Centre for Sustainable Rural Development : Trung tâm Phát triển Nông thôn bền vững

Assessing the impacts of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement and FLEGT on livelihoods

Created on Friday, 05 April 2013 10:08

	Between the 22-26 of March, as the chair of the Vietnamese Non-Governmental Organisations Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Network (VNGO-FLEGT), SRD hosted a four-day Livelihood Impact Assessment (LIA) Inception Workshop in collaboration with Forest Trends and with support from FERN and with funds from DfID. The workshop attracted 33 participants and experts, including representatives from CSOs in the VNGO-FLEGT Network, the Vietnamese Forest Administration (VNForest), Forest Trends, FERN, UNDP, FAO and representatives of CSOs from Laos.
Through a series of presentations, discussions, and active group work participants learned about the process of undertaking a Livelihoods Impact Assessment, the ways it can be used as a tool to assess the potential impacts of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) and FLEGT, and how the information learned can inform the VPA negotiations between the Government of Vietnam and the European Union. Presenters outlined the importance of having civil society involved during the negotiation process and into the implementation of sustainable forest management practices and demonstrated how the Livelihood Impact Assessment can be used to establish a baseline and criteria that the VPA can be monitored against. Participants reviewed examples from a similar workshop that occurred in Indonesia and applied the lessons learned at the workshop into developing a list of prioritised stakeholders and an action plan for moving forward with the Livelihood Impact Assessment. By working closely in groups and taking time for discussion and evaluation during the workshop, the workshop was able to yield tangible results which will be critical to continue to support a high level of involvement from civil society in the negotiation process. The workshop was incredibly successful as it further strengthened the capacity of NGOs to engage with and involve civil society and governments. There were several notable results including voting on the priority stakeholders for further study and developing an action plan. The results of the Livelihood Impact Assessment will become available as they are completed. The commitment of Vietnamese civil society to participate in the FLEGT/VPA process to ensure the rights of local forest dependent communities was demonstrated by the high level of attendance and participation in the workshop. The Network is open to all Vietnamese civil society and welcomes international NGOs as observers. Participants were encouraged to join/share information about the network and to actively get involved. Additional information about the FLEGT/VPA process in Vietnam and international experiences can be found via the loggingoff website (http://loggingoff.info/) or the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Forest Sector Support Partnership website (http://www.vietnamforestry.org.vn/). For further information on joining the network, please contact SRD or the VNGO-FLEGT Coordinator; Pham Thi Bich Ngoc (phone: 04 3943 6678 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ). Link to presentations in English: http://www.vngo-cc.vn/sites/default/files/imports/file_workshop_hcm.zip Link to presentations in Vietnamese: http://www.vngo-cc.vn/sites/default/files/imports/file_workshop_hcm-_vn.zip Link to Kodak moments: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?w30g2isoja4s538 Link to photos: http://www.mediafire.com/?qu6ica84h960f7j - SRD -

LIA workshop 22 26 Mar 2013

Between the 22-26 of March, as the chair of the Vietnamese Non-Governmental Organisations Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Network (VNGO-FLEGT), SRD hosted a four-day Livelihood Impact Assessment (LIA) Inception Workshop in collaboration with Forest Trends and with support from FERN and with funds from DfID.

The workshop attracted 33 participants and experts, including representatives from CSOs in the VNGO-FLEGT Network, the Vietnamese Forest Administration (VNForest), Forest Trends, FERN, UNDP, FAO and representatives of CSOs from Laos.

Through a series of presentations, discussions, and active group work participants learned about the process of undertaking a Livelihoods Impact Assessment, the ways it can be used as a tool to assess the potential impacts of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) and FLEGT, and how the information learned can inform the VPA negotiations between the Government of Vietnam and the European Union. Presenters outlined the importance of having civil society involved during the negotiation process and into the implementation of sustainable forest management practices and demonstrated how the Livelihood Impact Assessment can be used to establish a baseline and criteria that the VPA can be monitored against.

Participants reviewed examples from a similar workshop that occurred in Indonesia and applied the lessons learned at the workshop into developing a list of prioritised stakeholders and an action plan for moving forward with the Livelihood Impact Assessment. By working closely in groups and taking time for discussion and evaluation during the workshop, the workshop was able to yield tangible results which will be critical to continue to support a high level of involvement from civil society in the negotiation process.

The workshop was incredibly successful as it further strengthened the capacity of NGOs to engage with and involve civil society and governments. There were several notable results including voting on the priority stakeholders for further study and developing an action plan. The results of the Livelihood Impact Assessment will become available as they are completed.

The commitment of Vietnamese civil society to participate in the FLEGT/VPA process to ensure the rights of local forest dependent communities was demonstrated by the high level of attendance and participation in the workshop. The Network is open to all Vietnamese civil society and welcomes international NGOs as observers. Participants were encouraged to join/share information about the network and to actively get involved.

Additional information about the FLEGT/VPA process in Vietnam and international experiences can be found via the loggingoff website (http://loggingoff.info/) or the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development's Forest Sector Support Partnership website (http://www.vietnamforestry.org.vn/).

For further information on joining the network, please contact SRD or the VNGO-FLEGT Coordinator; Pham Thi Bich Ngoc (phone: 04 3943 6678 or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).

Link to presentations in English: http://www.vngo-cc.vn/sites/default/files/imports/file_workshop_hcm.zip
Link to presentations in Vietnamese: http://www.vngo-cc.vn/sites/default/files/imports/file_workshop_hcm-_vn.zip
Link to Kodak moments: http://www.mediafire.com/view/?w30g2isoja4s538
Link to photos: http://www.mediafire.com/?qu6ica84h960f7j

- SRD -

Assessing the impacts of the Voluntary Partnership Agreement and FLEGT on livelihoods

More Articles...

in bạt