Care Myanmar - Evaluation on Strengthening Early Childhood Education (SECE) Programme - 2016

Project Description:

Community-based Early Child Day Care Centers (ECDCC) would be established near CARE’s existing Community Learning Centers (CLC) funded by AusAid, and would serve as

(i) Day care centers for male and female children aged three to five years

(ii) parent meeting centers for childhood development.

Mekong Economics conducted a final evaluation to determine the extent to which this project was successful. The MKE team was responsible for further considering the key evaluation questions and designing the evaluation methodology, implementing the agreed methodology, analysing data, and documenting outcomes of the evaluation.

Mercy Corps - Baseline Survey of Linking Laputta to Markets(LLM)- LIFT Delta 3 - 2016

Project Description:

The aim of the Baseline survey of Linking Laputta to Markets (LLM) was ‘increased incomes for landless, vulnerable and smallholder households in Laputta Township’. Two higher-level outcomes (HLOs) will contribute to this goal: Total projected beneficiaries for the LLM project is 5,100 HHs from 276 villages.

MKE took responsibility to produce outcomes: HLO 1: Improved performance of smallholder farmers in the rice value chain; HLO 2: Landless and vulnerable women and men have stability of income from diverse off-farm employment and economic opportunities. Intermediate outcomes include

a) farmer producer enterprises (FPEs) operating as professional market actors

b) smallholder farmers adopting improved agricultural practices

c) landless women and men benefitting from improved employment opportunities.

Institute of Social Studies (Erasmus University of Rotterdam) - Stock-take on CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment (Global Partnership) - 2016

Project Description:

The Task Team on CSO Development Effectiveness and Enabling Environment (TT) had committed to implement Global Partnership Initiative 12 (GPI-12), as reflected in the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (GPEDC) Mexico Communiqué. The Indicator Two monitoring approach would ideally involve completion of a questionnaire, in a multi-stakeholder fashion, at country level.

The process was to be led by country government National Coordinators, with the participation of Focal points from different stakeholder groups. MKE was responsible to ensure the questionnaire contains four modules reflecting the CSO Enabling Environment Framework, inclusive of:

i) space for multi-stakeholder dialogue

ii) CSO development effectiveness

iii) official development cooperation with CSOs

iv) the legal and regulatory environment for CSOs.

For the GPEDC’s 2nd round monitoring report, findings from country monitoring would be complemented by desk studies.

HelpAge International - Baseline Survey: Dry Zone Social Protection - 2016

Project Description:

The purpose of this assignment was to design a baseline survey and an index related to social protection, analyse the data collected and produce a baseline report.

Project activities led to two project outcomes: poor households had expanded access to community assistance in times of stress, and vulnerable groups had greater income security. The project outcomes would contribute directly to the following Dry Zone programme outcome defined by LIFT: The basic needs of poor households in the target villages were met through effective social protection interventions. MKE participated in this assignment to assess the context and to enable us to measure change in the project indicators, as well as vulnerability and social protection more generally over the course of the project.

MKE also served a wider purpose by providing information for LIFT, other practitioners and government regarding the situation in the Dry Zone. The locations of the project were 30 villages in each of six target townships and the total number of target villages is 180.

Egen (funded by ADB) - Technical Assistance to the Second Upper Secondary Education Development Project - 2016

Project Description:

Provided one local consultant which was the expert in Capacity Development for USE Planning and Management Specialist

Cardno (funded by EU) - Market Studies for EU Gateway | Business Avenues Programme - 2016

Countries Involved:

Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.

Project Description:

The purposes of the market studies were to provide selected EU companies for participation in the “EU Gateway | Business Avenues Programme” an introductory understanding of the selected market and help them in defining their strategy towards this market. Sectors studied included: Environment & Water Technologies, Green Energy Technologies, Construction & Building Technologies, Healthcare & Medical Technologies, Information & Communication Technologies, Contemporary European Design, and Food & Beverages.

Athena Informics (funded by UNICEF) - Literature review and mapping of interventions of child labour - 2016

Project Description:

The purpose of this study was to increase understanding on the scope and drivers of child labour in various sectors, what services were currently available for child labourers and their families, and who was doing what in respects of child labour in Vietnam. The study was designed to inform policy development and programming with the private sector and Government, including the policy development and programme on Worst Forms on Child Labour and the National Programme on Child Protection.

An overseas private firm - Natural gas’s substitute fuels in Vietnam: market research into the scope of supply for the industrial sector - 2016

Project Description:

The Client wished to understand the market of key substitute products of natural gas in order to develop comprehensive understanding on the big picture of fuel supplying market in Vietnam. Therefore, the client commissioned a study on the goal of outlining macro perspective of some fuel sources, how each market function as well as profiles of the key suppliers.

There were a number of fuels subjected to the study, including: Fuel Oil, LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), Coal and Biomass (woodchip, rice husk and cashew oil). MKE Team conducted the desk research to review the current situation of the Vietnam market in the field of fuel processing industry, and in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders of each sub-industry; and wrote the report.

OECD - Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance - 2016

Countries Involved:

Myanmar and Laos.

Project Description:

Established in 1999, the OECD-Asian Roundtable on Corporate Governance serves as a regional forum for exchanging experiences and advancing the reform agenda on corporate governance while promoting awareness and use of the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. It brings together policy makers, practitioners and experts on corporate governance from the Asian region, OECD countries and relevant international organisations.

MKE conducted a stock –taking of Myanmar’s public companies and presented the findings and also shared regional perspectives on capital market development at the OECD Corporate Governance workshop in Laos one the 1st and the 2nd of June 2016.

PlaNet Finance - “Supporting Financial Access via Cooperative Upgrading and Enterprise and Farm Development in Kayin State” - 2016

Project Description:

PlaNet Finance, an implementing agency for the EU-funded project “Supporting Financial Access via Cooperative Upgrading and Enterprise and Farm Development in Kayin State”, was currently implementing a three year project aimed at establishing two savings and credit cooperatives to expand financial inclusion to at least 2,000 households in 35 villages in Hlaingbwe township, Myanmar.

The project would also support the members of the cooperatives to undertake new or enhanced farm or enterprise activities that would generate increased income for them. The cooperatives would provide credit for their members to invest in these new income-generating activities as well as a safe place to save in order to increase income and build wealth in this post-conflict area of Myanmar.