September updates
During the reporting period LACER Project leadership convened to discuss ways to capture best practices and lessons learnt during the project lifespan, while also encouraging sustainability as the project has now entered its final six months of implementation. The team agreed on a number of measures including launching a coordination dialogue with senior leaders of AHA Centre on how to consolidate and share results from the project, formalising the relationship between ERCC and AHA
Centre through a memorandum of intent, and also putting in place a Sustainability Plan to ensure the long-term effects of LACER on AHA Centre capacity development. The LACER leadership also agreed to plan a final event tentatively scheduled for 1 February 2024.
Another point which emerged at the meeting recognised the importance of LACER activities to other donors/partners of AHA Centre. On the issue of coordination and information sharing, Swiss Development & Cooperation (SDC) has recently expressed gratitude for a range of LACER activities. Internal SDC reports shared with LACER reflect the valuable insights of LACER experts, the usefulness of the partner coordination meetings recently launched, as well as the significance of transparency and informal exchanges of information on AHA activities over recent years (“one of the most important sources of information”) allowing donors to explore synergies and minimize duplication of donor investments. LACER is also commended for creating a pool of trained referees which ASEAN can mobilize for simulation exercises across the region.
An additional spinoff effect concerns the positive impact of LACER activities on development of new partner proposals to engage with AHA Centre moving forward. The LACER team has been given access to proposals under development by donors such as Canada GAC, JICA and SDC, and in several cases new programming with AHA Centre is being purposely designed to build upon completed LACER activities, such as those integrating Protection/Gender/Inclusion into ASEAN, shifting ASEAN-ERAT training toward localisation, and an initiative to develop an exchange of
experts between ASEAN member states and AHA Centre. Several donors have even consulted with LACER experts while preparing new project proposals.
Read the full report here: LACER updates September 2023