On 15 February 2021, the Executive Director of ARMAC, Mr. Prum Suonpraseth paid a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Anatoly Borovik, the Ambassador of Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Cambodia
ASEAN REGIONAL MINE ACTION CENTER
15
Feb
Meeting with H.E. Mr. Anatoly Borovik, the Ambassador of Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Cambodia
ARMAC thanked the Ambassador Anatoly for reaffirming Russia’s continued cooperation with ARMAC, and its strong commitment to help end the threats from landmines and explosive remnants of war in Cambodia and the affected Member States of ASEAN.
ARMAC also thanked the Ambassador Anatoly for accepting the invitation to join Friends of ARMAC (FOA). ARMAC is ready and looks forward to working with the Russian Federation in order to address the humanitarian aspect of mine action in the region in line with ARMAC’s mandate and functions through trainings, capacity building activities, exchange visits, knowledge sharing and victim assistance.
27
Jan
Meeting with H.E. Mr. Patrick Murphy, Ambassador of the United States (U.S) Embassy in Phnom Penh
Meeting with H.E. Mr. Patrick Murphy, Ambassador of the United States (U.S) Embassy in Phnom Penh
On 27 January 2021, ARMAC was delighted to receive H.E. Mr. Patrick Murphy, the United States (US) Ambassador to the Kingdom of Cambodia, for a meeting with the Chair of the Steering Committee of ARMAC and Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to the Kingdom of Cambodia, H.E. Mr. Pengiran Kasmirhan Pengiran Tahir, and the Executive Director of ARMAC, Mr. Prum Suonpraseth.
ARMAC thanks Ambassador Murphy for his visit to ARMAC Permanent Secretariat, and welcome the US longstanding commitment to address landmines/explosive remnants of war (ERW) issues in Cambodia and the ASEAN region.
Moving forward, ARMAC looks forward to strengthen the joint efforts with the US Government in this matter.
11
Jan
ARMAC Joins Forces with the Republic of Korea and Other Stakeholders for Victim Assistance in ASEAN
Phnom Penh, 11 January 2021 – The Government of the Republic of Korea through ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF) provided the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) with an approximate amount of USD 2,061,429.68 to fund the “Enhance Victim Assistance Programmes in the ASEAN Member States” programme.
The aforesaid three-year programme aims to strengthen the assistance provided to victims through the achievement of five objectives. First objective of this project is to promote the establishment of a victim assistance network as a regional platform for various stakeholders within ASEAN. This network will provide a platform for victim assistance stakeholders in the region to communicate and coordinate among each other.
Taking into account the importance of expertise, knowledge and experience exchange among victim assistance stakeholders, this programme also aims to assist the AMS on victim assistance related knowledge sharing, needs and resources assessments and its mobilisation. It is hoped that through this exchange all the victim assistance stakeholders in ASEAN are able to improve their assistance provision to the victims of mine/explosive remnants of war (ERW).
This programme will also play an important role in assessing the needs of the victims of mines/ERW for the government and other victim assistance providers to consider the provision of adequate assistance to these victims. This will also help ARMAC in setting priorities for its victim assistance programme activities in the coming years.
Further, in collaboration with SingHealth, ARMAC and Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority will organise train-the-trainers in psychosocial support to victims of mines/ERW in Cambodia by targeting more than 150 trainees from various stakeholders including survivor networks, medical practitioners and relevant organisation/institution in Cambodia.
The Executive Director of ARMAC, Mr. Prum Suonpraseth, explained that “the programme will be an essential attempt for ARMAC to not only establish a platform for ASEAN Member States and relevant stakeholders to exchange expertise, knowledge and experience, but to also collaborate in providing adequate assistance to ensure the welfare of the victims of mines/ERW.” Going further, Mr. Prum highlighted that “victim assistance is the essence of ARMAC’s programme and we intend to continue facilitating assistance for a better life of these victims and their family.”
This programme will also touch upon conducting two researches on “Mine Victim Assistance Inclusive Services in Cambodia,” and “Community Perspectives on Humanitarian Mine Action in Lao PDR and Vietnam.” In the implementation, the research will emphasize the community participation to ensure outreach and effectiveness of its results once finalised.
Commencing in January 2021, the programme will be implemented until the end of 2023, benefiting communities-in-need in the ASEAN Member States, particularly those affected by mines/ERW. ARMAC also aims to engage more partners in implementing this programme.
26
Nov
Meeting with Resident Representative Mr. Nick Beresford of the UNDP in Cambodia
On 26 November 2020, ARMAC had the great opportunity to visit Resident Representative Nick Beresford of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Cambodia.
ARMAC took this opportunity to thank the UNDP for accepting the invitation to join Friends of ARMAC (FOA), and looks forward to the inaugural reception of FOA on 10 December 2020. ARMAC and UNDP wish to pursue further regional collaboration and partnership to achieve the common goal of ending threats from landmines and explosive remnants of war.
19
Nov
Meeting with H.E. Mr. Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and the First Vice President of the CMAA
On 19 November 2020, ARMAC had the great opportunity to pay a courtesy visit to HE Mr. Ly Thuch, Senior Minister and the First Vice President of the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority.
