19 November

A  HIGH-LEVEL National  Multi-stakeholder Policy Dialogue on Building  Resilience  to  Drought  in  South-East  Asia  was  held  at  Park  Royal  Hotel,  Nay  Pyi  Taw  yesterday morning.

In his address at the event, Union Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Dr Win Myat Aye said the event was the most important first step toward building  resilience  to  drought.  Findings  of  “Ready  for  the  Dry  Years:  Building  Resilience  to  Drought  in  South-East  Asia”  Report  and  experience  of  ASEAN  member  countries  were  to  be shared in the event. The Union Minister briefly explained about Myanmar’s  experience  with  drought,  policy  and  strategies  established to manage and over-come disasters urges continued cooperation with ASEAN Secretariat  and  United  Nations  Economic  and  Social  Commission  for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP).

Next  UNESCAP  Chief  of  Space  Applications  Mr  Keran  Wang  spoke  of  the  importance  of  preparation  by  agriculture  countries  against  drought,  UNESCAP  conducting  studies  and  assessments  in  ASEAN  region  and  the  effort  to  conduct  policy  dialogue  on  draught  in  other  ASEAN countries.

In  the  second  part  of  the  event Myanmar’s drought management  works  were  explained  by  officials  from  Department  of  Meteorology and Hydrology, Dis-aster Management Department, Agriculture Department and Ru-ral  Development  Department.  Officials from ASEAN Secretariat explained  and  discussed  about  future work processes on building ASEAN level drought resilience in  cooperation  with  UNESCAP.  —MNA(Translated by Zaw Min)