On 3-5 July 2013, Mr. Masataka Uo from the Management Office and Mr. Faisal Djalal from PLANAS represented the Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (or the Alliance) at the 2013 Asian Disaster Reduction and Response Network (ADRRN) General Assembly Meeting held in Makati, Philippines. ADRRN is a network of 34 NGOs from 16 countries across the Asia-Pacific region strengthening collaboration, information sharing and coordination among organizations on disaster reduction and response. The theme of this year’s general meeting was “Disaster Risk Reduction and Response in Asia and Effective Humanitarian Leadership of Local and National Civil Societies.”

The meeting was an opportunity to introduce the Alliance to more than 80 participants from 14 countries, which included Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.

In the morning session of the 2^nd day of the meeting, the Alliance representatives Mr. Uo and Mr. Djalal gave a presentation to show the importance of involving communities and the private sector in disaster response, relief and recovery. There was a lively exchange of opinions among the participants and the presentation roused interest about the Alliance. Questions and inquiries about collaborating with the Alliance were raised by representatives from Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, etc.

After the presentation, the Alliance had several meetings and consultations with a number of participants that took place in-between and during lunch- and coffee- breaks. Talks with ADRRN representatives Dr. Gupta, Mr. Mihir, and Dr. Zaman resulted in an agreement on future collaboration through mutual invitations to meetings and events. Representatives from Bangladesh expressed strong interest in setting up a national platform and joining the Alliance as a country member. The Alliance is planning to visit Bangladesh for a follow-up meeting later this year. Dr. M. Naeem Salime from CoAR Afghanistan and Dr. Cheng from Mercy Malaysia were also interested in future collaboration with the Alliance.

The Alliance welcomes the strong interest it has received from ADRRN members and will follow-up communication with each organization, which will hopefully lead to the establishment of national platforms in their respective countries so they may join the Alliance as official members.