About RT4D

The Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) initiative is funded by both the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. It assists ASEAN Member States (AMS) in meeting their commitments and realizing the advantages offered by the Agreement establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, or AANZFTA, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP.

Through the AANZFTA Implementation Support Program (AISP) and the RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), RT4D provides tailored support to enhance the capabilities of ASEAN Member States by strengthening skills, building networks, facilitating policy options and ensuring that trade benefits everyone, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), women and people with disabilities.

The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have committed up to AUD 48.7 million to fund RT4D from 2020-21 to 2027-28.

Project Summary

The RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), implemented RT4D Facility, aims to support AMS to realize the full benefits of RCEP through the provision of capacity-building support and access to technical expertise.

The following project is approved under RISP.

• Project name: Developing access for people with print disabilities to accessible format copies of published works
• Project Objectives: Viet Nam made its accession to The Marrakesh Treaty on December 6, 2022, coming into force on March 6, 2023. However, being a newer member of the Treaty, country officials have raised their need for technical assistance to better implement the Treaty and create better conditions for people with disabilities in the country to practice the rights to equality and community integration in the best possible manner.

This project aligns with the strategic direction of fostering RCEP Parties’ capabilities in implementing The Marrakesh Treaty, contributing to equality and social integration of Persons Who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled.

Project Summary

The RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), implemented RT4D Facility, aims to support AMS to realize the full benefits of RCEP through the provision of capacity-building support and access to technical expertise.

The following project is approved under RISP.

• Project name: Developing access for people with print disabilities to accessible format copies of published works
• Project Objectives: Viet Nam made its accession to The Marrakesh Treaty on December 6, 2022, coming into force on March 6, 2023. However, being a newer member of the Treaty, country officials have raised their need for technical assistance to better implement the Treaty and create better conditions for people with disabilities in the country to practice the rights to equality and community integration in the best possible manner.

This project aligns with the strategic direction of fostering RCEP Parties’ capabilities in implementing The Marrakesh Treaty, contributing to equality and social integration of Persons Who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled.

The AANZFTA Implementation Support Program (AISP), implemented through RT4D Facility, aims to support ASEAN Member States to realize the full benefits of AANFTA through the provision of capacity-building support and access to technical expertise.

The following project is approved under AISP.

• Project name: Assessing ASEAN Members State’s (AMS’) Readiness and Developing a Guideline for AMS to implement its trade-in services commitment of transposing from a Positive Listing to a Negative Listing approach in AANZFTA.
• Project Objectives: Regarding the liberalization of services among AANZFTA Signatory Parties, each country’s understanding, progress, and institutional capacity are variable. The Strategic Directions and Priorities of the Committee on Trade in Services look to narrow the regional gaps in institutional capacity to liberalize services trade and ensure the transition to the Negative List schedule for trade in services within the agreed timeframes.

Aligning with the Strategic Directions and Priorities of the Committee on Trade in Services, this project aims to support interested AMS, specifically The Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam, and others with a smooth transition to a Negative List approach within the committed timeframe, enabling trade in services liberalization.

About RT4D

The Regional Trade for Development (RT4D) initiative is funded by both the Governments of Australia and New Zealand. It assists ASEAN Member States (AMS) in meeting their commitments and realizing the advantages offered by the Agreement establishing the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area, or AANZFTA, and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP.

Through the AANZFTA Implementation Support Program (AISP) and the RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), RT4D provides tailored support to enhance the capabilities of ASEAN Member States by strengthening skills, building networks, facilitating policy options and ensuring that trade benefits everyone, including Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), women and people with disabilities.

The Governments of Australia and New Zealand have committed up to AUD 48.7 million to fund RT4D from 2020-21 to 2027-28.

Project Summary

The RCEP Implementation Support Program (RISP), implemented RT4D Facility, aims to support AMS to realize the full benefits of RCEP through the provision of capacity-building support and access to technical expertise.

The following project is approved under RISP.

• Project name: Effective application of Good Regulatory Practices (GRP) in developing technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures.
• Project Objectives: The objective of this project is to build capacity and a better understanding of (1) the effective application of GRP and (2) conducting Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for Country officials who are involved in developing technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures in Viet Nam.

Through that, the project contributes to the strategic objectives of The RCEP Agreement as stated in Chapter 6, Article 2, namely, 6.2 (a), (b), (c), and (d).

• Project Structure: The project consists of four activities designed to deliver multiple outputs:
• Activity 1: Development of two Research Reports
• 1. One Research Report on GRP application
• 2. One Research Report on RIA implementation
• Activity 2: Development of two Guidelines acting as manuals for implementing organizations
• 1. One Guideline on GRP application
• 2. One Guideline on RIA implementation
• Activity 3: Organization of capacity building Training Courses
• 1. Three 1.5-day Training Courses on GRP: one in Vinh Phuc, one in Da Nang and one in Ho Chi Minh City.
• 2. One 1.5-day Training Course on RIA in Vinh Phuc
• Activity 4: Organization of one final Regional Workshop communicating project components’ findings.

