ASEAN REGIONAL MINE ACTION CENTER
11 May 2023 – ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC), represented by ARMAC Executive Director, Mr. Prum Suonpraseth, and Jang An University (JU), represented by the Acting President, Ms. Kim Ji Young, signed an Agreement to implement the Project “Enhance Victim Assistance Program in the ASEAN Member States” or Victim Assistance (VA).
ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center wishes to wholeheartedly congratulate the Kingdom of Cambodia for another milestone and great achievement made in declaring the Province of Kampot (the 12th province) an anti-personnel landmine free province. We, the ASEAN community, stand behind Cambodia in solidarity, ready to collaborate, and assist in ways we can. Human security and shared prosperity is not only an aspiration of every individual ASEAN citizen, but makes ASEAN stronger as a whole.
ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center wishes to wholeheartedly congratulate the Kingdom of Cambodia for another milestone and great achievement made in declaring the Province of Kampot (the 12th province) an anti-personnel landmine free province. We, the ASEAN community, stand behind Cambodia in solidarity, ready to collaborate, and assist in ways we can. Human security and shared prosperity is not only an aspiration of every individual ASEAN citizen, but makes ASEAN stronger as a whole.
The ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) organized a Study Validation Workshop: Monitoring and Evaluation of Gender Equality and Inclusion in Mine Action on 28-29 November at Sunway Hotel Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The workshop also presented ongoing progress on the development and validated the findings of an upcoming study on the mine action sector’s approach towards monitoring and evaluation of gender and diversity across ASEAN countries mine action programmes. The workshop was organized to ensure that findings and recommendations presented in the draft version of the study are fit for the purpose of supporting mine action entities in their efforts to enhance gender equality and inclusion.
The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) was commissioned to develop and write the study. The workshop is one of the deliverables under the project “Strengthen Gender Equality and Empowerment in Mine Action in the Mine/ETW affected ASEAN Member States” which is funded by the Government of Italy through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo).
Over 30 participants from national mine action authorities, national and international demining operators attended the hybrid event.
On the 5th of July, ARMAC held its strategy stakeholder meeting in Hanoi, Viet Nam. The meeting drew representatives from over 8 government and non-government organizations to provide inputs into the preparation of ARMAC’s first five-year strategic plan.
The meeting is the third of a series of workshops that will encompass stakeholders across mine-affected AMSs. A special session meeting is taking place on 11 July where the outcome from the country consultations will be one of the key points to be discussed.
The goal of ARMAC is to reduce the impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war throughout the region through enhanced awareness in communities, victim assistance, and the sharing of knowledge amongst AMSs.
On the 30th of June, ARMAC held its second strategy stakeholder meeting in Bangkok, Thailand. The workshop drew representatives from over 10 government and non-government organizations to provide inputs into the preparation of ARMAC’s first five-year strategic plan.
The meeting is the second of a series of workshops that will encompass stakeholders across mine-affected AMSs. The next workshop will be held in Hanoi, Viet Nam during the first week of July. The goal of ARMAC is to reduce the impact of landmines and explosive remnants of war throughout the region through enhanced awareness in communities, victim assistance, and the sharing of knowledge amongst AMSs.
On 16 June, ARMAC had the pleasure of hosting His Excellency Kwon Hee-seog, the Ambassador of the Mission of the Republic of Korea (ROK) to ASEAN, and his team. They met with ARMAC Executive Director Prum Suonpraseth and the Victim Assistance Project team to provide an overview of ARMAC, and update on the government of South Korea’s funding. Through the ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund, the ROK has invested over $2 million for the implementation of the “Enhance Victim Assistance Programme in ASEAN Member States (AMSs)”. The initiative is three years long, running through 2023, and has five objectives: (1) promote the establishment of victim assistance network as a regional platform for various stakeholders among ASEAN; (2) assist the AMSs on the victim-assistance-related knowledge sharing, need/s and resource/s assessment and possibility of its mobilization; (3) assess the needs of the victims of ERW (mine/UXO) in the affected AMSs for further assistance; (4) assist the ASEAN Member States (AMSs) in providing psychosocial supports to the victims of ERW (mine/UXO); and (5) conduct research regarding the “ERW (Mine/UXO) Victim Assistance Inclusive Services in Cambodia,” as well as “Community Perspectives of Humanitarian ERW (Mine/UXO) Action in Laos and Viet Nam”.
ARMAC and affected AMSs are grateful for the government of South Korea’s generous support— the project and funding is an immense advantage in the development and strengthening of victim assistance across the region. The consequences of explosive remnants of war on local communities can be devastating but support from projects like the ASEAN-ROK Cooperation Fund is a significant step towards countering these impacts.
