Representatives of DHRRA network-members, DHRRA country partners, and FO partners, key ASEAN officials, and government representatives of the Lao PDR, and international development partners attended AsiaDHRRA’s 10th General Assembly held in Vientiane, Lao PDR last 24-26 October 2016.
With the theme “Localizing the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and ASEAN Community 2025: The Role of Rural Development Organizations and Rural People’s Organizations”, the 10th AsiaDHRRA General Assembly was organized by AsiaDHRRA and LaoDHRRA platform members – Community Development and Environment Association (CDEA) and Sustainable Agriculture & Environment Development Association (SAEDA) where delegates exchanged ideas on pressing issues related to the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the ASEAN Vision 2025 particularly on rural development and poverty eradication.
Ms. Marlene Ramirez, AsiaDHRRA Secretary General made a presentation on the draft regional policy study collated from country-level scoping studies looking into the implications of the ASEAN Vision 2025’s and the 2030 SDGs’ on the ASEAN region.
The general assembly was also a venue to learn and share lessons among participants on their past and current work on rural development and poverty eradication, to identify ways to collaborate and common action areas between and among CSOs, and agree on the priority action points for the year 2016 – 2017 to promote and localize the SDG 2030 and ASEAN Vision 2025 with the goal of advancing the role of RDOs, RPOs, government agencies, and development partners in attaining the 2030 SDGs and ASEAN Community Vision 2025.
During the general assembly, Dr. AKP Mochtan, Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs, gave a keynote speech which emphasized the importance of rural communities for food security and social cohesion. He also said that the gains of the ASEAN regional integration should be equitable and should not forget the rural communities, vulnerable, and underprivileged.
A field visit was also organized as part of the learning exchange among the participants of the general assembly and FO partners of LaoDHRRA platform members SAEDA and CDEA on marketing organic brown, black, purple and white rice of different varieties, tea from different provinces, rice wine, fruit wine, fruit candies, orange jams, passion fruit jams, and marmalades. Participants were also able to learn the potentials of organic agriculture as one farmer-partner in the Nasangphai Village in Xaythany District, Vientiane earns around US$800 a month through family-based organic vegetable farming.
