James Kon
The 19th Southeast Asia Red Cross Red Crescent Leaders meeting – hosted by Brunei Darussalam Red Crescent Society (BRC) – concluded with the endorsement of the Bandar Seri Begawan Statement.
The statement called for meetings and cooperation between International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) members and ASEAN to promote a more coherent movement and more meaningful engagement with ASEAN.
Southeast Asian Red Cross and Red Crescent leaders seek to support Myanmar Red Cross Society (MRCS) and displaced people. They also agreed to convene regularly to monitor the progress of internally and externally displaced people and work to strengthen migratory pathways. They also decided to invest in resources to support First Aid Vision 2030 such as development of commercial first aid including utilising digital platform.
The leaders welcomed the establishment of Resource Centre for Total First Aid initiated by BRC.
The formation of a Southeast Asia network was also endorsed for first aid with BRC as the inaugural chair. BRC will report the progress of the establishment in Cambodia.
The closing ceremony saw BRC President Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Yussoff bin Haji Bahar handing over the chairmanship to First Deputy Secretary General of Cambodian Red Cross Men Neary Sopheak as chair of the next Southeast Asia Red Cross Red Crescent Leaders meeting in 2023.
IFRC Governing Board member and Malaysian Red Crescent Society Chair Her Highness Dato‘ Seri Diraja Tan Sri Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz binti Almarhum Sultan Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah, Regional Director for Asia Pacific IFRC Alexander Matheo and Head Of ICRC Regional Delegation Omar Odeh were also present.
