Vol 50-THE 10TH MEETING OF THE AHA CENTRE’S GOVERNING BOARD

/ / AHA Centre Diary 1

THE 10TH MEETING OF
THE AHA CENTRE’S GOVERNING BOARD

The 25th of April, 2019 saw the ASEAN region’s 10 National Disaster Management Organisations (NDMOs) come together for the 10th Meeting of the Governing Board of the AHA Centre. The event was held in the city of Mandalay, Myanmar, with all ASEAN Member State NDMO representatives meeting, along with representatives from the AHA Centre and the ASEAN Secretariat, to discuss the AHA Centre’s progress, work, and plans for the future.

The AHA Centre presented its recent work and outcomes across key areas for the period between October 2018 and April 2019, including providing updates regarding disaster responses that took place during the previous six months. The Centre presented to the Governing Board its activities related to the Central Sulawesi Earthquake and Tsunami – including the ongoing ASEAN Resilient Village recovery phase project – as well as support for the Government of Myanmar through implementing needs assessments to identify possible areas of cooperation to facilitate reparation of displaced persons to Rakhine State. Another key presentation was the publication of the AHA Centre’s 2018 Annual Report, which was delivered to the Governing Board during the meeting.

One of the outcomes of the meeting was the Governing Board’s endorsement of a draft Memorandum of Intent (MoI) between the AHA Centre and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) – a strategic partnership that was highlighted recently in Volume 49 of The Column. The endorsed MoI contains numerous key focus areas, including strengthening coordination of regional and international assistance, supporting capacity development, strengthening preparedness activities (for example through joint trainings, simulation exercises and workshops), assisting with expertise to prepare and conduct the ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise (ARDEX), enhancing crisis communications, and strengthening the capacities of the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT).

Finally, the Governing Board also supported the outcomes of the AHA Centre’s internal planning workshop – that took place in January 2019 – which recommended the organisation of the Centre’s core services into five primary areas. These areas will now be known as:

coordination;
data intelligence and analysis;
resource management;
financing, and;
knowledge and outreach

In closing the meeting, the Chair of the Governing Board, Dr. Ko Ko Naing, Director – General of the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) of Myanmar, expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the support all ASEAN nations had provided to Myanmar, while also commending the AHA Centre on its hard work, and highlighting the Centre’s readiness to be called upon whenever a need arises.

“The 25 of April, 2019 saw the ASEAN region’s 10 National Disaster Management Organisations (NDMOs) come together for the 10 Meeting of the Governing Board of the AHA Centre”

 

Written by : Dipo Summa | Photo : AHA Centre