Cambodia to host consultative meeting on Asean humanitarian aid to Myanmar

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia, the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) for 2022, will host a consultative meeting on Asean humanitarian assistance to Myanmar today in a hybrid format, according to its statement released on Thursday, reported Xinhua.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, who is the Asean chair’s special envoy on Myanmar, and Lim Jock Hoi, secretarygeneral of Asean in the capacity as the Asean Humanitarian Assistance Coordinator, will cochair the meeting in Phnom Penh and via videoconference, the statement said.

The meeting will be attended physically and virtually by the high-level representatives from all Asean member states, Asean external partners, United Nations specialised agencies, and other relevant international organisations, it added.

“The consultative meeting will provide a high-level platform for Asean to initiate a multistakeholder dialogue that serves to provide guidance on how to advance Asean’s humanitarian aid to the people of Myanmar based on humanitarian principles and without discrimination,” the statement said. The meeting will also touch on addressing the operational challenges faced by the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management, it added.

It will also discuss how to support the distribution of Covid19 vaccines to all communities in Myanmar, the statement said.

Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The consultative meeting will provide a high-level platform for Asean to initiate a multi-stakeholder dialogue that serves to provide guidance on how to advance Asean’s humanitarian aid to the people of Myanmar based on humanitarian principles and without discrimination.

Statement