In response to the call of the Ha Noi Plan of Action to mitigate the impact of the financial and economic crisis of 1997-1998, AusAID collaborated with ASEAN to build capacity in the region for undertaking social impact assessment/targeting and to design and implement emergency social safety net programs.
As part of the ASEAN-Australia Social Safety Nets project, the following seminars were conducted: (a) Targeting and rapid assessment for social programs (completed in May 2001 in Indonesia); (b) Social service delivery and related operational issues (completed in August 2001 in the Philippines); (c) Role of national and local agencies in SSN (completed in November in 2001 in Thailand); and (d) Partnerships in social policy (completed in March 2002 in Malaysia).
As a follow-up, a regional website will be developed to provide a forum for sharing information and recommendations generated by the policy workshops, provide links to other relevant sites, and set up a discussion board for electronic dialogue. The ASEAN-Australia Social Safety Nets project has also highlighted the need for resource mobilization to build on the work accomplished by this joint project.
ASEAN has completed two projects under the Action Plan on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication with funding support from the United Nations Development Program. A project on Training of Facilitators on Rural Development and Poverty Eradication, which was integrated with the ASEAN-UNDP ASP6 project on “Recommended Alternative Strategies for ASEAN Member Countries in Designing and Implementing Effective Social Safety Nets Programs,” was implemented in June 2001 in Indonesia.
The training provided participants with opportunities not only to exchange ideas and share experiences (particularly in human-resource development and small-scale business development) but also to gain valuable field experience during the observation study tour. A publication documenting the region’s best practices in rural development and poverty alleviation, including social safety net programs, and policy recommendations for improving social partnerships in rural development and poverty alleviation, has been circulated to Member Countries and uploaded on the ASEANWEB.
The project “Building and/or Enhancing Capacities for Research, Assessment and Monitoring of Poverty in ASEAN Countries” commenced with a regional workshop in December 2001. The UNDP extended support for this project, which looks at ways to harmonize social impact assessment mechanisms in Member Countries. Under this project, the Regional Workshop on Harmonization of the Social Impact Assessment Mechanisms in Member Countries through Comparative Analysis of Existing Mechanisms and Practices was conducted in Kuala Lumpur in December 2001.
The Workshop helped the member countries to enhance their capacity in undertaking studies to assess the micro impact of macroeconomic shocks and structural adjustment policies. A draft Work Program on Harmonization of the Social Impact Assessment under Macroeconomic Crisis in ASEAN is under preparation.
As a regional response to the need for greater public awareness of ASEAN’s poverty-related activities, a homepage section on rural development and poverty eradication, including outcomes of regional training activities on social safety nets, has been initially set up on the ASEANWeb. This homepage section will be further developed into a separate and interactive regional homepage on poverty.
Rural development and poverty eradication were the first topics addressed by the ASEAN-World Bank joint video conference series. Convened in June 2001, the video conference focused on sustainable rural development and poverty eradication through institution-building, addressing such issues as planning and delivery mechanisms, budgetary cycles, inter-ministerial and interagency coordination for monitoring the progress of implementation, and the role of institutions in integrating rural development into the national development agenda. Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand participated in this video- conference.
