USAID Highlights Emerging Trends in Participatory Forest Monitoring

In Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, forestry experts from across Asia participated in a Regional Knowledge Exchange Event on Participatory Forest Monitoring that examined emerging models of how communities and government can work together to monitor forest resources.The event, hosted by the Lam Dong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and co-organized by the U.S. Agency…

USAID Project Promotes Youth Job Skills and Education in the Lower Mekong

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a new project to train hundreds of instructors and students to prepare youth for employment in the Lower Mekong countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.  The USAID Connecting the Mekong Through Education and Training project, to be implemented by the Education Development Center, Inc., focuses on…

Leaders from M-BRACE Cities Meet to Share Challenges, Opportunities and Regional Linkages

Core stakeholders from four cities—Hue and Lao Cai, Vietnam and Phuket and Udon Thani, Thailand—met in Hue last week for the USAID Mekong-Building Climate Resilience in Asian Cities (USAID M-BRACE) project’s final workshop.The participants learned how their colleagues have been assessing and responding to the complex challenges posed by urbanization and climate change. The challenges…

Experts Conduct Gap Analyses of Rice/Shrimp Aquaculture Systems in Vietnam Mekong Delta

A team of specialists from Vietnam’s Can Tho University, the United States Agency for International Development’s Mekong Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change project (USAID Mekong ARCC) and other USAID Mekong ARCC partners conducted a gap analysis of rice/shrimp aquaculture systems in the Thuan Hoa commune in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta.They assessed farming practices and interviewed…

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…