Rationale
Greater efforts are required to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia. SEI Asia, support from Swedish government (SIDA), has committed to enhancing current 2030 Agenda efforts by seeking new solutions through effective long-term partnerships. These partnerships are fundamental for 2030 progress. In 2018, the Strategic Collaborative Fund Phase 2 (SCF2) programme was launched to provide platforms and opportunities for these partnerships. SCF2 fosters regional cooperation and policy dialogue for sustainable development and environmental sustainability in the region, toward integration of the SDG framework.
Objectives
The Strategic Collaborative Fund Phase 2, active from 2018-2022, builds capacity and enables learning for increased collaboration. SCF2 will create long-term partnerships to enhance policy development and institutional capacity building in Asia, under the framework of regional integration and the SDGs. It will hold strategic events that seek to build more effective regional policies that contribute to SDG achievement. Cognisant of the fact that human rights and gender equality are key to achievement, the programme will emphasize these throughout its work as it champions regional collaboration for transboundary environmental policy development, as well as fostering dialogue with other regions, particularly East Asia (China) and Europe. SCF2 will provide partners and participants with leading-edge information and applicable knowledge for policy development.
Components
Component 1: Inter-regional cooperation with China and Europe
Inter-regional platforms are central to SCF2 dialogue between Southeast Asia and other regions. SCF2 will link to the prime interregional policy development forum, the China-ASEAN Environment Cooperation Forum (CAECF), to address issues related to shared resources and the impacts of trade expansion. SCF2 will also connect with the Asia-Europe Environment Forum (ASEF), facilitating a dialogue between the two regions on matters aside from commerce that are equally important for both regions’ prosperity and well-being.
Component 2: Regional cooperation within Asia-Pacific
Though ASEAN has brought progress in regional integration, collaborative efforts towards SDG achievement in the region are still few and poorly coordinated. SCF2 will increase regional collaboration on key transboundary environmental issues, such as pollution, water governance, energy flows, natural resource use efficiency and climate change. These issues will be linked to the 2030 sustainable development agenda through private sector engagement. SEI will provide support for initiating, organizing, and hosting key events on selected issues. Support will take the form of coaching and provision of financial resources, as well as provision of technical expertise to lead regional collaboration efforts toward autonomous collaborative policy development.
Component 3: Learning and capacity development
SCF2 will support regional partners to integrate gender and implement a human rights-based approach in their collaborative activities. This will be achieved through the development of open online courses on gender equality and rights-based approaches, as well as mentoring and coaching for selected partners. The courses and mentoring will enhance institutional capacity and knowledge to ensure that gender, human rights and poverty reduction are central to regional environmental and climate change policies and the SDGs.
Component 4: Programme management
SCF2 will focus on efficient and effective management with the right boundary partners and appropriate level of expertise where needed. Simultaneously, programme monitoring and evaluation will identify target policies and track how new knowledge has been applied to produce, improve, or adapt policies through partner engagement. This component will also work to ensure the institutionalization of gender and rights-based approaches into partners and participants’ current and future programmes and operations, as well as encourage heightened efforts toward SDG and Agenda 2030 achievement.
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