Phnom Penh, Cambodia – AsiaDHRRA convened its eight (8) DHRRA networks with around 32 participants in the 3rd Joint Regional Project Coordinators (RPC) and Project Advisory Committee (PAC) Meeting on August 9-12, 2018 at Hotel Cambodiana, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The related back-to-back activities are held annually for project assessment and planning under ReCoERDO-Asia. This year’s joint meeting was attended by members of PAC namely, H.E. Richard Tan, Chairperson of the Senior Officials Meeting for Rural Development and Poverty Eradication (SOMRDPE), Mr. Miguel Musngi, ASEC-RDPE Focal Point, and, Prof. Hiroyuki Konuma, Director of Meiji ASEAN Center. The AsiaDHRRA ExeCom Members and the ReCoERDO Asia National Project Coordinators from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao-PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam were also present.

On the progress of ReCoERDO_Asia program implementation, Mr. Musngi encouraged the search for innovations that will adapt to and/or showcase emerging technologies in farming. Dr. Konuma highlighted the importance of moving funded projects to self-reliance; while, Dr. Lee, AsiaDHRRA Vice Chairperson for North-East Asia Sub-region emphasized the need for continuous building of technical capability of RPCs to thresh out outcomes from outputs/results. Furthermore, AsiaDHRRA Secretary General, Marlene Ramirez emphasized the importance of always connecting local and national activities to the regional agenda, which is what ReCoERDO is designed for. Moreover, she also encouraged RPCs to capture not only immediate outcomes, but also far-reaching impacts. Finally, to make way in realizing all these, Mr. Tan, as Chairperson of the SOMRDPE, rallied the team to the challenge of putting rural development a priority on the agenda of ASEAN.
A courtesy visit was also made to H.E. Dr. Sao Chivoan’s office, State Secretary of the Ministry of Rural Development in Cambodia and former Chairperson of SOMRDPE.  The visit was symbolic of the partnership that needs to be nurtured by DHRRA partners in their respective countries. A strong partnership with government at national level would not only facilitate cooperation in the country but also with ASEAN.
The four-day joint meeting was capped with a day of field visit to Farmer Nature Network (FNN) community project sites. With thanks to CamboDHRRA for successfully hosting the ReCoERDO event.