CIRDAP and its partners, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Lao PDR, organized an Expert Consultation Workshop on Asia-Pacific Integrated Rural Development and Sustainable Resource Management in the 21st Century: Strategic Actions at the Regional and the National levels from 6th to 7th October 2023 in the Grand Luang Prabang Hotel, Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. The event was inaugurated at 9:00 a.m. Laos’s time on 6th October 2023. The workshop provided a forum for relevant experts and stakeholders to address the current challenges of the rural population in Asia and the Pacific, particularly emphasizing Integrated Rural Development and Sustainable Resource Management in the 21st Century. The DG of CIRDAP, Dr. Cherdsak Virapat, provided the welcome address at the onset of the workshop. The opening addresses were provided by Mr. Anosack Phengthimmavong, Deputy Director General, Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Lao PDR; Prof. Dr. Ir. H. Rokhmin Dahuri, President of Indonesia Aquaculture Society, Advisor of Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Republic of Indonesia; and Former Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Republic of Indonesia and Professor in Coastal and Ocean Management, IPB University, Indonesia; Dr. Jie Huang, Director General, Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA); Mr. Suriyan Vichitlekarn, Executive Director, Mekong Institute (MI); Mr. Wimon Punkong, Representative, Executive Director, International Institute for Trade and Development (ITD), Thailand; and Dr. Nathaniel Don Marquez, Executive Director, Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC), Philippines. There were eleven presentations by the Honorable Experts and team of Excellences at the workshop on different thematic topics such as Sustainable Resource Management; Transformation of Global Frameworks, Conventions, and Multilateral Treaties; Climate Change; Disaster Risk Reduction; Agriculture Farm Business and Income Generation; Land and Resource Governance; Upland-Coastal-Ocean Management; Village Administration; Gender Equality; ICT and digitalization; IRD Models in Asia Pacific and their potentials. Mr. Somboon Laoprasert, CIRDAP Expert of the Team of Excellences from Thailand, moderated the panel presentations and Discussion. After the presentations, a brainstorming session was held in the two groups to discuss and identify the actionable strategies and plans at the regional and national levels for collaborative efforts to improve the situations in Asia and the Pacific region. The participants also discussed and came up with several pilot projects for implementation. The Consultation workshop ended with the presentation of the outcome of the brainstorming session by Dr. Muhammad Israr, IRD Expert, and Prof. Dr. Mohammed Helal Uddin, Director (Research), CIRDAP, at 1:00 pm on 7th October 2023. Contact:  Ms. Hurain Jannat, Communication OfficerCentre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP)Email: communication_officer@cirdap.org

