The United States Agency for International Development’s Mekong-Building Climate Resilient Asian Cities program is working to address the effects of climate change in four medium-sized cities in Thailand and Vietnam, two countries that are experiencing rapid urbanization and population growth.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and WaterLinks are implementing a two-year public-private partnership initiative, which will end in April 2015, to ensure the sustainability of the WaterLinks non-profit organization to expand access to safe water supplies and sustainable sanitation services in Southeast and South Asia.
Programs that assist developing nations to improve their agricultural sectors and food security are a key way to reduce extreme poverty. The new USAID Regional Development Mission for Asia “Agricultural Learning Exchange for Asian Regional Networking” project focuses on establishing learning exchanges of innovative farming practices and technologies among countries in the Asia region – namely, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, India, and Thailand.
As Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) looks to play a greater role with its neighbors – it borders Burma, Cambodia, China, Thailand and Vietnam – challenges remain in helping improve health and nutrition among women and children as well as ensuring that people with disabilities receive the quality care they need to contribute to the country’s future.
USAID works to reduce child stunting in targeted areas of Lao PDR and supports women, men, girls and boys with physical disabilities to gain free access to prosthetic, orthotics and physical therapy. We are also helping modernize the country’s economy, promote sustainable development and biodiversity conservation, and assist victims of unexploded ordnance. As expanded global connectivity furhter opens Lao PDR’s borders, USAID works to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases and pandemic threats.
OUR WORK
According to a 2011 Lao government survey, 44 percent of children under five is stunted due to limited access to nutritious foods and sanitation. USAID programs in Lao PDR help to improve inclusive economic growth and trade and address key climate change, environmental and health and nutrition issues. USAID also promotes greater inclusion and engagement of people with disabilities by providing quality prosthetics and orthotics services and physical and occupational therapies.
HEALTH AND NUTRITION
USAID helps Lao PDR respond to infectious diseases, including HIV and AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and pandemic threats such as avian influenza. The country is strengthening its response to tuberculosis based on findings from a USAID-supported study. Other key programs promote nutrition, water and sanitation hygiene, as well as maternal and child health to address high mortality and malnutrition rates. USAID assistance has also helped women and ethnic minorities in remote villages gain access to disability services and strengthened the referrals process through the country’s health system.
ECONOMIC GROWTH AND TRADE
To promote a diversified economy and sustainable, broadly-shared equitable growth, USAID is helping officials improve the country’s trade and investment-related laws and regulations. USAID’s programs engage Lao PDR Government ministries, the National Assembly and the private sector in policy and trade promotion activities to help meet Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Community commitments.
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENT
USAID supports improving forest management practices that reduce carbon emissions from land use and assists communities in becoming more resilient to the adverse impacts of climate change. Lao PDR officials increasingly factor in environmental and social considerations as they plan for major infrastructure development projects thanks to USAID support. USAID also raises awareness on illegal wildlife trade and supports the Lao PDR Government Wildlife Enforcement Network’s efforts to combat it.
Thailand graduated from USAID assistance in 1995 and USAID closed its bilateral mission the following year. In 2003, USAID returned to Bangkok to open a regional mission serving Asia. More than a decade later, USAID now works on cross-border issues of concern to Thailand and the region and draws upon Thai expertise to support development results in other countries.
The bulk of U.S. development assistance to Thailand is through regional programs that primarily cover the Southeast Asia region, including support to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group, and other regional fora of which Thailand is a member. These efforts are leading to greater regional economic integration and cooperation on issues of mutual interest to the United States and Thailand.
OUR WORK
While Thailand has become an upper middle-income country, it is not immune to regional and global development challenges. These include trafficking in persons for forced prostitution and labor, the relatively high prevalence of HIV and AIDS in specific populations, and the effects of global climate change — a threat that elevates the danger of natural and man-made disasters, droughts, extreme weather patterns and rising sea levels, putting lives and hard-earned economic growth at risk. USAID’s regional programs help prevent human and wildlife trafficking, reduce the incidence of HIV and AIDS and other diseases, and promote the responsible use of natural resources.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND GOVERNANCE
USAID works to protect and empower vulnerable populations, such as those targeted for human trafficking and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. According to the U.S. Department of State’s 2014 Trafficking in Persons report, Thailand is a source, transit and destination country for trafficking victims for commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. A USAID-funded awareness raising campaign — which disseminated information at high profile concerts, during television programs and through social media on how to help young teenagers and adults protect themselves from human traffickers — has reached at least 137 million people throughout Asia. USAID also addresses challenges facing Asia’s LGBT community, which is especially vulnerable to violence, social stigma and discrimination in many walks of life. USAID manages a regional initiative that works with universities, human rights organizations and LGBT associations to increase their ability to address these challenges. Other USAID projects assist citizens in becoming more engaged in governance. With USAID support, Khon Kaen University created a Center for Civil Society and Non-Profit Management to enhance civil society practitioners’ management skills through focused degree courses and certificate training programs. Students also study how successful non-government and civil society leaders can mobilize constituents and policymakers to encourage effective regional development and advocacy.
GLOBAL HEALTH
USAID’s regional health programs in Thailand and neighboring countries address HIV and AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis (TB) and avian influenza. In 2013, USAID programs reached more than 13,000 people in Thailand alone, providing HIV prevention education, condoms, counseling, and testing and treatment for sexually-transmitted infections. Teaming up with universities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam under the Southeast Asia “One Health University Network,” USAID helps detect and contain emerging infectious diseases before they become public health threats. The satellite Thailand One Health University Network program (with Chiang Mai, Chulalongkorn, Kasetsart, Khon Kaen, Mahidol and Prince of Songkla universities) has hosted regional training for students and faculty. Other potential global health threats being addressed include TB and multidrug-resistant TB, especially among mobile and migrant populations across the region. In addition, USAID leads the President’s Malaria Initiative and partners with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct research, monitor malaria control efforts, and carry out prevention activities. As part of these efforts, the governments of Burma, Thailand and the United States have launched their first cooperative effort to reduce drug-resistant malaria along the Thai-Burma border.
ENVIRONMENT
USAID takes advantage of Thailand’s technical expertise to strengthen regional efforts that promote green growth, low emission development and sustainable infrastructure, improve accounting of greenhouse gas inventories, increase community-level climate change adaptation capacity and resilience, and protect forests and conserve biodiversity across Asia. Thailand is a member of the USAID-supported ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network, which trains law enforcement personnel and increases public understanding of the negative impacts of illegal wildlife trafficking, including education on actions that can be taken to stop it. New public-private partnerships work with luxury hotel chains and local governments to reduce the consumption of shark fin and stop the sale of shark products to protect a predator critical to the conservation of marine ecosystems.
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