ASEAN REGIONAL MINE ACTION CENTER
On 13 November 2022, ARMAC Executive Director, Mr. Prum Suonpraseth attended the Round Table Discussion on Women, Peace and Security hosted by the Embassy of Canada with the honorable presence of His Honorable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada.
The event gathered key stakeholders in the humanitarian mine action in Cambodia and the region as represented by ARMAC, all of whom actively involved in promoting more leadership roles for women in the sector.
On 11 November 2022, ARMAC Executive Director Mr. Prum Suonpraseth met with his Honorable Phil Twyford, Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control of New Zealand. ARMAC ED expressed his appreciation for the technical support provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of NZ during the 2022, and requested for further support in next fiscal year 2023. The two sides also exchanged views on how to further advance the cooperation between ARMAC and Government of NZ in line with the ASEAN-NZ Plan of Action 2021-2025 and ARMAC Five-Year Strategy Plan 2023-2027.
Today ARMAC, together with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), hosted Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) Organisations from around the ASEAN region in the Environmental Impact Management in Mine Action Workshop – the first of its kind in the region. The workshop is being held in Siem Reap over two days, and brings together international experts and practitioners to share best practices to ensure HMA actors take all reasonable steps to reduce the environmental impact of their activities. In opening the workshop, H.E. Ung Rachana, Chairman of the Steering Committee of ARMAC, underscored the importance of environmental management consideration, and one which would “require collective efforts to promote policy dialogue, research, capacity building, and scaling up and replicating of good practices across the ASEAN region”.
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.
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.
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.
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.
From June 14th to 16th, ARMAC and Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) will be hosting a regional workshop on residual risk management frameworks for Southeast Asia in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The purpose of the event is to develop frameworks to mitigate and properly respond to the risks associated with mine action, including waste, contamination, and explosive ordnance. Representatives from ASEAN governments, donors and UNDP, international organizations have been invited. Residual risk management is an essential component of a safe and effective mine action sector. This event will serve as a great opportunity for knowledge sharing and a step towards establishing a standard for risk management among ASEAN states.
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.