The 38th Technical Committee meeting of CIRDAP was held at the Grand Luang Prabang Hotel, Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, from 3 – 4 October 2023. The meeting was attended by 40 participants, including 14 CIRDAP member countries. A representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Regional Office, Lao PDR; the IRD expert of CIRDAP; the representatives of national and international observers, and CIRDAP experts also attended the meeting. The TC member of Lao PDR, Mr. Anosack Phengthimmavong, Deputy Director General of the Department of Rural Development, chaired the meeting. In his opening remark, Mr. Phengthimmavong sincerely thanked the CIRDAP Secretariat for organizing this face-to-face technical committee meeting. The DG of CIRDAP, Dr. Cherdsak Virapat, sincerely thanked the outgoing Chairman of Thailand for his unwavering support and leadership during the chairmanship. He also presented a small token of appreciation and gratitude to both (the new and outgoing) Chairman. The technical committee noted the report of the Director General with some observations from the member countries and the status of the implementation of the TC-37 meeting. The Secretariat provided the Rural Development Report (RDR) 2023 progress to the Committee. The Technical Committee discussed and endorsed the outcome of the 1st CIRDAP-BARD Flagship Training Programme on Regional Integrated Rural Development, Governance, Trade and Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific Region and the Progress Report on the Women, Youth, and Rural Development Programme. The Committee members considered the Self-Assessment Report (SAR) of CIRDAP and set a virtual TC Meeting on 21st December to discuss it further. The Committee members provided feedback on the programme Budgets of CIRDAP for 2024 and 2025. The Committee members discussed the World Rural Development portal and provided suggestions. They selected the theme of 2024 for celebrating World Rural Development Day: “Let’s End Hunger by Making Food Affordable for All.” They also endorsed the venue of the following Technical Committee Meeting (TC-39) in Malaysia in 2024. The Committee members emphasized the visibility of CIRDAP and the spreading of CIRDAP activities across CMCs in general.  On the 3rd of October, CIRDAP and The Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry organized a welcome dinner along with the Aziz-ul-Huq Rural Development Model Ceremony at the Grand Ballroom of the Grand Luang Prabang Hotel, Luang Prabang, Lao PDR. CIRDAP honored seven recipients representing individual persons and organizations with the award, those who worked tirelessly to improve the life standards of the marginalized rural people. The names are as follows: The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation, Myanmar: award for 2022 The Ministry of Cooperatives and Rural Development, Myanmar: award for 2022 The Ministry of Rural and Regional Development Malaysia (MRRD), Malaysia: award for 2023 The Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Cooperatives and Rural Development, Myanmar: award for 2023 Asia Ecosystem Institute, Islamic Republic of Iran: award for 2023 Balochistan Rural Support Programme (BRSP), Pakistan: award for 2023 International Institute for Trade and Development (ITD)Thailand: award for 2023 A Study Tour at the Living Land Farm (a Community Enterprise) in Luang Prabang town, Lao PDR, was organized on 5th October 2023. All the participants and observers attended this fantastic field trip to learn and appreciate the traditional Lao rice farming experiences. The participants learned about the ancient process of harvesting, planting methods, and threshing and winnowing rice. Contact:  Ms. Hurain Jannat, Communication OfficerCentre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP)Email: communication_officer@cirdap.org

Today, CIRDAP organizes the Webinar on the International day for Rural Women on October 15, 2023. Ms. Saifun Nahar, Deputy Director & Project Director: RWSEEDE, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD) was embraced the webinar as speaker. The topic of the webinar presentation was “Rural Women’s Organization for Development: A Case of BARD Experiment”. The DG of CIRDAP Dr. Cherdask Virapat provided the speech on this special day. DG CIRDAP Message link: (PDF) After the presentation, there was constructive discussions amongst the participants. To know more about the presentation of the speaker, please see the link below: Presentation PDF link

Message from Dr. Cherdsak Virapat, Director General, Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) on the International Day of Rural Women Sunday 15 October 2023, 11.00 hrs. Today, we celebrate the International Day of Rural Women at the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP). The day of 15 October was established at the United Nations General Assembly of 18 December 2007, recognizes the critical role and contribution of rural women in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty. The theme for the International Day of Rural women in 2023 is “Rural Women Cultivating Good Food for All.” The rural women and girls play an important role in their family. They mainly engage in rural household works and agricultural farming, fish culture and fisheries, poultry and cattle rearing works so that their family life can improve. They are doing these works every day though their contribution is not values in monetary terms; and often their hard works are not noticed in the family and society. They also play an important role in domestic work within their families, as well as households in rural areas. Although they are working in various agricultural activities like male, they are not able to access agricultural inputs, markets, land, agri-food chains of high-values credit and get lower prices for their crops. Education is often referred to as the great equalizer. It can help rural women to learn about how to reduce poverty, increase better crop and agricultural production and helps women for their better livelihoods. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), says leaving no one behind. To reach the SDGs, rural women should be empowered so that, they can also improve their living condition and wellbeing 3 . On behalf of CIRDAP, I call for global attention on gender equality commitments and contribution of rural women to development. CIRDAP is proud to organize a webinar on this day on the topic of “Rural Women’s Organization for Development: A case of BARD Experiment” to celebrating the International Day of Rural Women and looks forward to promoting its gender on rural development programme in the years to come. Thank you.

