Army Col. James Orbork, deputy commander of the 351st Civil Affairs Command in Mountain View, Calif. gives closing remarks December 9, at the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) a four-day workshop in Nyi ...
Victoria Leat, Southeast Asia program advisor with the Pacific Disaster Center in Bangkok, briefs humanitarian and disaster relief experts from the Mekong region on the PDC DisasterAWARE platform, December 9, in Nyi Pyi Taw, Republic of the Union of ...
Dr. Ko Ko Naing, Director General Relief and Resettlement Department, Republic of the Union of Myanmar gives closing remarks December 9, at the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE) a four-day workshop in Ny...
NYI PYI TAW, Republic of the Union of Myanmar -- Humanitarian and disaster relief experts from across the Indo-Asia-Pacific concluded a four-day workshop December 9, in Nyi Pyi Taw, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, after discussing ways to improve how civil-military authorities react to natural disasters in the Mekong region.
The Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and Disaster Response Exercise and Exchange (DREE), a U.S. Army Pacific sponsored workshop and conference, integrates regional cooperation between Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand, Viet Nam and the U.S. to address and improve systems dealing with connectivity, education, energy security, environment and water, food security and agriculture and health.
During the closing ceremony officials from the U.S. and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar said that the DREE will lead to more cooperation in humanitarian and disaster relief efforts in the Mekong region.
"The Mekong region is subject to significant flooding that often results in loss of human life and significant damage to infrastructure and agriculture. I am confident that the lessons learned at this DREE will lead to improved coordination between the participating countries and shorten the civil-military reaction time during the next crisis," said Army Col. James Orbork, deputy commander of the 351st Civil Affairs Command in Mountain View, Calif.
"I believe we founded some more steps for promoting multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief coordination, increasing collaborative capacity to respond to natural and man-made disasters in the Mekong region and promoting understanding of collective disaster response procedures in order to support foreign humanitarian assistance and civilian authorities," said Dr. Ko Ko Naing, Director General Relief and Resettlement Department, Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
During the workshop more than 140 participants were divided into five teams to work through and develop solutions to complex flood related scenarios. Teams consisted of experts in humanitarian disaster response, military, agriculture, infrastructure and health sectors from each of the participating countries.
"Our team worked on a scenario about how to react to a flood in the agriculture and infrastructure sectors," said Win Zeyar Tun, director of the Political Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
He said the work put into the problem solving was well worth the time and effort.
"This conference highlighted the many similarities and challenges that all the countries in the Mekong region face and it was an opportunity for us to discuss best practices and how we can work together more effectively during a natural disaster. I was impressed by the selfless teamwork expressed by the participants and feel much goodness came out of this for all the participants," Tun said.
Other participants shared their assessment on the effectiveness of the DREE and the importance of sustaining professional relationships with the other participants.
"Obviously, the classroom instruction and scenario training was benificial but of far greater importance was getting to know the people in the room," said Army Maj. John Nonnemaker, a civil affairs officer with U.S. Pacific Command. "The HA/DR community is small and truly making a friend can and will pay off in a real disaster response. Developing friendships and keeping social media connections as part of a professional relationship with the diverse group of experts who attended the DREE will save time when a crisis hits, which in turn will save lives."
"The goal is to keep these relationships ongoing, so they are enduring and ready to be leveraged at a moments notice which will lead to a dramatic improvement in readiness," said U.S. Amy Lt. Col. Michael Simpson, LMI DREE workshop director.
Representatives from Cambodia, Lao, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Japan, the International Committee of the Red Cross as well as U.S. representatives from the Department of State; USAID; Department of Agriculture; U.S. Pacific Command; U.S. Army Pacific; U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Pacific and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers attended the DREE..
The LMI DREE is an annual event and was launched in 2009. The location of the conference rotates each year between each of the member nations. The 2017 DREE is scheduled to take place in Viet Nam.
Social Sharing