12 August 2014 - A regional high-level conference will be held in Manila on August 14 at the Philippine Army Officers Club, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, to encourage new support for the recovery and rehabilitation of Yolanda-affected communities in central Philippines.

The ASEAN High-Level Conference on Assistance for the Recovery of Yolanda-Affected Areas (ARYA) will be co-convened by ASEAN Secretary-General Le Luong Minh, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Presidential Assistant for Recovery and Rehabilitation Panfilo Lacson. The conference aims to drum up support for the Philippine Government’s implementation of recovery and rehabilitation plans in the Yolanda Corridor.

ASEAN Member States, members of the diplomatic community, international partners and local chief executives from the Yolanda Corridor were invited to the ARYA Conference.

According to Secretary-General Minh, who is also the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Coordinator, the ARYA Conference and activities would show ASEAN solidarity towards building a caring and sharing ASEAN Community. 

The conference will be followed by an ASEAN Community Rebuilding Technical Workshop in which best practices on resilient recovery would be shared by ASEAN Member States which have experienced major disasters in the region and have recovered well from their effects. 

A third activity, also to be held in August, is the Community Rebuilding Stakeholders’ Meeting where the capacity of local government units in the affected areas will be enhanced to formulate concrete strategies and proposals to carry forward the commitments made during the high-level conference. A more lasting and concrete support of ASEAN for the local communities involves the “Adopt-a-Municipality Project,” which aims to provide technical assistance to affected localities and help build the capacity of local governments and stakeholders for resilient recovery and sustainable development. It also aims to implement a suite of sectoral interventions to be proposed and developed by local leaders and stakeholders during the Stakeholders’ Meeting, based on their needs and commitments that would be put forward by partners during the ARYA Conference.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Romeo Arca Jr.

Senior Officer, Public Outreach and Civil Society

ASEAN Secretariat

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+6221 7243372 ext. 288

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