Greater Mekong Subregion

GMS Sector Activities
Human Resource Development

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GMS Countries Agree on a Framework for Cooperation in Human Resource Development (September 2002)

GMS sector experts (in health, education and labor) met in Vientiane, Lao PDR on 5-6 September 2002 to arrive at a consensus on the framework for HRD cooperation in the subregion. The meeting, the fourth for the GMS Working Group in HRD (WGHRD-4) was jointly hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Lao PDR, and the ADB. It would be recalled that a framework for HRD cooperation was deemed necessary in light of the adoption by the 10th GMS Ministerial Meeting (Yangon, November 2001), of the new GMS Strategic Framework ("GMS Framework") for cooperation among GMS countries. The HRD framework was to be used as basis for prioritizing projects for inclusion in the GMS Framework's flagship program on HRD entitled "Developing Human Resources and Skills Competencies."

Prior to discussion of the HRD framework, the WGHRD-4 meeting first recalled the principles followed in earlier GMS HRD programs. It was noted that priority was earlier given to projects that focused on the following: those that have cross-border implications; those that provide scale economies (like vaccine purchase); those that provide cross-country learning and sharing (Cambodia's AIDS care program); and those with regional public good qualities (HIV/ AIDS toolkits).

The HRD framework proposed for prioritizing HRD projects consisted of four steps, namely: assessment of external environment; evaluation of institutional capacity; setting of vision/ mission/ goals; and matching these with major policies, programs and projects. The breakout sessions, held to maximize contributions from participants, followed these prescribed steps. As a result of the breakouts, the meeting agreed on the following vision and mission for HRD cooperation for each of the HRD sectors:

• Education: Facilitating opportunities for sharing of educational experiences, best practices, innovations, etc. across the subregion

• Labor: Transferring knowledge and experience for improving skills and competence of the labor force in the subregion

• Health: Improving control of communicable diseases and access to quality health services in remote areas and vulnerable groups

The meeting then recommended a pipeline of projects for the next five years, classified according to high, medium and low priority. For education, the top priority projects were the GMS - Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management, and Education Needs of Ethnic Minorities. Similarly for health, the top priorities were Health Needs of Ethnic Minorities, and ICT and HIV/AIDS Preventive Education in the Cross-border Areas of GMS. The labor group gave top priority to Capacity Building for Skills Exchanges and Accreditation for GMS Labor Markets, but first suggested the conduct of inventory studies on labor markets, mobility, skills requirements, gender issues, and others. The groups presented a total of 21 priority projects. The Phnom Penh Plan for Development Management, ADB's proposed scholarship program, would address the needs of middle and senior level government officials across sectors covering planning, program and project implementation and other aspects of development management.

The WGHRD-4 meeting emphasized four major concerns which cut across sectors. The first was on the need to prepare for globalization, and increase in human and capital mobility, as these impact on the spread of diseases and the relevance of skills produced by the institutions. The second concerned the need for maximizing the benefits from advances in technology, such as the pursuit of biomedical research and integration of ICT in education and labor market systems. The third pointed to the urgency of addressing uneven development in the subregion, addressed partly through programs for ethnic minorities. Lastly, the meeting pointed to the need for new, creative ideas to strengthen ownership of the HRD program by the countries, and the need for mechanisms for this such as newsletters and rotation of chairmanship of future meetings.

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Workshop Dealing with the Drug (Opium) Problem in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is Held Under the Auspices of ADB (August 2001)

The Workshop on Drug Control Initiatives in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) was held in Kunming, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China (PRC) on 14-15 August 2001. The Workshop was held as part of the ADB-funded Small Scale Technical Assistance for Drug Eradication (RETA 5970) which was approved on 21 December 2000. The RETA is the first such project for ADB that directly addresses the drug problem on a regional basis. The Workshop aimed to identify the best practices in demand reduction and alternative development in the region, to develop project concepts with regional/cross border themes and to foster networking among GMS countries. The TA focused on PRC, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand, which are geographically contiguous and whose opium related problems have clear cross border and regional dimensions. Representatives of all six GMS countries, UNDCP and ESCAP, NGOs, and bilateral development organizations, attended the Workshop.

The GMS is a major source of opium production in the world, and trafficking in the subregion, as well as usage of opium and heroin particularly by ethnic minorities, is a serious issue in the GMS. A regional approach to the problem was envisioned because the drug problem has increasingly become a regional issue with the opening of borders and improvement of transport infrastructure. Also, regional cooperation complements national efforts, particularly in the sharing of ideas concerning best practices and cost-effective interventions. A key finding of the Workshop is that the opium/heroin problem is a development challenge with numerous cross cutting issues, such as governance, ethnic minorities, and HIV/AIDS, among others. Opium is grown in the GMS on a large scale because it is a high value, low weight cash crop, which does not require extensive marketing. Alternative development therefore must provide basic physical infrastructure as well as micro or community level interventions. Another emerging problem is the abuse of amphetamine type substances (ATS), which similarly has extensive region wide implications, but pose different challenges in terms of production, marketing and use.

The Workshop was successful in highlighting best practices in demand reduction and alternative development and building up in-house capacity to design appropriate interventions. The Workshop was also effective in promoting understanding within the region as well as between the ADB and other agencies engaged in the drug problem. Subsequent steps will involve the completion of the comprehensive paper on drug control. ADB will further examine how best to use remaining funds under the present TA and will examine the merits of various projects which have been proposed during the Workshop.

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