Collaborators’ meeting (11 January 2011)
The first collaborators’ meeting for 2011 was held in Galephu on 11th January 2011. The main highlight was discussions on developing a plan of action for the joint formulation of the next Country Programme (2012-2018). Several concrete follow-up steps have been identified, including identifying first members and group leaders to working groups on the four working areas of Helvetas – Natural Resource Management, Education & Culture, Rural Infrastructure, and Civil Society and State. The first step would now be to identify and elaborate members to these working groups, and to come together to agree on a schedule. Other important agendas for discussions included sharing of information on the Helvetas Intercooperation merger, seeking inputs into the Helvetas Culture concept paper, and presentations and discussions on the Suspension Bridge Programme (which ended in December 2010), the Bhutan-Swiss Archaeology Project (a second phase is under discussion), and the Support for Local Governance project (an external review will take place in May 2011).
Apart from partners from all the projects, stakeholders from the Department of Local Governance (DLG) and the Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC) participated. DLG shared updates on the SDC supported governance projects managed by them, while GNHC gave an overview of highlights from the ongoing mid-term review of the 10th five year plan as well as broad future strategies.
