Yangon, 14 December 2017 – The Government of Singapore has entrusted the Jakarta-based ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (the AHA Centre) to facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance worth approximately 75,000 USD for the displaced communities in Rakhine State, Myanmar. Based on the needs identified in consultation with the Relief and Resettlement Department (RRD) of the Myanmar Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, the AHA Centre has locally procured 3800 of kitchen sets to be further distributed to the displaced communities in Rakhine State, in close coordination with the RRD. The relief items were symbolically handed over in Yangon today on Thursday, 14 December 2017.
The assistance from Singapore adds on to the 80 tonnes of relief items of ASEAN humanitarian assistance that have been distributed to 99 villages or townships in Northern Rakhine State in October 2017. This collective response demonstrates the ASEAN’s commitment to respond to an emergency in the region, in line with the vision of One ASEAN, One Response declared last year in September 2016 by the ASEAN Leaders at the 28th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Lao PDR.
“Our gratitude goes to the Government of Singapore and the Government of Myanmar for trusting the AHA Centre to operationalise ASEAN’s solidarity in providing humanitarian assistance to displaced communities in Rakhine State. The additional support from Singapore amplifies AHA Centre’s efforts to provide further assistance for the people in Rakhine, regardless of their origin, ethnic group, race or religion,” said Ms. Adelina Kamal, Executive Director of the AHA Centre, during the handover ceremony.
On the same occasion, Mr. Robert Chua, the Ambassador of Singapore to Myanmar, emphasised that, “Singapore has been a close friend and ASEAN neighbour of Myanmar and at this difficult time, we are committed to offer this assistance to address the humanitarian situation in Rakhine State. We wish the Government of Myanmar well, as it seeks to restore peace, stability, and implement its recovery development programme for the people of Rakhine State. We hope that our contribution will help alleviate the suffering of the people. It is our wish that all parties involved will work together to reconcile differences, so that those affected can rebuild their lives and live in peace, dignity, and harmony.”
Since its establishment in November 2011, the AHA Centre has responded to 19 disaster emergencies in ASEAN in the span of six years, including Thabaitkkyin earthquake in November 2012 and floods in August 2015 in Myanmar. In addition to its core mandate to respond to natural disasters, the AHA Centre has provided humanitarian assistance to internally displaced communities from Marawi in the Philippines earlier this year as well as Rakhine State in Myanmar.
“I am really grateful to the Government and people of Singapore for their generous donations. My sincere thanks also go to the representatives of the AHA Centre for their effective coordination and facilitation throughout the process. This assistance is really helpful for the communities to fulfil their basic needs for kitchen materials for their daily lives,” said Dr. Ko Ko Naing, the Director General of Relief and Resettlement Department of Myanmar.
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About the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance
The AHA Centre is an inter-governmental organisation established by ten (10) ASEAN Member States on 17 November 2011 with the aim to facilitate cooperation and coordination amongst ASEAN Member States and with relevant United Nations and
international organisations in promoting regional collaboration in disaster management. The AHA Centre is based in Jakarta, Indonesia.
For more information regarding the AHA Centre, please contact:
Ms. Shintya Kurniawan
(Communications Officer of the AHA Centre)
Email: shintya.kurniawan@ahacentre.org
Phone: +62 21 2982 7793 ext. 108 (office)
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