Chinese Official Feted for Environmental Compliance Leadership

Thursday, November 06, 2008

The Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN) will give its first Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment by a Woman to Tang Xingqun, Deputy Director-General of the Chongqing Environmental Protection Bureau. The award, for leadership and contributing to environmental compliance and enforcement, will be made at AECEN's Annual Forum in Bali on November 24-26. USAID is the sole supporter of this year’s forum and provides principal funding for AECEN, which promotes improved compliance with environmental policies, laws and regulations.

ASEAN Single Window Moves Closer to Reality

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

The first component of the USAID-supported ASEAN Single Window (ASW) program, an application for sharing Certificates of Origin, was demonstrated for customs authorities in Kuala Lumpur. The application will be deployed to participating countries by early January. The ASW program, which will make custom clearance faster when it is implemented, is a key component in ASEAN’s trade facilitation strategy.

Incidence of Malaria Drops in Greater Mekong Subregion

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Global Fund representatives reported a reduction in malaria morbidity and mortality in the Greater Mekong Subregion at the recent USAID Mekong Malaria Program (MMP) Core Partners’ Meeting in Bangkok. Participants also discussed the need for containment measures along the Thai-Cambodian border for malaria resistant to artemisinin combination therapy (ACT).

Proposed Database of ASEAN Trade Regulations Gets Positive Reception

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

ASEAN is considering introducing a computerized repository of trade regulations and tariffs based on a presentation by the USAID- and State-funded ADVANCE ASEAN-US Technical Assistance and Training Facility. The database of import, export and transit regulations would increase transparency and make it easier to do business in ASEAN. The proposal was made at a recent trade committee meeting in Vientiane.

Asian Wildlife Police Discuss Program with INTERPOL Authorities

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Senior officers from the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) and Thai Task Force gave a presentation about the ASEAN-WEN program at the Sixth International Conference on Environmental Crime at INTERPOL headquarters in Lyon, France. USAID and the State Department sponsor ASEAN-WEN.

Japanese to Help Thai Experts Prevent, Manage Soil Contamination

Monday, October 27, 2008

Japan's Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) and Thailand's Pollution Control Department agreed to launch a new partnership in Bangkok to prevent and manage soil contamination. Japan's Ministry of Environment is a pioneer in soil and groundwater contamination and through IGES will strengthen Thailand's efforts to develop policies to prevent and manage soil contamination. USAID-supported AECEN, the leading platform for promoting environmental governance in Asia, arranged the partnership.

Top Lamp Producers Set Quality Standards at USAID’s Urging

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

The world's four largest lighting manufacturers drafted Asia's first performance guidelines for energy-saving lamps. USAID spearheaded this initiative to ensure compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) meet quality benchmarks. CFLs use 75% less energy than incandescent lamps and last eight to 10 times longer. However, a USAID study found that half the CFLs made in Asia don't perform as advertised. Philips, OSRAM, General Electric, and Havells Sylvania, which produce one-third the CFLs sold in Asia, along with several large Chinese manufacturers and national lighting associations, drew up the guidelines.

Guangdong Manufacturers to Clear the Air with USAID Help

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

USAID has just awarded $1.5 million for the Guangdong Environmental Partnership (GEP), a three-year program to work with China’s Guangdong Province’s government, businesses, and community to improve environmental governance and reduce greenhouse gases. This Global Development Alliance, led by the Institute for Sustainable Communities, will: help small- and medium-sized companies strengthen environmental compliance through a new Environment, Health and Safety Academy for business managers; enhance environmental enforcement by partnering Chinese officials and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA); and mobilize communities through energy efficiency initiatives and education on sustainable development. The GEP will include $3 million in matching funds and in-kind contributions though partnerships with GE, Citigroup, Honeywell, SABIC Innovative Plastics, Adidas, Hewlett Packard, USEPA, the Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, and the Center for Global Partnership.

Cambodia Cleans Up with WASH Campaign

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Cambodia recently held its first water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) day to raise awareness about proper hygiene practices and encourage improved sanitation throughout the country. The event, held in Phnom Penh, drew over 1,200 people. The government plans to replicate hand-washing promotional activities, sponsored by USAID’s Environmental Cooperation-Asia (ECO-Asia) program, throughout the country.