Both parties enjoyed past cooperation and wish to pursue further collaboration and partnership to achieve the common goal of ending threats from landmines and explosive remnants of war in Cambodia and the region.
ARMAC is very grateful to the governments of the ASEAN Members for supporting the Center in order to collectively tackle the humanitarian aspects of landmines and ERW through an integrated approach of experiences sharing, skills training and other capacity building activities.
20
Oct
NCT Virtual Asia 2020
NCT Virtual Asia 2020
Phnom Penh, 20 October 2020 – ARMAC has a pleasure to partner with Non-Conventional Threat (NCT) Virtual Asia 2020 particularly in providing a speaker to the event.
NCT Virtual Asia 2020 will be organised on 12-13 November 2020, via online platform. The registration is available from 1 October 2020 at https://nct-events.com/event/nct-virtual-asia-2/.
The event will be participated by various key stakeholders in Asia including but not limited from Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and explosive (CBRNe), Counter-Improvised Explosive Devices (C-IED) and Explosive Ordnance Department (EOD). This will be a great opportunity to exchange knowledge, build partnerships and promote innovation.
NCT Virtual Asia 2020 will feature presentations from high level speakers and industry exhibition, which will allow the participants to also earn about new technologies in a realistic and interactive environment. Meanwhile, the networking can be done through private chats, group discussions, video chats.
For detailed information, visit https://nct-events.com/event/nct-virtual-asia-2/.
15
Oct
ARMAC bid farewell to its Executive Director Ly Panharith and welcome Executive Director-designate Prum Suonpraseth
On 14 October 2020, at ASEAN HOMs’ Lunch hosted by Ambassador Michael Tan of Singapore, ARMAC bid farewell to its Executive Director Ly Panharith and welcome Executive Director-designate Prum Suonpraseth.
The event was joined by representatives from the host country-Cambodia, ASEAN Diplomatic Corps, and Partners of ARMAC – UNDP, Japan and Republic of Korea.
Ambassador Vu Quang Minh of Vietnam and current Chair of ARMAC Steering Committee thanked the outgoing ED for his contribution to ARMAC, and welcomed and wished the incoming ED a successful term with ARMAC.
10
Sep
Rapid Assessment on Health and Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 to Mines/ERW Victims in Cambodia
Rapid Assessment on Health and Socio-Economic Impacts of COVID-19 to Mines/ERW Victims in Cambodia
Phnom Penh, 10 September 2020 – Today is more or less six months since the World Health Organisation (WHO) advised Corona Virus Disease (COVID)-19 as a global pandemic. Meanwhile, countries in ASEAN and all over the world including Cambodia have been facing imminent impacts in various aspects of life, particularly health and socio-economic aspects, as ramification of COVID-19. These impacts are more severe, if not similar, to victims of mines/explosive remnants of war(ERW) in Cambodia.
Hence, in order to learn the extent of health and socio-economic impacts of COVID-19 to victims of mines/ERW in Cambodia, mainly in Kampong Chhnang and Pursat Provinces, the ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) and Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority (CMAA) joined efforts to conduct rapid assessment to identify health and socio-economic impacts of COVID to the victims of mines/ERW in the mid of August 2020.
In the assessment, with facilitation from Physical Rehabilitation Center (Kampong Chhnang Province) and Disability Development Service Program (Pursat Province), twenty-six (26) victims of mines/ERW from both provinces participated in the interview. Thus, ARMAC extends its gratitude for support from DDSP Pursat and PRC Kampong Chhnang. Special thanks also goes to CMAA for making the field visit and assessment happened.
The report is available at the weblink below:
Further to this, ARMAC and CMAA aim to use the report to take into account challenges and/or new threats faced by victims of mines/ERW amidst the pandemic, so that projects/programmes can then better accommodate the needs required by these victims.
Disclaimer: The number of correspondents may not be as representative as it should be. However, it could give a general point of view on both impacts (in health and socio-economic aspects) and needs required by victims of mine/ERW.
(ARMAC and CMAA, 10 September 2020)
29
Nov
ARMAC had the great pleasure and honour of welcoming H.E. Diedrah Kelly, Ambassador of the Mission of Canada to ASEAN to our headquarters in Phnom Penh
Welcoming H.E. Diedrah Kelly, Ambassador of the Mission of Canada to ASEAN
Today ARMAC had the great pleasure and honour of welcoming H.E. Diedrah Kelly, Ambassador of the Mission of Canada to ASEAN to our headquarters in Phnom Pehn.
The visit provided us the opportunity to thank Canada, and the Ambassador, for their strong commitment to mine action, as well as their support in funding ARMAC’s Regional Workshop for the second consecutive year.
Canada has been an #ASEAN Dialogue Partner since 1977 and ARMAC is proud of the strong relationship we have forged through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives framework. We echo Canada’s dedication to peace and security, and we hope to continue our collaboration in mine action well into the future.
28
Nov
ARMAC had the pleasure to host a meeting with the International Committee of the Red Cross – Cambodia and mine-ex, a Rotary Group from Switzerland
During the meeting we spoke about ARMAC’s role in ASEAN and highlighted some of our past and upcoming programmes.
Speaking to dedicated partners who are committed to supporting mine action is always a priority for us, and we look forward to further collaboration in the future.
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