AIPA for ASEAN Integration (AIPA4ASEAN)
Project description
Title: AIPA for ASEAN Integration (AIPA4ASEAN)
Commissioned by: German Federal Foreign Office (AA)
Country: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam
Lead executing agency: ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA)
Overall term: 2018 to 2020
Context
As an inter-parliamentary organisation, AIPA aims to promote inter-parliamentary cooperation and facilitate the achievement of the goals of ASEAN by offering parliamentary contributions to ASEAN integration. AIPA also seeks to familiarise the peoples of ASEAN with policies at accelerating the realisation of an ASEAN community.
In 2012, the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany and AIPA signed a cooperation agreement to strengthen the parliamentary normative and control functions of AIPA Member Parliaments, and to support the ASEAN region to achieve its goal of establishing the ASEAN Community by 2015.
Phase one of the Project deemed "Capacity Development for the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA)" was jointly implemented by AIPA and GIZ for the period 2014-2015. This was later extended starting in March of 2016 and ended in February 2018. The final and third phase of the project themed “AIPA for ASEAN Integration” started in March 2018 and will be implemented until February 2020.
Objective
The project has strengthened the AIPA Secretariat and the Member Parliaments, contributing to the goals of ASEAN integration and attaining peace, stability and security in the region.
Approach
To realise the overarching objective, the project aims to establish sustainable mechanisms within AIPA to support the ASEAN integration process. This will be done by (1) supporting the establishment of effective and sustainable organisational mechanisms, preferably through a dedicated parliamentary committee who will deliberate on ASEAN and AIPA-related matters, (2) introducing sustainable and effective coordination and communication mechanisms between the member parliaments in order to follow up on ASEAN themes and initiatives, and (3) setting up an online database and a monitoring system for AIPA resolutions that tracks the status of implementation of these resolutions.
Moreover, the project also aims to support selected AIPA Member Parliaments in developing Human Capacity Development (HCD) plans on ASEAN integration based on the adopted AIPA HCD Framework and the respective Member Parliaments’ priority agenda to implement the 2025 ASEAN Integration Plan.
Recognising the role of AIPA Secretariat as the hub for knowledge, communication and stakeholder engagement, the project supports measures to (1) redesign its organisational structure to effectively implement its mandate and strategy, (2) develop an HCD plan to effectively develop and harness its human resources to achieve organisational goals, (3) develop its fundraising capability to mobilise resources and build donor constituency to sustain its operations, and (4) roll-out awareness and educational campaigns as outlined in the AIPA Communication Master Plan, such as Seminar Workshops on ASEAN integration for ten member parliaments to enable them to identify and implement parliamentary measures towards achieving the goals of the ASEAN 2025 Integration Plan.
