Annual conference: Forum on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
The conference of the Forum on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam is held each
year in order to provide an opportunity for the various actors involved
in economic and social development in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam to
meet and learn from each other about their often parallel or intersecting
work. The theme of the next conference is "The Partnership Approach
to Poverty Alleviation Development: Sharing Experiences and Fostering
Cooperation ". It will take place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia January
25-28. 1999. It is anticipated that more than 300 representatives of
government ministries, mass organizations and professional associations,
local and international NGOs, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies,
foundations, universities and research institutes and business from
the region as well as from Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, and North
America will attend the conference. Depending on how successful we are
in fundraising, we hope to be able to support the participation of large
numbers of local participants from government ministries, local NGOs,
universities and research institutes from the three countries.
The conference will take place January 25-28, 1999 at the Sunway Hotel and the Council for Development of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. During each day, there will be a plenary sessions for all participants, three concurrent panel discussions on more specialized topics, and 15-20 simultaneous sectoral working groups. There are also opportunities for more informal discussions to occur during coffee breaks and evening festivities. The panels are designed so that more than one dimension of an issue will be covered by pairing governmental with non-governmental, international with local, donors with recipients. A substantial question and answer session follows each panel so that there is a real dialogue between presenters and the participants.
The general objective of the conference is to continue to provide an opportunity for donors, government officials and staff of local and international NGOs and development agencies to share with each other their views and programs of action to address the development and social needs of the region. At this conference, it is expected that partnerships can be formed or strengthened between government officials and non-governmental organizations, between bilateral and multilateral aid donors and NGOs, between the local NGOs and the international aid community and cross regionally between host country counterparts and among international practitioners. Without such "partnership" there is less chance of future development programs succeeding. Below is the agenda for the conference. If you would like information the conference or how to register please contact me in Phnom Penh via email or tel/fax: 855-23-367420 or by post at Forum on Cambodia, Laos and Vientam, PO Box 2574, Phnom Penh 3, Cambodia
Sincerely,
Susan Hammond
Program Coordinator - US Indochina Reconciliation Project
Conference Coordinator - Forum on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
Draft- list of speakers incomplete
9th Annual Conference of the Forum on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
January 25-28, 1999 Phnom Penh, Cambodia
"The Partnership Approach to Poverty Alleviation and Development:
Sharing Experiences and Fostering Cooperation "
Monday January 25
Pre-conference options:
Sight seeing in Phnom Penh: visits to Tuol Sleng and Royal Palace
Site visits to NGO projects in the Phnom Penh area
4:00 p.m. Registration open until 8:00 p.m. at Sunway Hotel. Displays and literature tables open
6:00 p.m. Welcoming Reception hosted by Cambodian government
Tuesday January 26
7:30 a.m. Registration at Sunway Hotel
8:30 a.m. Welcoming Remarks by Organizers
Plenary: "Lessons for Transitional Economies from the Asian Economic Crisis"
Mr. Sameth Sous, Country Representative ADB-Phnom Penh; Robert Glofcheski, Senior Economist UNDP, speakers from the World Bank and Focus on the Global South
10:30 a.m. Coffee break
11:00 a.m. First meeting of sectoral groups (introductions, confirm agenda)
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. Country Plenary: Cambodia
3:30 p.m. Coffee break
4:00 p.m. Simultaneous panels, Session I at Sunway Hotel A) "Integrating multilateral and bilateral development agencies, foundations, non-profit organizations and grass roots priorities into national plans"
Chair: Charles Bailey, Vietnam Country Representative, Ford Foundation Representatives of Government Ministries; comments by cross section of aid givers
B) "International private business as a motor for development, source of philanthropic funds, and setter or subverter of labor standards" Representatives of foreign business organizations and their host country counterpart or regulating agency
C) "Grass roots organizations and their role in meeting development needs" Representatives of mass organizations, local NGOs, professional associations
6:30 p.m. Reception performance by dancers from the Royal University of Fine Arts
8:00 Premier of "Dancing through Death" A documentary film by the Gardner Group
Wednesday January 27
8:30 a.m. Country Plenary: Laos
10:30 a.m. Coffee break
11:00 a.m. Second Session of Sectoral Groups (principle program issues within each country)
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. Simultaneous panels, Session II at Sunway Hotel
A) "Addressing social evils at the grass roots: prostitution, trafficking of women and children, drug addiction, and corruption"
Representatives of government agencies, mass organizations and NGOs
B) "Water resource development: economic, environment and resettlement issues" Representatives of multi-lateral development agencies and government ministries Comments by NGOs
C) "The challenge of maintaining a system of primary and preventative health care in the rural areas."
