James Kon
Minister of Home Affairs Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin bin Haji Abdul Rahman emphasised on the importance of increasing cooperation with regional partners to bring innovative solution in the field of disaster management in addressing current and future challenges in line with the theme of ASEAN Day of Disaster Management – ‘Stronger Together in Balancing Action to Enhance Localisation for Disaster Resilience’.
He said this during the 10th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM) in Bangkok, Thailand yesterday.
The minister also shared several initiatives carried out by Brunei’s National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) including Community Based Disaster Risk Management public awareness programme aimed at raising awareness and preparedness of residents in mukims and villages on disaster risk as well as its preparations.
“NDMC also held the School Based Disaster Risk Management (SBDRM) programme to raise capability and preparedness among young students and schools to understand the risk and to take the proper and safe actions in the face of any disasters and challenges that may occur. The aim of the programme is to achieve the aspiration toward building a resilient group of youth who are always prepared for the future,” he added.
The minister explained that by organising these programmes, “It can help Brunei in building a society that is resilient in the face of disasters with knowledge and experience as a guide to reduce its impact on the daily life of the community”.
Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ahmaddin also attended the 11th Conference of the Parties to ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (COP to AADMER).
The meetings were chaired by Minister of Interior of Thailand General Anupong Paochinda.
Both meetings were attended by ASEAN ministers responsible for disaster management where it discussed the approaches in further strengthening ASEAN joint response to any disaster as well as evaluate the implementation of the AADMER towards realising the aspiration of building a safe and resilient society to face disasters.
Several separate meetings were also organised with dialogue partners between ASEAN and China, Japan and Korea through such as the 2nd AMMDM Plus China meeting, the 2nd AMMDM Plus Japan and the 1st AMMDM Plus Korea to improve strategic dialogue in joint cooperation to achieve disaster risk reduction at the regional level.
Deputy Permanent Secretary (Safety and Welfare) at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) Nor Hamidah binti Haji Hamidon with NDMC Director Colonel (Rtd) Muhd Harrith Rashidi bin Haji Muhd Jamin, the MoHA and NDMC senior officers were also present.
