A Planning Meeting among the implementing partners of the ASEAN-Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry and Climate Change (ASFCC), its Advisors, and the AWG-SF Secretariat will be held in Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 18-19 October 2019. The partners will present their respective accomplishments based on the Log Frame of the ASFCC and Plan of Action of the ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF) for 2016-2020. Further, the meeting will discuss operationalization of the program and institutionalization of support after ASFCC Phase III; formulation of a strategy for communication and final dissemination of results and knowledge products; and development of a design process for the final self-evaluation, learning and reflection.
The ASFCC is a program funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) to support the AWG-SF in addressing three inter-related issues confronting the region – food insecurity, poverty, and climate change. The Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA) is an implementing partner, together with the Center for Forestry Research (CIFOR), World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), Non-timber Forest Products-Exchange Program (NTFP-EP), and The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC).
SEARCA implements the AWG-SF Strategic Response Fund (ASRF), a flexible funding mechanism that aims to enable AWG-SF Leaders and Focal Points to quickly respond to emerging issues and challenges and articulate policy recommendations and directions on social forestry. The ASRF under ASFCC Phase 3 has awarded nine projects in eight ASEAN Member States (AMS) under its Reserved Grants (Grant 1) while six grantees received funds to participate in conferences (Grant 2). SEARCA also supported the development of ASEAN-level initiatives of developing policy frameworks and guidelines for cross-sectoral collaboration in support of the ASEAN multi-sectoral Framework on Climate Change (AFCC) and ASEAN Food, Agriculture and Forestry (FAF).
The meeting will be attended by Dr. Juergen Blaser, SDC Global Program Climate Change Advisor; Dr. Doris Capistrano, ASFCC Regional Advisor; Mr. Sreeram Koottala, ASFCC Fiduciary Advisor; and representatives from AWG-SF Secretariat and ASFCC partners.
