Archive | DHRRA News RSS feed for this section

Farewell and Godspeed Ismail…

By on April 17, 2013 in DHRRA Members, DHRRA News
ismail2013
 

The consumer movement has just lost a hardcore consumer activist, that Ismail Abdul Aziz, who died on March 27, 2013 due to heart disease. Ismail Abdul Aziz, 52, is Chairman of the Association of Consumers and Social Petaling District, which is a member of the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA). Ismail Abdul Aziz began to engage with consumer organizations in the early 1980′s. At that time, he was acquainted with Bishan Singh Bahadur, a social activist. When Bishan Singh became president of the Consumers Association of Gujarat at tahun1984, he has offered to stay with him Ishmael worked full time at the Consumers Association of Pahang. Ismail, who was then serving with the Department of Education Madhya Pradesh has resigned as enamored with the spirit of Bishan Singh, who then resigned as a teacher. In Pahang Consumers Association, Ismail involved in creating Pahang Branch Consumers Association in the district, as well as activate branch available.

In 1986, he was elected to president Bishan FOMCA. Convinced with the ability to Ismail, the Bishan has brought Ishmael with him in FOMCA as full-time workers. The combination of both of these activists have developed to a level FOMCA known. One of the proposals put forward by Bishan along he was the establishment of farmers’ markets, which are then implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Malaysia. Upon Bishan no longer lead the suggestion in 1988, Ismail had migrated to Queensland to work with a non-governmental organization involved in the development of rural communities. At the same time, he was also active in the Consumers’ Association of Queensland. He was appointed as Assistant Secretary-General FOMCA. During the mid-2000′s, he worked with the National Consumer Complaints Centre (NCCC). In order to continue his legacy in the world of consumerism, he founded the Association of Consumers and Social Petaling District in 2007. addition, he also served as the Deputy Secretary-General, Education and Research Association for Consumers Malaysia (ERA Consumer). He is also a member of the State Consumer Operations Council and President of Consumer Petaling District by the end of its life. May his soul be placed among those of the righteous. Al-Faatehah.

Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations (FOMCA). Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman
(Google translated from http://www.konsumerkini.net.my)

I am personally very sad of the news that our friend Ismail passed away today. He always make us feel connected, with his now and then updates and hellos here in facebook. Ismail is one of the few remaining pioneers of our DHRRA family in Malaysia. We remember with fondness Ismail’s short stay with Asiadhrra in Manila, where he made a lot of friends in Phildhrra and at the Partnership Center. We sincerely thank Ismail for his life dedicated
to service for other people. He will always be remembered.

We pray for the repose of Ismail’s soul and may God grant comfort to his family at this time of grief. We extend our deepest condolences to them and his extended family in DHRRA Malaysia and the consumers’ movement in the country.

Maraming salamat, Ismail. Mahal ka namin.

Asiadhrra, Marlene Ramirez

We are very sad to learn about the passing away of Ismail. He is one of our very active and enthusiastic Searsoliner. He always went beyond what was required of him and took the initiative to explore many other ways of helping others. It was very good that he stayed on with consummers’ rights for most of his lifetime work and we all know that doing something like this in Malaysia is very difficult. Fortunately, he was able to find allies in his own home country and in others. We will miss you, Ismail, all your reports, all your invitations to more challenges.

SEARSOLIN, Rachel V. Polestico

Visit Ismail’s Facebook
Ismail’s blog during his internship in Philippines (2006)
Ismail’s current blog

Comments { 1 }

AsiaDHRRA participated in the start-up workshop of the project “Building VNFU staff’s capacity of using right tools in supporting the development of collective economic forms in agriculture

