PHNOM PENH: The President of the Cambodian Red Cross, First Lady Bun Rany Hun Sen, assigned the First Deputy Secretary General of the Cambodian Red Cross to lead a five-member delegation to attend the 19th Annual Southeast Asia Red Cross Red Crescent Leadership Meeting held on 6-7 October in Brunei Darussalam.

The meeting was chaired by the Secretary General of the Brunei Red Crescent Society, Sheikh Abdul Kadir Abdullah, the Coordinating Representative of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Bangkok, Kathryn Clarkson, the Asia-Pacific Regional Executive Director Alexandra Matheou, and the Head of the Regional Delegation and Representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Omar Odeh. The meeting was attended by leaders and youth representatives of 11 National Associations in Southeast Asia and a total of 69 national associations.

The meeting on 6 October focused on the joint statement of the SEA Youth Forum and the exchange of views with the leaders of the National Association. This included an examination of the progress of the implementation of the Bangkok Joint Statement, working together to strengthen national and international solidarity to prevent the spread of Covid-19, other infectious diseases, and to be ready to respond to other urgent challenges to save lives. Additionally, the meeting was set to implement a Memorandum of Understanding between the International Federation and ASEAN on the situation and challenges of humanitarian operations in Myanmar.

The 7 October meeting focused on key issues such as a discussion on the vision of first aid work in 2030, the progress made by the SEA Youth Network, addressing the spread of HIV/AIDS in Asia, presenting the results of the Manila Declaration’s 22 commitments and 13 goals, and discussing the process of organizing the 11th Asia-Pacific National Association Conference to be held in the third quarter of 2023.

In addition, the Cambodian Red Cross will be handed over the Bandar Seri Begawan Declaration to host the 20th Southeast Asian National Association of Leaders' Meeting and the 2nd Southeast Asian Youth Forum in 2023.

First Deputy Secretary General of the Red Cross, Men Neary Sopheak, told reporters upon arrival at the Phnom Penh airport on 8 October that this was an annual meeting to review the progress of all associations and nations in ASEAN as a whole.

"Monitoring progress is about identifying what the current challenges are and discussing our progress to know how to solve those challenges," she said.

She emphasized that before the start of the meeting, the leaders of the National Association of Leaders established a youth forum from 3-5 October to provide opportunities for young people to make a joint statement about the achievements of youth over the past three years, and thus hold productive discussions between the youth network and the national association of leaders.