Data Collection in Thailand: Day 1

We have made it to Thailand!!!

After months of planning and management of the project, our team arrived Pitsanuloke and Pijit this month. Our team in Thailand is a true multi-disciplinary team. Apart from Dr. Suphat Supachalasai, an economist from Thammasat Univertsity, we have been incorporated by Dr. Pilaipan from Mahidol University and her team. 

We met at the hotel to discuss the concept of community and some gender issues which are the key points from this study. We realized that common potential issues can be community's perspectives on development and its meaning. Thus, our team decided to follow some key iterviews

It is our hope that this fruitful trip will help us to academically understand of mining MNCs in this study.

The 5th International Conference of the Asian Rural Sociological Association (ARSA)

This project has created attentions not only in Australia, but also in Lao PDR and Thailand where our team has been working closely with the industry and the communities.

  

From 1-5 September, the National University of Laos (NUOLS) hosted the 5th International Conference of the Asian Rural Sociological Association (ARSA). One of the key organisers, Associate Professor Kabmanivanh Phouxay, discussed our project with international delegates from the region. Since the theme of the conference is  From Challenges to Prosperous Future in the Rural Asia, the key findings from the field in Vilabouly were well received by participants at the conference.  

                                                   Assoc.Prof. Phouxay at ARSA conference

The organiser of this conference, the Asian Rural Sociological Association, has been promoting the international conference to promote better understanding on the sociology of rural development in Asia. The Asian Rural Sociology Association (ARSA) was an offshoot of Asian Rural Sociology Working Group (ARSWG) which was set up in 1992 by a group of Asian participants attending the World Congress of International Rural Sociology Association (IRSA) in Pennsylvania State University, USA.

Presentation for the Centre for Sustainable Organisations and Work, the Sustainability

Nattavud Pimpa, Timothy Moore, Sheree Gregory and Brigitte Tenni presents International Mining and Development: How Multinational Corporations Promote Gender Equity

Sponsored by the Centre for Sustainable Organisations and Work, the Sustainability Seminar Series explores critical debates and issues from a wide range of disciplines. Though diverse, the series is connected by Centres key research themes: Work, Sustainability and Organisations, and Globalisation.

Event details

Event:	International Mining and Development: How Multinational Corporations Promote Gender Equity
Date:	26 September, 2014
Time:	3 pm – 4:30 pm
Location:	RMIT University, Building 80 Level 07 Room 06 (445 Swanston Street, Melbourne)
RSVP:	Email amrutha.sakuru@rmit.edu.au (Places are limited. Registration and attendance is free)

Capacity building Workshop: Communication for Research in Development

ADRAS project is unorthodox. When we think of other research project, ideas of publishing your research in top tier journals (AKA A*, A journals) might be project's priority.
In this project, apart from publishing and sharing the results to academic community, the Australian AID (DFAT) also suggested us to promote ideas and actions on capacity building with partners in the project. The impacts can and will be positive and perhaps larger.
In order to achieve this objective, I represent our team to Cholbri in Thailand to organise a capacity building workshop for 26 novice researchers and PhD. students at the Graduate School of Commerce, Burapha University. The focus of the workshop is communicating and disseminating research in business and community development.

Our team created contents and curriculum for this workshop from our current research on mining and development in Laos and Thailand. We worked with all participants to engage them to think about ways to create impacts from your research. I used a number of examples from international and local conferences that I attended to promote our project, meeting with the local authorities and media, writing and promoting policy brief to NGOs or civil society organisations, publishing in some journals and magazines, and being on social media.

The day was full with interesting conversation and ideas among participants who promise to engage their community and disseminate their developmental projects to various communication channels. We also created a network of developmental researcher where I will return to Burapha University and meet with them to listen to the next phase of their research plan.

Our team sincerely thank the Graduate School of Commerce at Burapha University to be very co-operative and supportive. We hope that this network will promote the concept of sustainability in the mining sector in Thailand.

AMNEP in Hanoi: Day 2

The second and last day of AMNEP  still is very interesting.

Due to the quality of speakers and ideas of the morning session, I am very certain that all participants have learnt a great deal on civil society organisations in South East Asia. The key challenges among women in South East Asia were substantially discussed by Professor Aurora Javater and Sally Moyle. Both speakers shared their experiences and interpretations of women's health, social issues and economy in our region.

The afternoon session was my highlight of the trip! It's the day we share some findings from the project and will launch the project's policy brief for NGOs and key Governmental and civil society organisations. Our workshop is set up for NGOs and delegates from different organisations who are interested in development in Mekong countries.

 

The panel includes Dr. Francisco Montiel from the United Nations Women, Tanja Van de Linde from Oxfam Novib and me. We met in the morning and discussed some commonalities among our projects and we need to be certain that the participants will be able to learn certain aspects of women's economic empowerment from our projects.