Rare Animals Rescued as Police Respond to USAID Drive

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Highway patrol officers in southern Thailand intercepted a pick-up truck bound for Bangkok and discovered 440 pounds of endangered pangolins (scaly anteaters) in a hidden compartment. Heightened awareness of illegal wildlife trade by the USAID- and U.S. Department of State-supported ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) is encouraging greater vigilance. The Thai Highway Police last month took part in ASEAN-WEN’s Nature Crime Investigation Course.

USAID Funds Financing Strategy to Support Water Projects

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

USAID/RDMA's Environmental Cooperation-Asia (ECO-Asia) program is funding a $25,000 regional water financing strategy with the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP). The project, announced in Manila, will develop business models for banks and financial institutions to assist the water sector in Asia. The study will focus on water utilities, small entrepreneurs and households. Results will be presented at a regional water financing workshop in November.

USAID Signs Pact to Improve Water and Sanitation in Asia

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), International Water Association (IWA) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) signed an agreement in Stockholm to establish an Asia-wide partnership called WaterLinks that will provide clean drinking water and sanitation throughout the region by coordinating and promoting Water Operation Partnerships (WOPs). WOPs pair, or "twin," water operators searching for solutions with operators who have already surmounted similar challenges. IWA will broker new WOPs through its member network, ADB will finance the ventures, and ADB and USAID will leverage their resources to support the WOPs.

Vietnamese Join USAID Biodiversity Program to Enrich Forest Areas

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Residents near Cat Tien National Park, 150 kilometers north of Ho Chi Minh City, have begun planting bamboo, forest cocoa and trees in degraded forest areas. With support from the USAID-funded Asia Regional Biodiversity Conservation Program, 340 households are enriching 1,100 hectares of land with plants that will increase their income, circumvent deforestation, and improve the ecosystem in this area which protects one of the largest lowland tropical rainforests in Vietnam.

USAID Links Thailand and U.S. Wastewater Utilities to Improve Operations

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

USAID’s ECO-Asia program has linked wastewater authorities in Thailand and the U.S. to improve management, operations and maintenance of treatment plants throughout Thailand Treatment specialists from the Wastewater Management Authority (WMA) of Thailand will join experts from the area for a one-year project. Engineers from the King County's Wastewater Treatment Division will help Thai authorities improve the Krabi wastewater plant and then replicate lessons learned throughout Thailand.

MTV heads to Laos to record trafficking-in-persons film

Monday, July 14, 2008

The latest version of the USAID-funded Traffic: An MTV EXIT Special is being filmed in Laos. Pop singer Kai from the group Overdrive is narrating the film for broadcast later this year on Laos Star Channel. Lao the 14th language for this documentary about human trafficking. New versions for Bangladesh, Nepal and two for Sri Lanka (in Sinhalese and Tamil) will be recorded later this year.

U.S. wildlife officers teach course to break trafficking networks

Monday, July 14, 2008

Thai police, judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, as well as officials from Vietnam, India, and the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP), are attending a Nature Crime Investigation Course in Bangkok. The class, sponsored by the USAID-funded ASEAN-WEN (ASEAN-Wildlife Enforcement Network), focuses on strategies to detect and apprehend the people behind wildlife trafficking networks. The course is being taught by senior U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service officers.

Leading lighting companies sign quality-assurance pact

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The world’s three largest lighting companies, Philips, OSRAM and General Electric, signed an agreement at the Asia Clean Energy Forum to establish quality standards for compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) in Asia. Half the CFLs currently sold in Asia are substandard, producing less light or burning out more quickly than advertised. USAID and the Asian Development Bank sponsored the Asia Clean Energy Forum. The USAID ECO-Asia Clean Development Program has been pushing for CFL standards for the past year.

USAID assists ASEAN to develop indicators for legal timber

Friday, April 25, 2008

USAID’s Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade (RAFT) Program supported the ASEAN Secretariat’s intiative to develop indicators for legal timber at a meeting in Burma. ASEAN timber certification will improve forest management and trade using legally sourced wood.