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Responding to feedback from participating AIPA Member Parliaments, the objectives of the fourth series of the PCAsia Workshop on Parliamentary Committee Work were updated to include a number of important subjects.  Among these were knowledge building on the conduct of parliamentary committee work across legislatures, knowledge sharing in performing parliamentary committee administrative and technical tasks, and opportunities for networking and exchanging good practices between parliamentary practitioners in the framework of North-South and Regional/South-South cooperation. The workshop was undertaken from 26 to 27September 2023 in hybrid mode – with face-to-face training for participants in Vientiane, Laos, and online for those in...

Summary Parliaments are one of the key stakeholders in the implementation of the Paris Agreement (2015) that aims to strengthen global response to the threat of climate change. As law making institutions they can provide the necessary legislative support for climate actions and as an oversight body they can hold governments to account for the execution of laws and policies. While they also play an important role in budgeting, they often lack the relevant data during budget scrutiny and the lack of availability of technical support that can sometimes undermine legislative oversight particularly from a climate change perspective. As a...

After 10 weeks of training from 2 May to 5 July 2023, the 5th Intake of the Programme on Parliamentary Diplomacy (PCAsia-PPD) was concluded. Consisting of three modules delivered in hybrid mode, the programme involved 26 trainees from AIPA Member Parliaments, including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The ceremony was held on 18 August 2023 in recognition of their efforts, commitment, and active engagement, which contributed to the successful completion of their training. It was attended by distinguished guests and representatives from the Parliaments of Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines, as well as PCAsia representatives including Professor Michel...

The PCAsia programme on Fiscal Analysis Capacity Training (FACT) to Assess Health Emergency Responses has the objective to provide AIPA Member parliamentary staff with principles of the state budgeting and monitoring process used to assess impediments to national health emergency responses, including any risks of corruption.. Thirteen staff members were selected from the parliaments of Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand to participate in the training programme. The training has several stages including a hybrid portion (face-to-face for participants from the Cambodian Parliament and online for participants from other parliaments) and a face-to-face study mission in Cambodia for all participants....

On 29 May 2023, PCAsia organised a closing and certificate handover ceremony for the Introductory Course on “Parliamentary Approaches to Gender Equality” (PAGE) to acknowledge the effort and commitment of the trainees. The objective of this course, attended by 17 trainees (13 women and 4 men) from the Parliament of Cambodia, is to provide parliamentary staff with fundamental knowledge and practical skills to help them integrate aspects of gender mainstreaming and the human rights-based approach (HRBA) as methodologies in their parliamentary work. The training was divided into three stages. The first stage was face to face training from 24 to...

This year with the collaborative effort from the Parliament of the Kingdom of Thailand and coordination support from the AIPA Secretariat, the 7th PCAsia Seminar on “An Overview of Parliamentary Responsibilities: Strengthening the Institutions” was successfully organised from 26 to 30 June 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand. Over the course of three days, more than 50 participants, resource persons and moderators joined together for this event to compare the working methods as practiced within the different political systems of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, with further contributions from the AIPA Secretariat and the King Prajadipok’s...

Mediation and negotiation are at the heart of effective parliamentary work, including parliamentary diplomacy. With this in mind, the Secretariat of the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) asked PCAsia to organise the Seminar on Parliamentary Negotiation and Mediation, which had its opening session on 5 April, 2023 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. In the seminar’s opening remarks, PCAsia Executive Director Mr Dararith KIM YEAT stated that the objective of the seminar was to contribute to further improve the collective knowledge of Parliaments in the region on the techniques of negotiation and mediation. MPs and staff from the Legislative Council of Brunei, the...

On 28 February 2023, Parliamentary Centre of Asia (PCAsia) received a delegation from the Institute of Legislative Studies (ILS) of the Lao National Assembly led by Hon. Dr Yangkou YANGLUSAI, Head of the Institute. The objective of the meeting was to exchange capacity development experiences, especially related to PCAsia’s parliamentary research programme and parliamentary training program. The delegation was composed of: Hon. Dr Yangkou YANGLUESAI, Head of the Institute of Legislative Studies, National Assembly of Lao PDR Mr Sinthala LASOUKSAMAY, Deputy Head of the Institute of Legislative Studies Mr Khamthene VILAKOUN, Director of the Centre for Training and Information Mr...

After a year and a half attending the PCAsia Fiscal Analysis Capacity Training Programme, 16 Trainees were awarded with certificates for their successful completion and commitment. The Parliamentary Centre of Asia (PCAsia) organised a Fiscal Analysis Capacity Training Programme (FACT) Phase 2, delivered from July 2021 to December 2022. Sixteen Cambodian Parliament staff  were selected for this programme. The training courses were delivered by local, regional and international experts in the fields of economics and finance, including those from the Parliaments of Sweden, and the Philippines who have extensive first-hand experience with Parliamentary Budget Offices (PBOs). The overall objectives of...

The signing of a renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the AIPA Secretariat and the Parliamentary Centre of Asia (PCAsia) took place on 25 January 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia.  The PCAsia Executive Director, Mr Dararith KIM YEAT, and the Secretary General of AIPA, H.E. Ar. Siti Rozaimeriyanty Dato Haji Abdul Rahman, conducted the formal signing, which further extended the long-standing cooperation between the two organisations. Also attending the event in Jakarta were representatives from AIPA Member Parliaments and staff of the AIPA Secretariat. His Excellency OUM Sarith, Chair of the PCAsia Board of Directors, other distinguished members of...

