Photo credit: Sarah Harvey By Sarah Harvey, MAGG Sabaidee Balsillie Community! It has been six weeks since I arrived in Vientiane, Laos, to begin my internship with the Governance Unit at UNDP Lao PDR. I feel incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to live and work in a new country and learn from the people around
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Photo credit: Prishaa Rajalathan By Prishaa Rajalathan, MDP In my last blog, I wrote that mobilizing finance is a capability problem before it is a money problem, and that capability gets built one concept note at a time. This final dispatch picks up from there. Once the money arrives, or once a country decides to raise
Photo credit: Prishaa Rajalathan By Prishaa Rajalathan, MDP I ended my first blog with the idea that a climate plan is only as strong as the communities it is built with. This blog explores what happens upstream of that, the point where an idea becomes a proposal, and a proposal becomes the investment needed to turn
Photo credit: Prishaa Rajalathan By Prishaa Rajalathan, MDP I had the opportunity to attend the Conference on Human Rights and Climate Change Adaptation in Vientiane, jointly organized by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lao PDR. It brought together government, UN agencies,
Photo credit: Sierra Van Tent By Sierra Van Tent, MIPP While researching before my move to Vientiane, something that kept coming up was that it is a very small city. At the time, I assumed they meant physically small, a quieter city compared to what I was exposed to in Toronto, or even Waterloo. But
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Photo credit: Sierra Van Tent By Sierra Van Tent, MIPP Development work uses a lot of technical language: domestic revenue mobilization, tax expenditures, results-based management, financing strategies, data systems, long-term national planning frameworks, are all terms that have become deeply embedded in the day-to-day rhythm of my internship. And, while these are all components essential
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Photo credit: Nathalie Gatti By Nathalie Gatti, MAGG Sabaidee! Hello again from Vientiane, Lao PDR! Thinking back on my six months here in Laos, it is difficult to reflect on my initial thoughts, feelings, and reactions. This country, in which I initially felt out of place, has become a home, filled with community and some
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Photo credit: Sarah Hamm By Sarah Hamm, MIPP As I reflect on the last six months of my time in Laos, I cannot believe how fast time went and how much I was able to learn and experience. Privileged is an understatement. When I first arrived in Laos several months ago, I remember feeling quite
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Photo credit: Sarah Hamm By Sarah Hamm, MIPP I ended my last blog by saying that living and working in Laos has been an invitation to explore a new way of working, thinking, and seeing the world, and as I sit down to write this second blog, that statement is even more true. In December
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Photo credit: Frances Northeast By Frances Northeast, MAGG Sousdei! I can’t believe that I am a month away from finishing my internship with WFP Cambodia. So much has happened in the last few months. After having drafted and submitted two high-level external government donor reports, I am now mainly focused on providing materials based on
Photo credit: Nathalie Gatti By Nathalie Gatti, MAGG Sabaidee, Hello again from Laos! The past two months have absolutely flown by. In Vientiane, the dry season has just started, meaning lots of holidays, events, tourists, and an incredibly busy work schedule. As tourist season ramps up, it is a great reminder to explore Southeast Asia
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Photo credit: Sarah Hamm By Sarah Hamm, MIPP When I first arrived in Vientiane, Laos, I was eager and admittedly quite nervous to find my place within such a large organization and a completely new environment. Like many people drawn to international development, I arrived in Laos with a desire to make a difference. However,
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