By on April 10, 2013 in DHRRA News, Organizational Development

12vu 5966 startup

AsiaDHRRA joined the Start-up workshop for project “Building VNFU staff’s capacity of using right tools in supporting the development of collective economic forms in agriculture.” The workshop was held last February 25-27, 2013 at the VNFU Headquarter in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The project entitled “Building VNFU staff’s capacity of using right tools in supporting the development of collective economic forms in agriculture” aims at equipping VNFU staffs with the fundamental tools on supporting the development of collective economic forms in agriculture that enhance market power of small farmers and producers, develop a tailored – made guiding materials on the use of right tools to support the development of collective economic forms in agriculture; creating a potential resource of VNFU staffs that can be selected to be trained to become trainers/facilitators who later conduct training workshops for grass-roots level; thus, improving farmers’ capacity on marketing.  The project is supported by the Collectif Stratégies Alimentaires (CSA), a Belgium-based NGO, with funds from DGD Belgium through Agricord.  AsiaDHRRA has been dekegated by CSA to serve as focal point in providing advisory services to VNFU for the project. Both CSA and AsiaDHRRA are members of Agricord.

Dr. Nguyen Duy Luong, Vice- Chairman of VNFU presided the opening ceremony participated by representatives of VNFU Departments at Central level, representative of Farmers’ Unions in Hanoi City, Ha Nam, Bac Giang provinces, AsiaDHRRA, SRD and VietDHRRA.

12vu 5966 startup2
Dr. Nguyen Duy Luong, Vice- Chairman of VNFU said that: “there are various forms of collective economy, mainly cooperatives and cooperation groups. By now, VNFU has implemented many diversified activities to provide services of supporting farmers in developing collective economic forms in agriculture. VNFU at all levels established 72,000 cooperation groups, initially, some Farmers’Unionat provinces converted gradually cooperation groups to agricultural cooperatives. Besides, VNFU at all levels have actively realized in mobilizing and disseminating farmers and supporting in building up cooperation groups and common interest groups, inter-groups or cooperatives to develop collective economy in agriculture, to help farmers to develop household economy and improve farmers’ livelihood.”

Mr. Florante Villas, Program Manager of Linking Small Farmers to Market of AsiaDHRRA, expressed that: “Market power or bargaining power can be defined strictly as the ability of an enterprise or any producer to negotiate and succeed in getting better marketing terms. Single farmers do not have market power. The concentration on economic, technical and financial leads to the existence of increasingly large and powerful firms. Some valuable strategies for farmers include contract farming, supply management to match agricultural output to the demand, collective marketing; product differentiation, shortening the supply chain.

Collective economy plays an important role in promoting socio-economic development of the country. In the actual situation, collective economy and cooperative economy development is one of the ways to promote agricultural production, to contribute to generating income for farmers and promote sustainable agricultural development.

Read more on the VNFU website…

Comments { 0 }

VNFU and Asiadhrra co-organize Advocacy Capacity Workshop for Vietnam Farmer’s Union staff

By on April 9, 2013 in Agricord, Development Aid, DHRRA News, Organizational Development

Project Start-up Workshop for “Building Policy Advocacy Capacity for Vietnam Farmer’s Union staffs


Link to VNFU News Page

AsiaDHRRA is supporting VNFU’s project entitled “Building Policy Advocacy Capacity for Vietnam Farmer’s Union staffs” with financing from DGD Belgium through Agricord. The project aims to, among others, equip VNFU leaders and staff with some fundamental knowledge, skills and competence in policy advocacy.

Last February 28 to March 1, VNFU in cooperation with AsiaDHRRA, organized a start-up workshop to arrived a unity of understanding on the rationale, objectives and targets of the project, develop a training needs assessment tool and finalize schedules of key activities. Representatives from AsiaDHRRA; heads of VNFU departments and representatives from Province and City Farmer’s Union participated and presided the workshop.  The workshop was held at the VNFU Headquarters in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Mr. Leu Vu Dieu, Vice-Chairman of the VNFU Central Committee, presided over the opening ceremony of the workshop. In his opening remarks,  Vice- Chairman of VNFU Mr. Leu Vu Dieu said “Nowadays, some guidelines, mechanisms, policies relating to agriculture, farmers, and countryside are insufficient. This fact requires VNFU to become socio-political organization representing legitimate and legal rights and interests of farmers members; to continue to hold firm and enhance the efficiency of participating to contribute and advocate policies for farmers’ interests. However, almost VNFU’s staffs have never been trained basic knowledge and skills in this area”.

