ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center Regional Workshop 2018

Session 13. Cambodia and ARMAC: Towards Effective Operationalisation

General Information

Background

The ASEAN Regional Mine Action Center (ARMAC) was established by the ASEAN Leaders in recognition of the impact that mines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) have on the safety and socioeconomic development of people and their communities. The centre aims to galvanize the efforts to address the humanitarian aspects of mine/ERW issues through an integrated approach of experience sharing, skills training and other capacity building activities.

Cambodia, as the host country for ARMAC’s Permanent Secretariat, has played a large role in accelerating the operationalisation of ARMAC by organising various meetings/workshops to provide ARMAC stakeholders, mainly the ASEAN Member States (AMS), an opportunity to shape ARMAC’s direction and facilitate contact with various mine action stakeholders in Cambodia.

In the first year of its full operationalisation, ARMAC has contributed to various mine action programme activities in Cambodia, and aims to continue its support to Cambodia and other affected ASEAN Member States. Cambodia and ARMAC have been of mutual support over this early stage. This initiative is critical to ensure the successful implementation of ARMAC’s mandate and set a model for other AMS who wish to run similar programmes in their countries in the following years.

In this session, the Cambodia Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MFAIC) and ARMAC will discuss approaches, methods, opportunities and challenges concerning ARMAC’s continuing operationalisation and the collaboration between Cambodia and ARMAC in mine action.

Objectives

This session aims to achieve the following objectives:

1. Follow up the progress of Cambodia’s efforts to support ARMAC’s operationalisation
2. Follow up the progress of ARMAC’s support to Cambodian mine action programmes
3. Identify the challenges and how to overcome those challenges
4. Explore the opportunities/ways forward for ARMAC’s effective operationalisation