ASEAN REGIONAL MINE ACTION CENTER
The ARMAC Permanent Secretariat team led by its Executive Director Mr. Prum Suonpraseth paid a courtesy call on the new UNDP Resident Representative Ms. Alissa Chaker and her team. The visit introduced both teams and discussed about the upcoming UNDP-ARMAC MoU. An action plan 2022 to support the implementation of the MoU will be prepared to bring to fruition areas of collaboration and mutual support identified under the MoU.
On December 23, the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center with funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the People’s Republic of China kicked off an online Technical Working Group Meeting for the Project, “Enhancing Regional Cooperation and Resource Mobilization Capacity in Mine/ERW in ASEAN”. The Meeting presented new technologies and innovations such as the use of digital EORE, environmentalism in mine action; successful country cases on maximizing impact and mobilizing resources; and best practices of regional cooperation and partnership within and outside the ASEAN region. A draft matrix on priority areas for enhancing regional cooperation and mobilizing resources for sector was the key output of the meeting. Thirty senior level officials and representatives from government ministries, bilateral donors, international organizations and NGOS, and UNDP participated. This is the first TWG Meeting for the PRC-funded project. The next TWG meeting is slated in the end of Quarter 1 of 2022.
ARMAC Victim Assistance Project Team participated in the 2-day National Victim Assistance Workshop on “Strengthening a strategic approach to address the rights and needs of mine/ERW survivors, affected families and persons with disabilities in Cambodia” (21-22 December 2021) jointly organized by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) and UNDP Cambodia. The Workshop brought together relevant national authorities, and international agencies working in the field of victim assistance, to assess the progress made to date through SWOT analysis and consolidation of inputs and recommendations to improve victim assistance services.
15-16 December 2021:
The ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) Programme staff attended the online workshop on Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) hosted by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) and ran by the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) on 15 and 16 December 2021.
The workshop provided essential knowledge and tools on social and behavioral change, results framework or theory of change, standardizing beneficiary definitions, gender, diversity and inclusion, and digital EORE.
ARMAC’s participation to the Workshop allowed staff to understand better how these approaches work in the Cambodian context, and how local organizations could take these approaches forward.
On 13 December 2021, the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) team led by its Executive Director (ED) Prum Suonpraseth paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Eldeen Husaini Mohd Hashim, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Malaysia to the Kingdom of Cambodia. During the meeting, ARMAC ED gave an update on the progress of ARMAC operations and projects in the region. In his presentation, Ambassador Hashim highlighted the strong connection between the Southeast Asian region and Malaysia, and reaffirmed his government’s commitment to ARMAC by engaging further support in the mine action sector. Both parties exchanged views of future plans. ARMAC ED also thanked the Ambassador and the people of Malaysia for their continued support to ARMAC.
10 December 2021: Follow-up working session with Ambassador Liurka Rodriguez Barrios of the Republic of Cuba based in Phnom Penh to explore potential areas of collaboration between Cuba and ARMAC where Cuban expertise in health science and in other areas could potentially be of humanitarian interests to support communities of ERW victims and survivors.
The Embassy of the Republic of Cuba is of the members of “Friends of ARMAC” Network.
SingHealth partners with ARMAC to provide psychosocial trainings in mine/ERW-affected ASEAN member states
The ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) and Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 9 December 2021 to work together on the project, ‘Enhance Victim Assistance Programme in the ASEAN Member States’. The MoU will allow SingHealth to conduct needs assessment on psychosocial supports and provide psychosocial trainings to landmine and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) victims in affected ASEAN Member States such as Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam. ARMAC Executive Director Mr. Prum Suonpraseth and SingHealth Group Director of the International Collaboration Office Professor Tan Hiang Khoon signed the MoU. The ceremony was presided over by H.E. Mr. Pengiran Kasmirhan Pengiran Tahir, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Brunei Darussalam to the Kingdom of Cambodia, and Chair of ARMAC Steering Committee
