For over 200 people, mostly from US Government and Capitol Hill, this week started with a Monday early morning screening of Revealed: Himalayan Meltdown, the film co-produced by UNDP, Arrowhead Films and Discovery Channel, to examine how the shrinking Himalayan glaciers and rising sea levels are affecting people across Asia and how communities in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal seek to adapt to climate change. The screening was organized at the request of the State Department, which is particularly eager to solicit ideas about adaptation and mitigation with regard to climate change. Maria Otero, Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs & Democracy, convened an expert panel to discuss the impacts of Himalayan glacier melt and identify important opportunities for mitigation, adaptation, and regional cooperation. Dr. Ajay Chhibber, RBAP Director, talked about the raison d'être for the film and UNDP's unique position as a conduit of expertise and knowledge of best practices on Asia-Pacific climate change issues. The UNDP Liaison Office in Washington helped organize the event and is looking for opportunities to screen Hard Rain, the documentary on climate change and human development in the Asia-Pacific produced with UNDP/APRC support as a curtain-raiser and complement to the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Human Development Report on Climate Change. Shared by Cherie Hart, Sarah Jackson-Han
Welcome to Go-REDD+
On 6 January, 2012, the UN-REDD Programme team in Asia-Pacific launched an invitation for a new knowledge-sharing gateway. Go-REDD+, an email listserv as part of the UN-REDD+ programme's regional support to countries in the Asia-Pacific region, will serve as a platform to distribute information and 'hot' topics, synopses of research results and activities related to REDD+ in the Asia-Pacific. The first issue of GO-REDD+ was launched on 9 January, 2012 with the topic on "Free, Prior and Informed Consent". Those who are interested in being updated on REDD+ issues, or have interesting stories to share about REDD+ should contact the Go-REDD+ team at Goredd.th@undp.org to subscribe. In 2011 the UN-REDD programme assisted six countries in Asia-Pacific namely Cambodia, Indonesia, PNG, the Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Viet Nam with approximately US$21 million to prepare and implement national strategies on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation through the REDD+ Readiness process. The process will help these countries to implement REDD+ as a contribution to global climate change mitigation in a cost-effective, efficient, and timely manner. More about the UN-REDD programme and REDD+ initiatives in Asia-Pacific.With thanks to Timothy Boyle and Metta Kongphan-apirak
Good Practice in Knowledge Sharing on HIV, Health and Development issues
APRC HIV, Health and Development practice leader Clifton Cortez, and policy specialist Edmund Settle, are in Dubai this week at the UNDP-Global Fund Partnership Meeting and the UNDP Global HIV Practice Meeting. The Knowledge Management and Knowledge Products Distribution Report 2011 will be presented to participants of the Global HIV Practice Meeting. The report captures a regional good-practice in the production and dissemination of strategic knowledge with the end-goal of initiating policy-level changes that will benefit the response to the HIV epidemic in Asia-Pacific countries. The team applies a strategic approach to managing the publication of knowledge products and monitoring and assessing their impact. In 2011, the team published 11 knowledge products, each designed in-house; over 3,000 hard copies were distributed throughout the region; and more than 7,500 downloads of the team's publications were recorded. The full collection is available at the UNDP APRC public website. Shared by Ian Mungall
Dialogues on Post-Conflict Economic Recovery
In 2011, the Regional Crisis Prevention and Recovery team conducted a series of dialogues with practitioners through the DRM-Asia Community of Practice. Members assessed ongoing economic recovery initiatives in the region, such as the Bhutan Recovery and Reconstruction Programme (which after the September 2009 earthquake includes a focus on skill development and livelihood regeneration), the reconstruction of community infrastructure through cash-for-work initiatives after Cyclone Sidr (2007) in Bangladesh and the economic recovery in peace and development in communities in Mindanao, the Philippines. The discussions resulted in a stocktaking of good practices, challenges and missed opportunities. In December 2011 the Regional Workshop on Economic Recovery brought together 50 practitioners from government, CSOs, the private sector and the UN to analyse concepts and practices related to economic recovery. Ramon Ilagan, mayor of Cainta, Rizal in the Philippines, moderated a discussion on improving partnership with the private sector in designing and implementing economic recovery initiatives. Micro-finance, cash-for-work and cash-support initiatives were discussed as different approaches to economic recovery in post-crisis settings. At the end of the four-day workshop participants developed a set of guidelines that will inform future regional interventions, in order to improve the knowledge-base and actual practices related to economic recovery.
Contributed by Radhika Behuria
ASEAN and Human Rights
Last December, UNDP/APRC, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Southeast Asia Regional Office, the ASEAN Secretariat and the Ateneo Human Rights Center conducted two human rights training workshops at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. These meetings were attended by senior officers, members of the technical support staff of the ASEAN Secretariat and members of the working group of the Committee of Permanent Representatives of ASEAN. The sessions tackled general human rights principles and mechanisms, human rights-based approaches to programming, as well as special topics such as migration, trafficking, women's rights, the Universal Periodic Review, cultural rights and the right to development. These subjects were discussed by human rights experts including UN Special Rapporteur on North Korea Dr. Marzuki Darusman, Prof. Vitit Muntarbhorn, UN Independent Expert on Human Rights and International Solidarity Virginia Bonoan-Dandan, and ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Chairperson Rafendi Djamin. The meetings are part of an effort to enhance a rights-based programming approach of the ASEAN Secretariat and to boost its support to the AICHR and ACWC. This highlights the significance of human rights in the work of the regional body, which according to ASEAN Secretary-General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan, is what defines ASEAN today. Shared by Aparna Basnyat
Recently Released
Nine technical background papers that informed the Asia-Pacific Human Development Report Power, Voice and Rights: A Turning Point for Gender Equality in Asia and the Pacific. The background papers, prepared by experts from Asia-Pacific, provide solution-oriented analysis of gender inequalities in the economic, political and legal spheres, and explain why gender equality in all spheres of life is integral to human development. Though the focus of the research is the Asia-Pacific, the perspectives and analysis has wider relevance. The papers can be accessed online at http://www.snap-undp.org/elibrary/default.aspx under Recent Publications. Stay tuned for other publications from the Human Development Report Unit. Follow the team on Facebook, join it on Teamworks. Shared by Anuradha Rajivan
Access to Justice Assessments in the Asia Pacific: A Review of Experiences and Tools from the Region. This publication is a result of a comprehensive study of over 23 accesses to justice assessments (led by UNDP as well as some external assessment) conducted between 2000 and 2010 in 14 countries, namely Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Republic of Vanuatu and Viet Nam. The publication provides case studies and analyses of the approaches, strategies, methodologies and tools used in various assessments. Its ultimate purpose is to assist practitioners in conducting and improving their access to justice assessments in the region and elsewhere. Access the publication online at: http://www.snap-undp.org/elibrary/Publication.aspx?id=597 Shared by Pauline Tamesis