FACT SHEET: The President’s Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative

The White HouseOffice of the Press SecretaryFor Immediate ReleaseToday in Rangoon, Burma, President Obama announced a significant expansion of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) at a town hall with 400 youth from the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).YSEALI is the President’s signature initiative to strengthen leadership development across…

U.S. Government Initiative Promotes Sustainable Development in Lower Mekong through Integrated Research

International experts in environmental research and policy gathered at a workshop on November 13, 2014 at the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program (FETP) Ho Chi Minh City. The event kicked off the new Lower Mekong Public Policy Initiative (LMPPI), supported with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The project fulfills goals of the U.S. Government’s Lower…

FACT SHEET: 2nd ASEAN-U.S. Summit

The White HouseOffice of the Press SecretaryFor Immediate ReleaseToday, President Obama met with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders and foreign ministers and the ASEAN Secretariat's Secretary-General at the 2nd ASEAN-U.S. Summit in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar. President Obama reaffirmed the importance of U.S.-ASEAN ties as a crucial element of the United States' strategic…

Dalat University Adopts USAID LEAF Climate Change Curriculum as Required Course

Vietnam's Dalat University has adopted materials from the United States Agency for International Development’s Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests (USAID LEAF) climate change curriculum to use in a mandatory course for all students. Developed over the past two years by 14 universities in USAID LEAF’s six core countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea,…

USAID Supports Improved National Forest Monitoring Systems in Asia

Over 90 participants from 18 countries in Asia attended the Fifth Regional Forest Monitoring Systems and Reference Levels for REDD+ workshop, held from October 20 to 22 in Hanoi, Vietnam. Hosted by UN-REDD, USAID’s Lowering Emissions in Asia’s Forests project (USAID LEAF), SilvaCarbon and the Vietnam Administration of Forestry, the workshop brought together participants to…

USAID Signs Agreement with Vietnam Province to Support New Sustainable Economic Growth Model

On October 7, 2014, in Thanh Hoa City, Vietnam, representatives from the USAID Vietnam Forests and Deltas program and the regional USAID Low Emissions Asian Development program signed a memorandum of understanding with the newly established Green Growth Task Force of Thanh Hoa Province that details USAID support for designing and implementing a green growth…

USAID and NASA Using Technology for Development in Lower Mekong

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) today announced a five-year project that will promote the use of satellite imagery to help Asia’s Lower Mekong region better predict and cope with floods and other natural disasters and increase resilience to the negative effects of climate…

Lower Mekong Initiative Road Management II Workshop

The Roads Management Workshops aim to provide participants from the ASEAN countries, particularly those in the Lower Mekong with an enhanced understanding of good design and practices in road and traffic management for safe transport and better connectivity between the countries.  Improving traffic safety through technical exchanges and harmonization of transportation design standards is planned…

World Rhino Day Video Raises Public Awareness of Rhino Poaching Crisis

In preparation for World Rhino Day, members of the USAID-funded Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking (ARREST) coalition created a short film calling on the public to stop purchasing rhino horn and to support wildlife protection efforts. Rhino poaching has reached a crisis point. They are now extinct in Vietnam and are being poached…

USAID Mekong ARCC Assesses Livelihoods and Adaptation Needs in Mekong Delta Commune

The USAID Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change partner, the Asian Management and Development Institute, has conducted a detailed livelihoods assessment in Thuan Hoa commune in Kien Giang province, Vietnam. The assessment evaluates how existing and potential livelihoods are impacted by climate change and helps identify opportunities to improve local incomes. The work also…

Article: Improving Road Safety in Cambodia

When I sit in Phnom Penh’s traffic, I watch with astonishment as motorbikes (motos), tuk-tuks, bicycles, and pedestrians compete for space on the road with cars and trucks. Cambodians are very resourceful at navigating through traffic, but that has not stopped the country’s number of fatal road accidents from rapidly rising over the past decade.…

USAID/RDMA Signs Agreement with US Environmental Protection Agency to Strengthen Environmental Impact Assessments in Lower Mekong

USAID/RDMA recently finalized a four-year inter-agency agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) as part of a Lower Mekong Initiative deliverable announced by Hillary Clinton and the USAID-supported Mekong Partnership for the Environment. Under the agreement, USAID, USEPA and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) partner to promote regional integration by strengthening environmental and social…