30th ACDM Meeting and other relevant meetings

VIENTIANE, 6 APRIL 2017. The AHA Centre is in Lao PDR this week to receive guidance from the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) Meeting during the 30^th Meeting of the ACDM Meeting, 6^th Meeting of the Governing Board of the AHA Centre and other relevant meetings. The meeting commenced from 4-6 April 2017, with the indulgence from the presence of H.E. Dr. Khampeng Xaysompheng, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Lao PDR, during the opening of the ACDM Meeting.

Mr. Prasong Vongkhamchanh, DG of Social Welfare Department of Lao PDR assumed the position as the Chair of the meeting, while Mr. Dato’ Muhammad Yusoff Wazir (the Vice DG of NADMA Malaysia), assumed to be the Vice-Chair of the meeting. On 5 April 2017, the 6^th Governing Board Meeting of the AHA Centre was conducted under the guidance of the Member States. One of the highlight of the meeting was the progress updates from the AHA Centre since the previous meeting was held in late 2016. The AHA Centre also took the opportunity to share the new Knowledge Series Book and the Annual Report of the AHA Centre 2016. The 7^th Joint Task Force (JTF) Meeting between ASEAN Bodies was held where representatives from the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD), Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) and ASEAN Defence Ministerial Meeting (ADMM) were present. The JTF affirmed the importance that the work of ACDM should be integrated with other sectoral bodies initiatives under disaster management and emergency response.

In addition, to realise a disaster resilient ASEAN community, the 4th AADMER Partnership Conference brought together various stakeholders and partners, including Australia, Canada, China, Japan, IFRC, ICRC, JICA, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), GIZ/Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM), Save the children, and the Swiss Re, all of whom affirmed their commitments and contributions towards the implementation of AADMER Work Programme.

In this occasion, the AHA Centre with the support from the ACDM, took the opportunity to sign a Memorandum of Intent with the Philippines Disaster Resilience Foundation, reiterating the importance of with the private sector.