Representatives of Ministries of Health, WHO, Maurits van Pelts, MSF -Holland, Belgium and MEDICAM and other health NGOs
3:30 p.m. Coffee break
4:00 p.m. Plenary "Cooperation between international non-profit organizations and host governments" Representatives of supervisory bodies (PACCOM, Cambodian and Lao MFA) Representatives of network organizations (NGO Resource Center; Cooperation Committee for Cambodia; NGO Forum on Cambodia; an INGO in Laos)
6:00 p.m. Reception with Embassies and Multilateral Agencies Remarks by Ambassadors of INGO home countries (Australia, French, Canada, E.U., Japan, U.S.)
Thursday January 28
8:30 a.m. Country plenary: Vietnam
10:30 a.m. Coffee break
11:00 a.m. Final Session of Sectoral Groups (conclusions and suggestions for future exchanges and cooperation)
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. Simultaneous Panels, Session III at Sunway Hotel
A) "Developing curriculum to meet new national needs; conflicting advice and competitive advisors" Representatives of Ministries of Education and international educationalinstitutions assisting them
B) "Food security and growth: modernizing agriculture and overcoming poverty while maintaining the integrity and viability of rural communities" Representatives of Ministries of Agriculture or Rural Development; Ken Noah Davies, WFP-Cambodia; Comments by INGOs
C) "Grass roots efforts to address the legacies of war: land mines,
unexploded ordnance, birth defects, weapons proliferation"
Moderator: Richard Walden - Operation USA, Panelists: Sam Sotha, General
Director CMAC; Dr. Le Cao Dai, Fund for Agent Orange Victims; and representative
of Laos UXO agency and NGOs.
3:30 p.m. Coffee break
4:00 p.m. Wrap up; headlines from Sectoral Groups at CDC
6:30 p.m. Closing dinner at restaurant across the Japanese bridge
January 29-31 Post Conference option:
Trip to Angkor Wat
Sectoral Groups
The working core of the conference are daily meetings of people who are involved in the same sector in the three countries, whether they represent a government agency, mass organization, local NGO, professional association, foundation, university, multilateral development agency, bilateral donor, business or international NGO.
Sectoral meetings offer an opportunity to profit from each other's experience, develop means of ongoing communication and consider cooperative projects. The list will be expanded or contracted according to interest. Groups may merge with those having overlapping interests or divide for discussion of more specialized needs. Discussions may continue informally during the lunch break.
Agriculture, Fisheries
AIDS
Child Welfare
Civil Society
Community Development
Culture
Disaster Preparedness and Relief
Education: Pre-School, Primary,
Education: Secondary, Vocational
Education: University, graduate work, exchanges
Education: Non-formal
Environment, Ecology Restoration
Foreign Language Teaching
Handicraft Preservation, Development, Promotion
Handicap training and services
Health
Historic Preservation
Internally Displaced, Resettlement of Refugees
Irrigation
Labor and Occupational Safety
Land mines, UXO, Agent Orange
Law and legal reform, civil rights
Micro-credit, economic development
National Minorities and Highland communities
Press and Mass Media
Private Investment, Trade and Tourism
Sub-regional integration
Use of the Internet and Technology in Development
Women's Organizations and Priorities
Other _________________
Special note: If sufficient interest is expressed by December 15th, introductory visit programs may be arranged in Vietnam before the conference and/or in Laos after the conference.
Susan Hammond
Program Coordinator - US Indochina Reconciliation Project
Conference Coordinator - Forum on Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
26 Street 143
PO Box 2574
Phnom Penh 3, Cambodia
Tel/fax: (855-23) 367420
cellphone (855-12) 804475
E-mail: usirp@camnet.com.kh
Since I travel frequently please send a cc: to usirp@hotmail.com