I shared our research findings and challenges for women in Lao PDR and the effects of mining industry on women and their communities. Our policy brief is obviously useful for participants and they we find that some recommendations from our project can be influential and interesting for NGOs and civil society organisations in Mekong region.

we also worked with the participants on the development of ideas and suggestions for the Australian AID on (1) implications for ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and women in AEC, (2) opportunities for women in the region, and (3) future of economic activities.

The  conclusion of second AMNEP forum was led by questions o the future of Mekong countries and the ways in which NGOs, local and regional Governments can work together for the future of this area.

I really hope that we will be able to return to the 3rd AMNEP and discuss key comparative points from our research project with participants from various organisation. This year is truly a great year for AMNEP and we need to thank DFAT for their support for all participants.

AMNEP in Hanoi: Day 1

I am currently attending the Australia Mekong Non-Government Organisation Engagement Platform (AMNEP) in Hanoi. This is the second AMNEP but I am imprssed by the quality of engagement among NGOs (health, economic, skills and various other sources) and DFAT. Since our project is funded by DFAT (Australian AID), we are pleased to be invited to share outcomes from the project and to launch policy brief from this project at this important platform.

There were approximately 400-500 people at the forum. Ms. Vanessa Wood from South East Asia Regional Branch DFAT (who was also my mentor at the ASEAN Australia Emerging Leader Program) greeted all participants with warmth. Vanessa confirmed the objectives of the forum and how important for the participants who work in NGOs, research and development in Mekong region to meet and share our views and practices. More importantly, with the launch of AEC in 2015, we need to come together to understand key regional challenges.

The morning session was filled with important messages and ideas from top speakers including HE MR Hugh Borrowman (Australian Ambassador to Vietnam), HE Dr. Ing Khanthaphavy (Minister for Women's Affairs from Cambodia), and Gillian Brown.

We spent quality time to discuss key issues such as relationship between women's economic empowerment and educational development in South East Asia. We also heard some outstanding initiatives in Cambodia from Dr. Ing, and some stories on women and workforce in the CLMV countries.  The key challenges in my opinion is differences in women's level of education and training among ASEAN countries. Though a number of women are in the labour force in CLMV countries, few of them have the levels of education and skills that their counterparts in other ASEAN countries have. Very challenging for us in development (and academic).

In the afternoon, there were three parallel workshops (women's civil society, SMEs in Mekong, and methodology to measure and evaluate impacts of women's economic empowerment). I attended the methodologies workshop, due to its proximity to my research project. Again, I learnt some ideas on the measurement of social economic impacts from NGOs delegates and built some ideas and actions with them. By the end of the session, our team proposed a strong message that the evaluation and measurement of economic empowerment is sensitive and we need to take diversity among ASEAN countries into account.

   After a long fruitful day, we were invited to the reception hosted by HE Mr Hugh Borrowman at the Australian embassy in Hanoi. His residence is such a nice colonial style house and I was overwhelmed by hospitality from the Australian AID and DFAT team in Hanoi.

This reception was a great event to chat informally with my new friends from various NGOs from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Australia. I strongly feel that I have made more than connections...I have made friends whom I will work with in development and academic project.

AMNEP ...  What a great forum to meet people! I will share more stories from our day 2 and the conclusion of the forum.

Preparation for the Australia Mekong NGO Engagement Platform (AMNEP)

We are invited by one of the orginasers to participate at the forthcoming Australia Mekong NGO Engagement (AMNEP) Platform in Hanoi, Vietnam. This program will be a forum for NGOs and not-for-profit organisation working in Mekong areas to meet and discuss key development issues. The key agenda for this round is ASEAN economic integration and women. This is obviously a great opportunity for our team to present some findings from this project to NGOs and delegates from the Australian Aid.
I have prepared an abstract for our presentation and eager to share them with you here.

Mining & Development in Lao PDR 

"The extractives sector, including international mining companies, drives trade, economic growth and development in the Greater Mekong Sub-region by creating jobs and boosting government revenue. Yet investment in the extractives sector in developing countries comes with many challenges.
 There is evidence to show that it is women in mining communities who can have the greatest positive influence on the local economy. Empowering rural village women is vital to unlocking local development.
 This study explores how an international mining company operating in rural Lao PDR engages and influences women, directly and indirectly, and the consequent social and economic impacts on the local community.
 This Australia Aid funded ADRAS research addresses important questions about employment participation and sustainable rural development in Lao PDR. Using a qualitative approach, the authors conducted personal interviews with 76 women and men, and group interviews including key community leaders, from seven villages in Vilabouly District, Savannkhet Province.

The preliminary findings of this study confirm that the international mining industry, in this context, can influence women in three major domains. They include (1) relationship with other members in the community, (2) economic power and social status, and (3) self-actualization. This study also confirms that key actors associated with a rural mining community -  multinational corporations and their shareholders, local government and policy makers, and affected village communities – can potentially work together to promote gender equity and empower women in a rural area in Lao PDR."

We will keep you updated with the event which is scheduled in late August.