II Asian Convenio Regional Meeting – Knowing each other More helps us to work better

Between the 5th and 8th of October the second regional meeting of the Asian Convenio was celebrated in Manila. This opportunity under this program, which contributes to biodiversity conservation and development, has led to strengthen the common work strategies and sharing best practices carried out during the year. The program's goal is to preserve the environment for the communities of the areas in which we work in Cambodia, the Philippines and Vietnam to enjoy their livelihood in a sustainable manner.

In Asia, 25% of the population lives below the poverty line. Rapid economic growth being experienced by the region should be at times to over-exploitation of natural resources, which puts at risk the most vulnerable populations. Therefore, we work with people who depend on these resources and who live in ecologically sensitive areas. The goal is to find development alternatives compatible with conservation of natural resources and climate change.

Although the specific characteristics of each environment, you can learn a lot from each of these contexts, so we focus on the networking with partner organizations in each country. But the long-distance relationships are hard and complicated and must occasionally face to face each other. Therefore, since 2010, besides continuing to foster communication between all members involved, an annual regional meeting its performed, a space for dialogue and debate to exchange ideas and experiences that this year was attended by the partner organizations from the three countries as CRDT from Cambodia or ALTERDEV from the Philippines, and part of IPADE’s team as well.

"All the participants shared experiences and lessons learned actively", acknowledged Pheap Hean, director of CRDT Cambodian NGO, who encouraged to continue conducting these meetings annually. Thanks to this joint work carried out during the three days that lasted the meeting the regional program has been consolidated and also exchanges of good practices in natural resource management, servicea and community capacity building have been done among partner organizations. "We learned a lot from everyone, not just IPADE Team, but also from all participants. All the members shared their ideas, lessons learned ... For me, participating in the regional meeting in Manila has given me many experiences," said Keo Samnang, CRDT program coordinator.

Specifically, best practices in solid waste management systems based on active participation of communities or productive activities that ensure the conservation of the environment were exchanged. An example was the production and sale of handicrafts made by women's groups with leaves of abaca (a native plant that protects the coast from the impact of typhoons) in the Philippines.

The meeting also served to discuss and reflect on different approaches to organizations working on gender equity and promotion of environmental governance and the importance of promoting community participation in natural resource management was fostered. In short, a meeting that "not only facilitated the formulation of a common policy, objectives, outcomes and indicators at regional realistic and achievable, but also a meeting that has led to the understanding of different contexts and levels of development of NGOs in each country", said Yul Caringas, program coordinator of the Philippine NGO ALTERDEV.