21 Jan
The Department of Disaster Management of the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement held a coordination meeting with INGOs yesterday afternoon via videoconferencing to discuss future plans for resistance and response to the disasters and development works.
Union Minister Dr Win Myat Aye made an opening speech on the Myanmar Sustainable Development Plan that was adopted to develop Myanmar into a peaceful and prosperous democratic federal union.
In accordance with the MSDP, the National Disaster Management Committee chaired by Vice-President U Henry Van Thio has drafted and implemented the Myanmar Action Plan on Disaster Risk Reduction, according to the Union Minister, who said that implementations of the action plan in 2020 were monitored and evaluated.
According to the evaluation, 28 out of the 32 priority projects included in the action plan were implemented efficiently. Similarly, the government is also implementing the COVID-19 Economic Relief Plan (CERP) and the Myanmar Economic Resilience and Reform Plan (MERRP).
The Union Minister said that the ministry is working together with INGOs and local NGOs in a transparent and effective manner in drafting and implementing policies to make the society to be highly resilient to disasters. By holding meetings with the organizations, necessary suggestions to overcome the challenges related to disaster management will be gained, said the Union Minister.
During the video conference, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, in his capacity as Director-General of the department, discussed the duties and works of the department and the priorities for this year’s tasks. The participants also discussed how they could cooperate with the ministry in climate change mitigation issues, disaster management research, emergency response issues and capacity building.
The virtual meeting was also participated by the Deputy Minister, the Permanent Secretary, Directors-General, Deputy Directors-General, relevant government officials, and representatives from 23 INGOs. Officials from JICA and INGO Forum also took part in the virtual meeting as observers.
MNA (Translated by Maung Maung Swe)
