News Summary for the Sixth Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Human Resource Development (WGHRD-6)
Phuket, Thailand, 21-22 April 2005
The Sixth Meeting of the GMS Working Group on Human Resource Development (WGHRD-6) was held on 21-22 April 2005 in Phuket, Thailand, with the theme “Improving the Competitiveness of the Greater Mekong Subregion.”
Senior government officials from health, education, and labor ministries of the GMS countries as well as fifteen (15) development partners attended. The Meeting, co-hosted by the Government of Thailand and ADB, reviewed the status/progress of GMS cooperation in HRD and agreed upon the future agenda of GMS cooperation in the sector.
Under Health, the Meeting emphasized the need for a coordinated regional response to emerging and endemic communicable diseases (e.g. HIV/AIDS, avian flu, malaria, and dengue hemorrhagic fever) and welcomed ADB’s initiatives concerning a Communicable Diseases Control Project and a technical assistance facility for strengthening malaria control for ethnic minorities in the GMS, as well as PRC’s proposal to hold the 1st GMS Forum on Communicable Diseases Control in August 2005.
Under Education, the Meeting lauded the achievements made under Phase I of the Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management and its extension to Phase II, thereby contributing to the continued enhancement of capacities in the GMS. The expansion of networking arrangements among existing academic and research institutions and networks in the GMS to foster complementation and synergy among their various programs was also discussed.
Under Labor, the Meeting discussed issues such as labor migration, cross-border human trafficking, protection for migrant workers, access of mobile population to health services, demand for skills training and standardization for increased productivity and competitiveness, and labor standards, among others.
The participants endorsed the holding of a Regional Conference on Labor in the latter part of 2005, the development of a technical assistance facility to address labor-related issues, and Thailand’s proposal for a Workshop on Community Development to be held back-to-back with the Regional Labor Conference.
Read the summary of proceedings.
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