ASEAN Defence Establishments and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) Cooperation on Non-Traditional Security

an international conference on disaster management co-hosted by Asian Disaster and Preparedness Center, Human Development Forum Foundation, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam and the Republic of the Philippines

For detail information: http://www.adpc.net/CSO/

Background

1. With an ongoing situation in Haiti, we can clearly see that there is an urgent need for improvement of the coordination between the various Military Forces and the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) working on the ground. A lot of chaos and confusion could have been avoided if a proper framework of cooperation between Militaries and CSOs are in place. Unfortunately, this issue has often been neglected when it comes to discussion on disaster response and relief.

2. Recognising the importance of the cooperation between Defence Establishments and CSOs, ASEAN has taken the initial effort to look closely into this issue in the Southeast Asian region. The 1st Workshop on ‘ASEAN Defence Establishments and CSOs on Non-Traditional Security (Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief)’, co-hosted by Thailand and Malaysia took place on the 8th and 9th of June 2009, at Plaza Athenee in Bangkok, Thailand with the main aim to address various issues which were and potentially could have been faced by the ASEAN Defence Establishments and the CSOs when it came to working together for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

3. Over 200 representatives from the military and the CSOs from the ASEAN Member States attended this workshop and several challenges and areas for improvement were identified during the two-day event. The participants also suggested strategies and analysis to tackle the various issues faced during Disaster Management and a report was prepared to acknowledge the need for further action to improve the cooperation between ASEAN defence establishments and CSOs.

Against this backdrop Human Development Forum Foundation is proud to announce the 2nd international conference: ASEAN Defence Establishments and Civil Society Organisations Cooperation on Non-Traditional Security, Bangkok, June 27th- 30th