Mekong - U.S. Partnership
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…
Lao Cai Readies Climate Resilience Action Plan for Provincial People’s Committee
City stakeholders and government officials in Lao Cai, Vietnam, held their final workshop and Shared Learning Dialogue under support from the USAID-supported Mekong-Building Climate Resilience in Asian Cities project to discuss and finalize the city’s Climate Resilience Action Plan for submission to the Provincial People’s Committee.Dang Xuan Thanh, Vice-Chair of the Provincial People's Committee chaired…
USAID Helps Asian Countries Improve Accuracy of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Estimates
The USAID Low Emissions Asian Development program provided training for 55 professionals from seven Asian countries from June 2 to 4 in Manila, Philippines, on methods to more accurately estimate current and future greenhouse gas emissions from key sectors.The success of national and international efforts to address climate change depend on an accurate estimation of…
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…
Asia’s Regional Response to Endangered Species Trafficking Program Surveys Document Decline in Wildlife Crime in Vietnam
Over the last few months, USAID partner Education for Nature-Vietnam (ENV) has mounted a campaign of surveys in four districts of Ho Chi Minh City and Ha Noi to document the illegal use and sale of endangered and protected species. The project team inspected 2,326 restaurants, hotels, bars, traditional medicine shops, pet stores and markets…
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…
Hue Presents Its Draft Climate Action Plan for Stakeholder Feedback
In an April 2 shared learning dialogue chaired by Mr. Phan Ngoc Tho, Vice-Chairman of the Thua Thian-Hue Provincial People’s Committee, participants presented a draft Climate Action Plan for Hue City for stakeholder feedback.The Climate Action Plan was produced under the USAID Mekong Building Climate Resilience in Asian Cities Program, which is implemented by the…
University Outreach Aims to Reduce Tiger Bone Consumption in Vietnam
From April 14-18, Vietnamese students participated in a series of university outreach events to stop consumption of endangered species and their products. The events focused on encouraging students to refrain from using ‘tiger bone glue’, a substance common in Vietnam promoted to treat a variety of ailments.The outreach event was part of a larger region-wide…
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…
Press Release: Lao PDR Hosts Lower Mekong Initiative Regional Working Group
The Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic hosted over 90 delegates from Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam, the United States and the ASEAN Secretariat on March 20-21, 2014 for the 6th Lower Mekong Initiative Regional Working Group Meeting. The Lower Mekong Initiative is a multinational forum for addressing trans-boundary policy and development challenges in…
LMI Phase 2 English Language Support Project Forum: Strengthening Professional Collaboration Skills
What happens when outstanding government officials, researchers, and lecturers from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand from the Agriculture and Food Security, Environment and Water Security, and Connectivity LMI pillars come together for a three-day forum in Bangkok? A successful showcasing of presentation and leadership skills, energized networking, and the development of potential collaborative projects. Three participants…
