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Transitions
The Population Council has collaborated with
researchers in Thailand since 1959, and established an office in Bangkok
in 1969 to provide technical and financial assistance to the government,
to universities, and to NGOs working on child health and family planning
programs. The Bangkok office served as the regional office for South and
East Asia from 1978 to 1995, when the regional base moved to New Delhi.
Since then, it has continued to oversee Council activities in
neighboring Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.
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Council President Peter
Donaldson with IPSR Director Churnrurtai
Kanchanchitra and IPSR staff at the January 2007
signing. |
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“In the almost 50 years the Population Council has
had a presence in Thailand, Thai institutions have evolved from being
recipients of our technical assistance to being
valued partners in providing technical assistance to other countries in
the region,” says Anrudh Jain, vice president of International Programs.
“This is exactly how ‘building professional capacity’ is meant to work.”
In view of this successful transition, the Council
is now implementing a new mode of operations in Thailand. The Bangkok
office was closed in December 2006, and in January of this year, Council
president Peter Donaldson signed a memorandum of understanding with the
Institute for Population and Social Research (IPSR) at Mahidol
University (see photo). By the terms of the memorandum, the Council and
IPSR have agreed to work as partners to develop local and regional
programs for technical assistance in the areas of population,
development, and health.
Changes also are being made in other countries. The
Council recently opened offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and Khartoum,
Sudan, to support its growing body of research in Africa. Work to
address the vulnerabilities of married adolescent girls and migrant
adolescents in Ethiopia continues in collaboration with the Ministry of
Youth and local faith-based groups; in Sudan, capacity building and
relevant research under way since 2004 is being expanded.
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