Education Pathways for Peace in Mindanao Program will conduct a three-year research study to determine the impact of the program’s interventions on targeted schools (kinder to grade 3 only) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The research will be designed as a small n study testing the theory of change for each of four types of school: community schools (known as Learning Centres), catchment schools connected to the Learning Centres (known as Associated Catchment Schools), targeted madrasah schools, and the model inclusive schools (known as Inclusive and Supportive Centres of Learning). 

This theory-based evaluation approach will be used to identify what worked by looking into the changes brought about by Pathways-supported intervention and, importantly, to understand why and how the interventions worked. The research will start in 2024 and be repeated in 2025 and 2026. The study will provide baseline data in 2024 and, where possible, estimate retrospective baselines as of September 2022 when schools reopened after the COVID-19 Pandemic. Data collection will estimate where Pathways is contributing to better learning outcomes, classroom teaching and learning practices, learning and development for teachers, support to schools by divisional offices, school-based management practices, and inclusion practices including equity outcomes for key variables.

The study aims to:

• Identify to what extent Pathways’ interventions are reaching and creating change at the school and classroom level, and impacting children’s literacy and numeracy

• Identify adaptations and modifications that are both positively and negatively influencing the outcomes

• Understand results for different variables across the type of schools

• How contextual factors are influencing the outcomes expected at the school-level

• Identify the enablers, barriers, and challenges influencing school-level outcomes

• Identify good practices and effective strategies within each school type

• Provide learning and recommendations as to how policy and implementation can be improved during the remainder of the program, as MBHTE and the Philippines Department of Education take policy interventions forward, and to inform Australia’s ongoing education sector work.

• The program’s overall target beneficiaries for each school type are 210 Learning Centres, 123 Associate Catchment Schools, 25 Madrasah, and one Inclusive and Supportive Centre for Learning (ISCL). Pathways support to each school type has included^[1]:

  Learning Centres

  Pathways' assistance to the MBHTE Abot Kaalaman sa Pamilyang Pilipino (AKAP) Program aims to offer quality early years' education to learners in barangays without schools. This involves establishing functional learning centres (LCs) or providing flexible learning options in validated school-less barangays. By the end of the 2023-2024 school year, AKAP provided kindergarten to grade 3 education to 123 geographically isolated, disadvantaged, and conflict-affected communities in BARMM by introducing grade 3 classes.

  Pathways' support to AKAP focuses on enrolling out-of-school children, enhancing social inclusion and strengthening stakeholder engagement at various governance levels and with the school. This involves enhancing stakeholder engagement in learning centres, community structures, school division offices, local government units, and the regional AKAP Technical Working Group.

  Associated Catchment Schools

  An Associated Catchment School is a catchment school assigned to manage an AKAP Learning Centre established under the Pathways Program. Pathways has progressively lifted the Catchment Schools linked to AKAP Learning Centres to ensure they provide support and management to the Centres for them to succeed. The focus is for the Associated Catchment Schools to develop specific support and management skills. The program’s support to the Associated Catchment Schools includes providing trainings to K-3 teachers and Catchment School Heads, designing and planning K-3 teaching and learning materials, developing K-3 learning assessment tools and manual, and production of teaching learning readers in Filipino and mother-tongue languages, among others.

  Madrasah

  Pathways support to madrasah is at both the system level to help establish system arrangements that will improve both formal and non-formal madrasah and improve delivery by the targeted madrasah. At the system level, Pathways support has included the development of the Bangsamoro Education Code, Madrasah Education Strategic Plan, Madrasah Comprehensive Plan, and the Madrasah Establishment System. The 25 targeted madrasah is a group of `formal’ madrasah that were established before 2017 that are still operating and are considered `stable’ and development ready. All 25 madrasah are private entities and `formal madrasah’ are recognised under the Bangsamoro Education Code as delivering the governments’ curriculum and are subject to government quality assurance processes. Pathways’ support ranges from development of curriculum and learning materials, teacher and school leader training, and introducing school-base management. Madrasah are recognised as historically under resourced and therefore less developed institutions whereby responding to Pathways’ supported interventions will take longer.

  Inclusive and Supportive Centres of Learning

  The ISCL refers to a primary school that is being transformed into a model inclusion institution of learning with an ecology that adapts to the needs of children. The model school supports a network of other public schools, known as Satellite Public Schools, which are coached by the ISCL and MBHTE (regional and divisions) to progressively implement the Inclusive Schools Approach. Pathways started supporting the development of the model inclusive school in 2022. To date, Pathways has supported ISCL with the development of the Inclusive Schools Approach Omnibus Policy, ISA-ISCL Five Essentials, and training of teachers and school leaders in inclusion and Play-based Approach.

  
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  [1] Pathways will provide a table to the successful candidate identifying the scope, timing, and nature of interventions rolled out to-date.