On August 27, A-PAD hosted am online board meeting participated by 27 board members and staff from all seven A-PAD alliance country teams. The group shared recent activities in each country and discussed A-PAD’s objectives and roles in natural disasters and the COVID-19 crisis.

A-PAD’s chairperson, Mr. Quazi Quamruzzaman (Bangladesh), opened the meeting and thanked the group for their participation. He highlighted the importance of having a dialogue across the countries and organizations to work together toward strengthening A-PAD and tackling various social issues.

During the opening session, Mr. Firzan Hashim (Sri Lanka) discussed A-PAD’s roles and strengths as a platform organization. Followed by Mr. Hashim’s remarks, each country team gave an update on their disaster assistance activities and challenges during the COVID-19 crisis.

This board meeting was also joined by a team from Nepal that is trying to establish a disaster assistance platform themselves.

COVID-19 is bringing new challenges in each member country. A-PAD alliance countries work together across sectors and share their experiences and networks to address problems in the welfare, education, and medical sectors. A-PAD plans to continue strengthening the partnerships between the member countries and providing opportunities to learn from each other.