As a valuable and long-term partner of the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) and the AIPA Secretariat, Parliamentary Centre of Asia (PCAsia) Executive Director Mr Dararith KIM YEAT was asked to deliver the opening remarks at the AIPA 2023-2025 Strategic Planning Workshop. The event was attended by parliamentarians from across the region, advisors, and technical staff from the AIPA Secretariat, who were asked to provide input on the first draft of the 2023-2025 AIPA Strategic Plan. It was supported by the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) and PCAsia, and organised from 24-25 January 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Workshop was...

The ability to communicate with constituents in a way that is clear and easy to understand is an essential responsibility of staff working in the information departments of the Cambodian Senate and the National Assembly. Responding to this need, PCAsia organised a training course on infographics for parliamentary staff held from 13 to 28 December 2022. Participants joined the course with the instructor Mr Phichith Kunthakcheat, with the aim of improving their foundation as graphic designers and the quality of their graphic design work, enhancing their applied creativity, and increasing their understanding of how to convey that is easy to...

National Assembly staff from the Constituency Offices in Phnom Penh and in the provinces of Cambodia play key roles in supporting communications between the Parliament and authorities and citizens throughout the country. To develop their capacity to perform important tasks, the Parliamentary Centre of Asia (PCAsia) organised the second training course of the year focusing on Basic Parliamentary Communications, delivered from 28 November to 2 December 2022. The 26 trainees (four females and 22 males) learned about a wide range of subjects relevant to their work. Topics included: The communications process – including one-way and two-way communications. Why good communications...

Speeches and presentations are an integral part of the way in which Parliament communicates with the public. Good speeches and presentations are essentials in delivering vital information to the public effectively, to uphold confidence towards the Parliament (and Cambodia). Acknowledging the importance of these skills, PCAsia organised a training course for staff from the Senate and the National Assembly of Cambodia from 24 October to 14 November 2022. The training was held at the Senate Compound. Through the training, PCAsia aims to improve the parliamentary staff’s skills and confidence to give effective speeches and presentations, in a way that would...

Overall and Rational The FACT-2 program of PCAsia arranged two study visits to two PBO in the region: (1) the Philippines Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department and, (2)  the Budget Review Center of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia. The missions aimed to increase the capacity of the FACT trainees and the Cambodian Senate’s Budget Research Department (BRD) by learning from the practical experiences of the budget offices in supporting the legislative budget process. The study missions are a complement to the class room training provided by the program as it offered opportunities for the teams...

Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR, November 21, 2022: With the support from AIPA, the Parliamentary Centre of Asia (PCAsia) conducted the 5th intake of the Training of Trainers on Parliamentary Research (ToT, 5th Intake) for Strengthening Capacity and Professional Skills of AIPA Member Parliament Staff. This training was organized in hybrid mode, face-to-face for Lao participants and remotely for other parliaments in Vientiane, Lao PDR, with 18 parliamentary staff (trainees), of which 14 were women, six from Cambodia, six Laos, two from Indonesia, one from Malaysia, two from the Philippines, and one from Thailand. The ToT training was aimed at promoting...

Providing knowledge to improve the presentation of news events – making news releases more interesting, dynamic, and trustworthy, while promoting the appropriate ‘image’ of the Parliament – was the focus of a training course on News Writing. This took place over five days during the period from 4 October to 17 October 2022. Participants were staff from the Information Departments of the Senate and the National Assembly of Cambodia, who play central roles in managing news releases covering parliamentary activities and work. The 12 trainees (two females and 10 males) – comprising six staff from the Senate and six from...

After four days of experience sharing among participants, the Training Seminar on Parliamentary Responsibilities concluded on Friday, 21 October 2022. During the sixth in PCAsia’s series of these seminars, parliamentary staff, resource persons and distinguished guests met to engage in discussions on the practices of their respective Parliaments. Mr Dararith KIM YEAT, PCAsia Executive Director, kicked off the event by welcoming those joining from the Parliaments of Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, and Cambodia, from King Prajadhipok’s Institute (KPI) and the ASEAN Inter-parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Secretariat, and those from farther afield, including elsewhere in Asia, Europe and...

Issues related to land tenure, gender equality and indigenous communities’ advancement are among the most pressing currently facing the Cambodian Parliament. In response, PCAsia was asked to deliver a Training on Legislative Drafting, with practical exercises on legislative analysis focusing on those subjects. The training began on October 24, with opening remarks delivered by PCAsia Capacity Development Director Mr John Christopher. Addressing participants, Mr Christopher described that the five-week training, which is being conducted face-to-face and will conclude on 30 November, aims to develop the technical capacity of parliamentary staff of the National Assembly and Senate of Cambodia whose daily...

A Climate Change Lens  was organised by the Parliamentary Centre of Asia in collaboration with the external expert Mr. Asif Shah, a Public Finance and Governance Advisor, Governance for Resilience Development in the Pacific Project, UNDP. This special lecture is part of the training course on climate change budgeting designed by the Environment and Climate Change program and the Fiscal Analysis Capacity Training program teams with the purpose of mainstreaming climate change into the capacity building and training programs of PCAsia for parliamentary staff in the region. The specific objective of this special lecture is to provide knowledge and understanding...