Press Release
Tripartite Core Group mandate extended for one year
Yangon, Myanmar, 4 March 2009
ASEAN Foreign Ministers have agreed to extend the mandate for the Tripartite Core Group (TCG) until July 2010. ASEAN Leaders welcomed the decision in a statement issued by the ASEAN Chairman at the recently concluded 14th ASEAN Summit in Cha-am Hua Hin, Thailand.
“The extension given to the TCG reflects ASEAN’s confidence that the mechanism is working efficiently in facilitating distribution and utilisation of assistance from the international community to support the Government of the Union of Myanmar’s relief and recovery efforts. It also shows the Government of Myanmar’s trust in the TCG partners to continue helping the cyclone-affected people. We thank the ASEAN Leaders for acknowledging the TCG’s work and their pledge to continue supporting Myanmar in its recovery efforts,” said the TCG Chairman and Chairman of the Civil Service Selection and Training Board of Myanmar, U Kyaw Thu.
The TCG mechanism has gained substantial international attention and has been referred to as an example for joint response to future disasters in the region.
Thailand’s Ambassador to Myanmar, H. E. Bansarn Bunnag, who is also the senior ASEAN member of the TCG, said, “We would use the time given to us to continue facilitating and monitoring relief and recovery efforts on the ground and to ensure that assistance reaches the affected people. Importantly, we are determined to put in place coordination and funding mechanisms for the Post-Nargis Recovery and Preparedness Plan (PONREPP) and work together with the international community to make it work.”
Implementation of the PONREPP has been identified by the TCG as one of its key activities over the next one year. The extension of the mandate will allow the TCG to put in place coordination and funding mechanisms and to monitor the first-year implementation of the PONREPP. The medium-term recovery needs identified in the plan amounts to USD 691 million over the next three years. The need for continued support from the international community was highlighted during the PONREPP launch on 9 February 2009 in Bangkok where several donors urged the extension of the TCG as a basis for providing continued funding.
“The results on the ground which have been achieved during the past ten months since Nargis struck prove that the assistance is reaching the people and that the joint humanitarian response at large has been successful. At the same time, challenges remain and the affected population will need continued support as outlined in the three-year recovery plan. With the extension of the TCG, the UN in Myanmar appeals to the international donor community to continue supporting the affected people,” the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Bishow Parajuli said.
The TCG comprising high-level representatives from the Government of Myanmar, ASEAN and the UN was set up on 30 May 2008. From the ‘Post-Nargis Joint Assessment’, prepared by the TCG in July 2008, the TCG in cooperation with the broader humanitarian community has further prepared the Periodic Review I, the Social Impacts Monitoring Study, and PONREPP. These reports provide factual information on the current humanitarian needs and recovery requirements on the ground, and the socio-economic and social impacts of Nargis. Further, they reaffirm that assistance has reached the affected people as well as addressing that more needs to be done. The second round of the Periodic Review and the Social Impacts Monitoring Study will be done by July this year. These community monitoring exercises serve as key reference documents in the planning, coordination and response to the needs on the ground.
http://www.aseansec.org/press-4mar09-1.htm
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