Webinar on the “International Day of Rural Women” Topic: ” Rural Women’s Organization for Development: A Case of BARD Experiment.”  15 October 2023 11: A.M. Bangladesh Time Click here for Zoom Link Presenter:                    Ms. Saifun Nahar                     Deputy Director, Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development (BARD)                    Dr.Usharani Boruah                     Moderator                     Librarian & Gender Coordinator of CIRDAP. Click here to see the pdf.

Join our Next webinar to celebrate the International day for Disaster Risk Reduction. The webinar will be held on 13 October, 2023 4 pm Bangladesh time In 2023, the International Day will look at the reciprocal relationship between disasters and inequality. Inequality and disaster vulnerability are two sides of the same coin: unequal access to services, such as finance and insurance, leaves the most at risk exposed to the danger of disasters; while disaster impacts exacerbate inequalities and push the most at risk further into poverty. The 2023 edition takes place shortly after the Midterm Review of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, where the UN General Assembly in May 2023 adopted a political declaration to accelerate action to strengthen disaster resilience. The Day’s theme aligns with the Sendai Framework, the international agreement to prevent and reduce losses in lives, livelihoods, economies and basic infrastructure. Source: https://www.undrr.org/publication/concept-note-international-day-disaster-risk-reduction-2023 Please click on the link below and registrar yourselves to join. https://forms.gle/KW1ohAbip7YXDMi38

Join our Next webinar to celebrate the International day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste.  The webinar will be held on 27th September, 2023, 11 am Bangladesh time The International Day of awareness of food loss and waste is observed by FAO and UNEP jointly on 29th September every day for the purpose to create awareness at all level about the importance of food loss and waste. It is also an effort and collective action towards sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3. Reducing food losses and waste is essential in a world where the number of people affected by hunger has been slowly on the rise since 2014, and tons and tons of edible food are lost and or wasted every day. There is a huge loss of food and it has been estimated that globally around 13% of food produced is lost between harvest and retail and together about 17% is wasted in house hold, food service and retail. The purpose of the webinar is to prioritize actions and move ahead with innovation to reduce food loss in the system. Please click on the link below and registrar yourselves to join. https://forms.gle/pmE5pFTazQYsV6TN6   (Click here to see the Poster)

Join us to the upcoming Webinar on “the world Humanitarian Day” scheduled on 31th August from 11:00 AM. Your participation would add immense value. Presenter: MS Rakhi Barua Senior Programme Coordinator, Centre for Disability in Development, Bangladesh. Topic: Webinar on the World Humanitarian Day Time: Aug 31, 2023 11:00 AM (Bangladesh Time) Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/94288178975?pwd=RGFwQ0dNTFY5b0psc2FSbUtTZnpndz09

