Blog

03 Aug
Welcome a visit of the Switzerland Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, led by H.E. Kurt Kunz, Ambassador of Switzerland to Indonesia, Timor-Leste and ASEAN

Phnom Penh, 3 August 2022: The ARMAC Permanent Secretariat was pleased to welcome a visit from a delegation from the Switzerland Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, led by H.E. Kurt Kunz, Ambassador of Switzerland to Indonesia, Timor-Leste and ASEAN. During the meeting, the Executive Director of ARMAC, Mr. Prum Suonpraseth, provided an overview of ARMAC’s history and mandates, and described the outcomes from ARMAC’s recent strategy stakeholder workshops held in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. Mr. Prum Suonpraseth discussed mutual areas of interest between ARMAC and the Government of Switzerland, and the possibility of ARMAC collaborating with Switzerland in support of the recently published ASEAN-Switzerland Plan of Action.

01 Jul
Courtesy call on Ambassador of Switzerland to Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR

Bangkok, 1 July 2022

ARMAC Executive Director Mr. Prum Suonpraseth paid a courtesy call on H.E. Ms. Helene Budliger Artieda, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Switzerland to Thailand, Cambodia and Lao PDR (Residence in Bangkok) while he was on-route from attending the Intersessional Meeting of the APMBC and UN NDM 25th held in Geneva, Switzerland from 20-24 June 2022.

The official trip is meant to cement and further advance cooperation between the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center and the Swiss Federal Government as well as other international organizations and partners based in Geneva.

ARMAC ED updated the Ambassador on the progress and achievements made by ARMAC and the Strategy Plan that ARMAC is currently formulating by embarking on a wide range of consultations with AMSs and relevant partners/stakeholders in the region.

ARMAC ED thanked the Ambassador for the financial contribution made by the Swiss Government to support the operations of ARMAC Permanent Secretariat in 2022 and also exchanged views on the soon-to-be adopted ASEAN-Switzerland Plan of Action where ARMAC could play a crucial and contributing role in helping to advance ASEAN-Switzerland cooperation in area of humanitarian mine action.

16 Jun
ARMAC Welcomed Visit of the Ambassador of the Mission of the Republic of Korea to ASEAN

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.

08 Jun
ARMAC Welcomed Visit of the New Zealand’s ambassador to Thailand

Phnom Penh: 08 June 2022

 

This afternoon ARMAC Executive Director Mr. Prum Suonpraseth and team members hosted New Zealand’s ambassador to Thailand, Mr. Jonathan Kings. The parties discussed the mission of ARMAC, past and present projects, and ARMAC’s objectives for the future. The government of New Zealand has a long history of investment in humanitarian mine action in the ASEAN region. It is currently aiding ARMAC through a 12 month project aimed at developing the capacity of staff and institutions of the mine action sector. It is also assisting with the development of ARMAC’s long term strategy. ARMAC is grateful for the government of New Zealand’s continued support and we look forward to joint initiatives we will pursue in the future to ensure the security of affected ASEAN member states.

01 Jun
Courtesy visit of new ambassador of Lao PDR

Phnom Penh: 01 June 2022

This morning ARMAC Executive Director Mr. Prum Suonpraseth and members of the ARMAC team met with the new ambassador of Lao PDR, H.E. Mr. Buakeo Phumvongsay, to discuss ARMAC and its initiatives. Ambassador Phumvongsay expressed his commitment to the mission of ARMAC and safety of his people — Laos is the most heavily bombed country per capita in history and over a third of the bombs dropped failed to explode. To this day, the country suffers tragedies from explosive remnants of war. The security and development of countries such as Laos is achievable through the collaboration of ARMAC and ASEAN member states. We look forward to working with Ambassador Phumvongsay and the Lao government to strengthen mine action capacity in the region.

22 Mar
The Visit introduced both teams and discussed about the upcoming UNDP-ARMAC MoU

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.

13 Dec
Courtesy call with Embassy of Malaysia

Courtesy call with Embassy of Malaysia

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 Dec
Courtesy call with Embassy of the Republic of Cuba

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.

12 Nov
The Visit of Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations to ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC)

Phnom Penh: 12 November 2021, His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Khaled Khiari, the UN Assistant Secretary-General of Middle East Asia and the Pacific, the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations visited the ARMAC Headquarters, along with the UN-related delegations. ARMAC Acting Executive Director (ED), Ms. Chanthana Sengthong provided an overview of ARMAC’s ongoing and pipeline projects and their challenges. The potential partnership between ARMAC and the UN agencies was suggested by both parties, to enhance regional cooperation and to achieve sustainable institutionalization. H.E. Mr. Khaled Khiari expressed his appreciation for the visit to ARMAC and showed his interest to understand further landmine/ERW issues in the ASEAN region and efforts to address them. He accepted the proposal to enhance the center’s capacity/expertise and delivered positive messages supporting ARMAC to take a more prominent role in humanitarian mine action work in the region.

27 Oct
Potential Collaboration Between ARMAC and JICA Cambodia

Phnom Penh: 27 October 2021 – ARMAC Executive Director (ED) and Management staff met with JICA Deputy Chief Representative Mr. Shinji Yahagawa,  and JICA Technical Advisor to CMA Mr. Hayashi Akihita to explore future opportunities for collaboration.

During the meeting, ARMAC ED gave an overview of the organization‘s ongoing and pipeline projects. He also provided examples on which areas can ARMAC and JICA possibly engage with to promote regional cooperation, and partnership.

JICA shared that their experience on South-South Cooperation using Cambodia and Lao PDR exemplified successful partnerships between Japan and ASEAN countries.  As a center of excellence under the ASEAN Security Cooperation, both ARMAC and JICA agreed that that ARMAC’s role is to broker between stakeholders/partners in the region to widen the scope of South-South cooperation in the mine action sector.

A video presentation showing ARMAC’s engagements in the last 4 years was also shown.

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ARMAC Permanent Secretariat

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