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SDC and The Center sign updated agreement for upcoming 5 year strategy

H.E Ivo Sieber, the Swiss Ambassador to Thailand, and Dr. David Ganz sign agreement for upcoming 5 year strategy

The Center for People and Forests (RECOFTC) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) have signed an updated agreement for The Center’s upcoming five-year strategic plan. Dr. David Ganz of The Center and H.E. Ivo Sieber, the Swiss Ambassador to Thailand, launched the new phase of Switzerland’s support for The Center on 29 January 2019 at the Swiss Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand.

“SDC has once again shown its support for The Center’s financial sustainability and strategic presence in the Asia - Pacific,” Dr. David Ganz, the Executive Director of The Center, said following the signing. “The Center will utilize SDC’s generosity to create as much change as viable in the region.”

These two organizations have a historic connection. SDC has been a key supporter of The Center since 1987 when Dr. Somsak Sukwong of Kasetsart University partnered with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Switzerland to establish the Regional Community Forestry Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC).  

SDC has shown strong support for The Center’s climate change initiatives since then, supporting the development of its People, Forests, and Climate Change thematic area. Following 2008, SDC’s engagement intensified, and in 2012, SDC confirmed its commitment to be a core fund donor to The Center for the 2013 - 2018 Strategic Plan. With the new agreement in place, SDC has again confirmed its support and commitment to The Center until 2023.

More recently, SDC has been active in The Center’s ASEAN - Swiss Partnership on Social Forestry AWG - SF, otherwise known as ASFCC, whose purpose is to strengthen knowledge and networks among ASEAN policymakers, forestry officials and civil society practitioners. In turn, such partnerships will better utilize forests to mitigate climate change.

“The Center and SDC have similar principles and approaches,” Dr. Ganz said. “The Center is excited and grateful to see this partnership continue to flourish.”