Final PROGRAM is Available for TIEMS 2023 Hybrid Annual Conference September 11 – 15, 2023 Eastern Cape Province, South Africa Please Join Us, In Person or Virtually in Beautiful Southeast South Africa TOMORROW! Final Program Registration & Payment Link Please, scroll down to Conference Tickets and select the right catagory for your attendance, and follow the instructions. Please, note that virtual attendance is free, but you have to register to receive a link for connecting virtually! Conference Information Follows Below TIEMS Status and Plans Towards 2030 Authors coming from 30 Countries are Presenting at TIEMS 2023 Hybrid Annual Conference Czech Republic, USA, Iran, France, Nigeria, Turkey, Norway, China, Hong Kong, Ukraine, South Africa, Botswana, India, UK, Italy, Nepal, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Peru, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Poland, Greece, Australia, Canada & Indonesia. Follow us on: https://www.tiems.info/index.php/tiems-2023-hybrid-annual-conference where you also find more details on: Recommended Accomodation and Visiting Tours before or After the Conference Sponsored by (more sponsors are welcome): Join us in Sarah Baartman District Municipality, South Africa The TIEMS 2023 Annual Conference will take place in a hybrid format at the Rhodes University campus and the Stenden South Africa in Sarah Baartman District Municipality, the Eastern Cape in South Africa, see https://ru.ac.za/ for details. This conference will be accompanied by a set of field trips and workshops on the TIEMS TQCTM & TQACTM International Certification and the emergency management/disaster risk management of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. South African professional organizations will also be supporting the conference, such as the North-West Umbrella Fire Protection Association. The main topic of the 2023 Annual TIEMS Conference is: Crises, Emergencies and Disasters – a Continuum of Challenges and Opportunities in the 21st Century Local contact for the conference: Roman Tandlich, Rhodes University:  roman.tandlich@gmail.com TIEMS International Secretariat: CALL US             +33 1 78 95 83 39 EMAIL US  secretariat@tiems.info    FIND US       Rue Des Deux Églises 39, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Please, share this message in your network! K. Harald Drager TIEMS President PS: Update your subscription settings We hope that our content is useful to you. If you’d like to continue hearing from us, please update your subscription settings, if you have not already done it. We kindly ask you to follow the below instructions to keep in touch with us. Below in this message you find:  Manage Your Subscription Please, click on the link below it and manage your subscription, Thank you! TIEMS Privacy Policy TIEMS Privacy Policy is found at: http://www.tiems.info/index.php/about-us/privacy-policy You may have heard about the new General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), that came into effect May 25, 2018. To help comply with GDPR consent requirements, we need to ensure that you would like to receive content from TIEMS.

Yugraj Singh Yadava, Ph.D. 18 March 1953 to 30 July 2023 It was with great sadness to learn that Dr. Yugraj Singh Yadava, the former Director of the Bay of Bengal Programme – Inter-Governmental Organization (BOPB-IGO) passed away on 30 July 2023. On behalf of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) and a former Director General of Network of Aquaculture Centres in Asia-Pacific (NACA), I would like to express my sincere condolences to his family. Dr. Yugraj Singh Yadava[1] joined as Director of the erstwhile BOBP in 2000 and facilitated its transformation as an Inter-Governmental Organization in 2003, in which he continued as Director till his retirement in 2021. Dr. Yadava started his professional career in 1976 as a Scientist with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). Then he went on to serve as Fisheries Development Commissioner to the Government of India during 1994 – 2000. He served as the first Member Secretary of the Aquaculture Authority of India, currently the Coastal Aquaculture Authority of India. Dr. Yadava has made notable contribution to the global agenda on fisheries and aquaculture. As Government of India’s representative to the Twenty-Second Session of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in 1997, he proposed the setting up of the COFI Sub-Committee on Aquaculture (SCAQ) and in 2000 he served as the Vice-Chair of the FAO Expert Consultation to frame “Rules of Procedure” for the SCAQ. In 1999, at the Twenty-Third Session of COFI, he contributed as a founding member of the Regional Fisheries Bodies and later became the Vice-Chair of the Regional Fishery Body Secretariats Network at its Fourth Meeting held in Rome on 13 July 2012. Besides extensively working in the BOBP-IGO member countries, Dr. Yadava has also worked in different projects in Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. A cogent and prolific writer and a photographer, he has published about 150 papers in books, research journals, scientific and popular magazines and reports. Dr. Yadava holds a Ph.D. degree in Fisheries Management in Flood plain Lakes. We, the staff of the CIRDAP would like to pay tribute to him for his leadership and invaluable contributions to global sustainable fisheries and aquaculture and to rural development for improving the livelihoods and economic development of rural communities. May he rest in peace. With our deepest condolences, Dr. Cherdsak Virapat Director General Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) Dhaka, Bangladesh 1 August 2023 [1] https://www.bobpigo.org/pages/view/formerdirectors