Project Start-up Workshop for “Building Policy Advocacy Capacity for Vietnam Farmer’s Union staffs
Ms. Marlene Ramizer, General Secretary of AsiaDHRRA  pointed out that “Policy advocacy is a strategy aiming to impact on policy makers when they create laws, policies and rules that affects  resource allocation as well as give other decisions aimed at providing better services and program to uplift farmers and rural communities in general. There are various strategies that aim to bring policy issues to policy makers. But constructive engagement framework on policy advocacy has provided broader opportunities for the participation of farmers on the policies making processes but also opportunities for working together in the implementation of programs resulting from the issuance or enactment of laws and policies. These opportunities put farmers, government and other stakeholders in a trustful relationship and become more effective in agents of development.

Ms. Marides Gardiola, constructive engagement and policy advocacy expert of AsiaDHRRA, also pointed out that to enhance knowledge, skills and competence of VNFU staff and leaders in policy advocacy, it was necessary to assess training needs and classify them based on 3 criteria: Knowledge (law, agricultural policies, issues and challenges, etc), Skills (policy articulation, lobbying and negotiation, communication, etc) and Attitudes (confidence, sentiment, willingness to listen, resolution in identify needs of fields, etc). The results of the assessment will provide inputs in the development of training modules, identify subjects to focus and enhance the rate of success and efficiency of the training processes.

12vu 5969 startup3
At the end of the workshop,  Mr. Leu Vu Dieu VNFU Vice-Chairman emphasized on the importance of the project, especially in capacity building for VNFU’s staffs in planning and enforcing policies. He required Management Board of the Project to coordinate with related parties to specify, build up plans to deploy effectively the project becoming premise to broaden the project to the next phases.

Comments { 0 }

Asiadhrra participates in 2nd SATNET Meeting

By on February 12, 2013 in DHRRA News, Farm Technology

Asiadhrra, a SATNET Associate Partner, participated in the Second Meeting of the SATNET Asia Network held in Bogor, Indonesia on 12 February 2012. The yearly meeting organized by CAPSA “is  an important opportunity to discuss the analytical work being conducted by the project, share the progress being made in the implementation of activities and agree on a work plan and timeline for the second year.”

Asiadhrra was represented by Program Manager Mr. Florante Villas. He was joined by Mr. Chaerul Umam of Binadesa/InDHRRA in the meeting.

Mr. Villas will also join the High-level Policy Dialogue on Technology Transfer for Smallholder Farmers to be held in Bogor, Indonesia on 13 February 2013. The event also organized by CAPSA in collaboration with  the  Government  of  Indonesia “aims  to  provide  a  discussion  forum  for  policy  makers, scientists and practitioners to address the challenge of technology transfer to smallholder farmers in the Asia and Pacific region.”

Comments { 0 }

Happy Lunar New Year!

By on February 7, 2013 in DHRRA News

Comments { 0 }

Asiadhrra participates in the WCC-IYFF coordination meeting in Rome

By on February 5, 2013 in DHRRA News

Asiadhrra, represented by Ms. Marlene Ramirez, participated in the meeting of the World Consultative Committee of the International Year of Family Farming 2014- IYFF-2014 held on January 29th to 31rst, 2013 in Rome, Italy. The meeting, organized by the WRF, took place in connection with the second meeting of the FAO IYFF-2014 Informal International Steering Committee. A common session will take place to coordinate both initiatives.

The WCC, as the advisory body of the IYFF-2014 Preparation Program, reviewed the major objectives of the IYFF-2014 and the policy guidelines marking the advocacy work.

Comments { 0 }