The 12th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM) and the 13th Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (COP to AADMER) convened at The Empire Brunei yesterday.
Minister of Home Affairs Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman, as Chair of the 12th AMMDM, officiated the meeting.
The opening ceremony was attended by ministers and representatives of ASEAN member states with the deputy secretary general of ASEAN for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre), Timor-Leste as an observer and dialogue partners from China, Japan and South Korea.
On the sidelines of the 12th AMMDM, the ASEAN ministers also attended meetings with dialogue partners namely the 4th AMMDM Plus China meeting, the 4th AMMDM Plus Japan meeting and the 3rd AMMDM Plus Republic of Korea meeting.
ASEAN values the continued support from China, Japan and South Korea in strengthening disaster preparedness, building resilience through ongoing capacity building projects, funding and humanitarian assistance in ASEAN.
The meeting also saw the launch of ASEAN-USAID Partnership Program.
This was followed by the exchange of letters of the ASEAN-BRACE project between the AHA Centre and the Global Affairs Canada and the exchange of letters on Administrative Arrangement between AHA Centre and DG ECHO.
It proceeded with the signing of Joint Declaration of intent between AHA Centre and Germany as well as the singing of memorandum of Intent between AHA Centre and the National Disaster Management Authority of India.
The project launching, signing ceremony and exchange of letters was witnessed by Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin.
The meeting concluded with the handing over of the Chair to Cambodia, who will take over the chairmanship of the sectorial body responsible for disaster management and humanitarian assistance next year. – James Kon
