry of education officials, university English department heads, researchers, and lecturers from the five Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam), Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, participated in a two-day symposium, an activity under the Education Pillar in Bangkok, Thailand.The culminating event of the 2013-2014 LMI English Support…

NEWS: Cooperation in the Lower Mekong Stepped up

Senior officials of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam met with those from the United States to discuss sustainable economic growth in the Mekong sub-region in Yangon, Myanmar on June 8.The Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) SOM meeting, which involved the five Mekong countries and the U.S., touched upon cooperation for the next five years and…

Grassroots Equity Tops Agenda at ASEAN Conference on Social Forestry

The USAID-funded Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong Program supported 14 forestry officials and civil society representatives from the Lower Mekong countries to join over 200 participants from governments, civil society organizations and other stakeholders at the ASEAN Social Forestry Network annual conference in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia from May 24 to 26.Conference participants…

Lower Mekong Civil Society Organizations Gain Further Skills to Promote Grassroots Equity

On May 28 to 30, representatives of 20 civil society organizations from five Lower Mekong countries took part in the Second Civil Society Organizations Capacity Development Workshop funded by USAID’s Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong Program.The workshop is part of the continuous effort to support and strengthen capacities of the targeted civil society organizations to…

Launch of Innovative Regional Learning Group on Equity in Forest Governance

From April 28 to May 2, USAID’s Grassroots Equity and Enhanced Networks in the Mekong Program launched its Regional Learning Group on Equity in Forest Governance and organized its first learning event in Chiang Mai Province, Thailand.Twenty-two sub-national government officials from Lower Mekong countries, including Cambodia, Laos PDR, Thailand and Vietnam, participated and will continue…

Enhancing Capacity to Conduct Rigorous Forest Carbon Stock Assessments in Southeast Asia

From March 24 to April 4, USAID’s Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests program organized a Technical Training on Forest Carbon Assessment and Logging Emission Factor Development in Malaysia, which included participants from Malaysia, Vietnam, and Laos, and training experts from Winrock International.  The first week of training consisted of a Forest Carbon Assessment based at…

Asian Policymakers Improve Energy and Climate Change Policy Analysis

In recent weeks, the USAID Low Emissions Asian Development program conducted two regional workshops to help government agencies track energy consumption, production and resource extraction in all economic sectors.  Using an innovative tool, the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) System, the government agencies learned to conduct energy policy analyses and greenhouse gas mitigation assessments.The first…