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…

New Pilot Program Incorporates Science into Policy-Making in Southeast Asia

The ASEAN-U.S. Science and Technology Fellows Pilot Program, which is managed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in partnership with the United States Mission to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), places scientists in ASEAN ministries and helps the region’s countries make greater use of science, technology and objective analysis to improve…

Google Joins Mekong Partnership for the Environment to Harness Big Data

If you Google “big data” you may soon find Mekong Partnership for the Environment among the search results.  On June 19, 2014, the tech giant agreed to partner with the USAID-funded project to support the next Mekong ICT ‘Bootcamp’.The Bootcamp will bring together up to 80 tech and data experts, journalists and civil society organizations…

Climate Resilience Action Plan for Hue City Approved

At a ceremony on June 27, 2014, the People’s Provincial Committee of Thua Thien Hue Province gave final approval for the Climate Resilience Action Plan for Hue City.  The Action Plan was developed under USAID's Mekong – Building Climate Resilience in Asian Cities (M-BRACE) program, which is implemented by the Institute for Social and Environmental…

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…

REDD+ Financing and Action Plan Introduced to Senior ASEAN Officials

The USAID Lowering Emissions in Asian Forests Program has furthered its engagement with ASEAN on forestry and climate change by addressing the ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry’s 15th Seminar on Current International Issues affecting Forestry and Forest Products on May 11, 2014, in Siem Reap, Cambodia.At the seminar, USAID Lowering Emissions in Asian Forests was recognized for contributions to forestry…

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…

Next Step in Climate Change Curriculum Development Focuses on Social Soundness and Carbon Measurement

University professors, trainers and USAID’s Lowering Emissions in Asian Forests partners met in Bangkok from May 26 to May 30 to further advance the project’s Regional Climate Change Curriculum Development program.This next step in the program allowed refinement and training for two of the program’s four modules – Social and Environmental Soundness and Carbon Measurement…

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…