UK and Japan co-host Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief seminar in Manila
UK and Japan take on leadership roles as part of deepening ties and commitment to regional capacity-building
HMS Daring at Harumi pier in Tokyo with JDS Teruzuki in December 2013, returning from the Philippines where both ships provided disaster relief for Typhoon Haiyan.
The UK and Japan will co-host a seminar from 20-22 January 2016 in Manila, the Philippines, on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) – an important issue in South East Asia.
The seminar will facilitate sharing and learning best practice from each other. Participants will be the niche community of HA/DR experts from ASEAN governments and civil society. There will also be observers from Australia, Canada, China, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand and the US.
As major donors and partners in ASEAN, the UK and Japan are working to build deeper understanding and capability in ASEAN - both between governments and other organisations. Both countries contributed to assisting the Philippines during the international response to Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. At the recent 8 January UK-Japan 2+2 Foreign and Defence Ministers meeting in Tokyo, ministers confirmed that both countries would deepen cooperation, in South East Asia. They noted this seminar as an example of our first such joint capacity-building collaboration in this region.
The output of the seminar will complement ongoing work in the region, for example, Disaster Relief efforts in the ARF (ASEAN Regional Forum) framework.