Quarterly Progress Report – Year 5, Quarter 1

The project aims to address citizens' priorities and grievances, reduce drivers of latent and violent conflict, and strengthen social inclusion and cohesion. Through its partnerships and activities, Together expands the space for dialogue and reconciliation, and facilitates the growth of attitudes, networks, and mechanisms that nurture peace, tolerance, and just governance. The Together framework includes three objectives: improving existing mechanisms for RTG institutions to receive input and feedback from citizens, improving the capacity of civil society to advocate for the public interest and find common solutions with government, and improving relations and constructive dialogue among citizens of different backgrounds. To achieve these objectives, Together engages with government agencies, CSO core partners, and grantees to implement projects that address local conflicts and contentious issues. During the quarter, Together completed the second series of training courses on Providing High Quality Services to the Public for Provincial Justice Offices (PJO), Damrongtham Centers (DRTC), and other government agencies. The six-day course covered positive leadership for persuasion, systematic problem solving and decision making, approaches for people-centric online and in-person service provision, communications principles and approaches, conflict negotiation, gender sensitive service provision, and managing stress. A total of 102 government officials participated in the courses, learning new approaches and techniques for delivering high quality, citizen-centric services to support citizens' needs, strengthen local governance processes, and improve their agencies' impact in bettering the lives of people in their provinces. Post-training participant evaluations revealed a very positive response to the courses, with many participants stating they had never received training on these topics. More than 98% of participants completing the evaluation remarked that the course objectives and content were relevant and appropriate for their work, and all (100%) respondents stated that the new knowledge and skills gained would help them to improve their performance and respond better to the needs of citizens in their areas. They also gave very high marks for the trainers from Impression, the organization hired by Together to design and conduct the courses. In addition to these direct engagements by Together with RTG agencies, Together core partners and grantees have had substantial engagement with at least 47 local government agencies as they implemented projects funded by the Activity to address local conflicts and contentious issues. These include provincial, district, and sub-district government agencies, and local offices of various line ministries (e.g., Natural Resources and Environment offices, Energy Regulatory Commission offices, Public Health offices, Royal Irrigation Department offices, and National Park offices). Together also facilitated a workshop with the Association for Restoration of Esaan Rural Eco-System (ARERES), and members of the affiliated network association Isaan Land Reform Network (ILRN), to closely review, update, and expand their organization and advocacy strategies that will guide their work in the coming five years to resolve community-government natural resource management disputes. During the workshop, ARERES and ILRN staff discussed and clarified their understandings of their work environment and the strategies they will employ to address community-government natural resource management disputes. The Together Activity has made significant progress in achieving its objectives, including improving existing mechanisms for RTG institutions to receive input and feedback from citizens, improving the capacity of civil society to advocate for the public interest and find common solutions with government, and improving relations and constructive dialogue among citizens of different backgrounds. The project's engagement with government agencies, CSO core partners, and grantees has resulted in substantial progress in addressing local conflicts and contentious issues, and has facilitated the growth of attitudes, networks, and mechanisms that nurture peace, tolerance, and just governance.