ASEAN member states are now reflecting on a meeting held Friday in Phnom Penh focused on how to deliver humanitarian aid to Myanmar as it continues to suffer in the wake of the February 2021 military coup.

Cambodia is currently chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), whose main focus at the moment is how to deal with the crisis caused by the coup, and to attempt to adhere to the “five- point consensus” agreed by member states – including Myanmar – in April last year that seeks peace and a resolution. Little forward momentum has been seen in ensuring Naypyidaw adheres to the consensus.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia is the ASEAN Chair’s Special Envoy on Myanmar. He claimed that progress was made during the negotiations, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

However, the foreign minister also warned that significant obstacles remain, but that five regions of Myanmar are poised to receive assistance. Interestingly, he told a concluding press conference that the Myanmar’s State Administration Council (SAC) had announced that it planned to levy custom duties on aid crossing into Myanmar, something the foreign minister claims to have successfully pushed back on. The UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, Noeleen Heyzer, did not attend the discussions yet released a note supporting the talks, arguing that “urgently needed humanitarian aid must not be instrumentalised for political purposes.”

The Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar discussed three main points, namely, the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Delivery Arrangement Framework, Addressing the Operational Challenges of the Delivery of Humanitarian Assistance, and the Framework for COVID-19 Vaccine Administration in Myanmar.

The following is the official statement released on 7 May in the wake of the meeting:

On the Outcomes of the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar On 6 May 2022, His Excellency Prak Sokhonn, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Cambodia as the ASEAN Chair’s Special Envoy on Myanmar, and His Excellency Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN in the capacity as the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Coordinator (SG-AHAC), cochaired the Consultative Meeting on ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in a hybrid format.

The Consultative Meeting was initiated by Cambodia as the ASEAN Chair in 2022 in cooperation with the Secretary-General of ASEAN as part of the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC). The Meeting was attended by Ms. Joyce Msuya, Assistant-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator as well as high-level representatives from all ASEAN Member States, including Myanmar’s Task Force, UN Specialized Agencies, ASEAN External Partners, and relevant

international organizations in Myanmar.

The Meeting discussed three main points, namely 1) ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Delivery Arrangement Framework; 2) Addressing the Operational Challenges of the Delivery of Humanitarian Assistance, and 3) Framework for COVID-19 Vaccine Administration in Myanmar.

On the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Delivery Arrangement Framework, the Meeting agreed that the AHA Centre, in close consultation with the Myanmar Task Force, will identify states and regions for the implementation of this Framework. These states and regions include Kayah, Kayin, Magway, Saigang and Bago. In addition, with the approval from the Myanmar Task Force, the AHA Centre will facilitate request for access through this delivery arrangement and will propose a list of potential implementing partners. The Myanmar Task Force will also work with the National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiations Committee to ensure that humanitarian assistance will be delivered to communities in Myanmar, including Ethnic Armed Organizations areas.

More detailed plans to operationalize this Framework will be done by the AHA Centre and the Myanmar Task Force in due course.

On the need to address the operational challenges, the Myanmar Task Force agreed to do its utmost ability to expedite the delivery of humanitarian assistance, and urge the AHA Centre and relevant agreed implementing partners to provide required documents in advance. Importantly, the Myanmar Task Force also reassured that safety and security of ERAT team members, staff of the AHA Centre and ASEAN Monitoring Team are its top priority and pledged to offer cooperation and support to the ASEAN Monitoring Team for it to be able to fulfil its roles in accordance with the executive paper adopted at the 54th AMM. Furthermore, the Meeting welcomed the Myanmar Task Force’s commitments to allow the AHA Centre to conduct the Joint Needs Assessment and implement Phase 2 in hard-to-reach areas.

With regard to the proposed Framework for COVID-19 Vaccine Administration in Myanmar, the Meeting noted that the proposed framework will offer space for partners to jointly administer COVID-19 vaccines to those in need in a safe and timely manner. In addition, the AHA Centre and the Ministry of Health of Myanmar agreed to implement the Joint MOH-Partners Vaccination to Hard-to-Reach Areas Framework. Under this Framework, operational teams of 50:50 distribution between the Ministry of Health of  Myanmar and partners will be deployed to administer vaccines in the communities in need.

The AHA Centre, in consultation with the Ministry of Health of Myanmar, will identify and verify states and regions that need COVID-19 vaccine doses as well as the implementing partners to support the distribution of vaccine administration in Myanmar. The Meeting also welcomed the commitment made by the Ministry of Health of Myanmar to provide tax exemption and facilitate import of vaccines into Myanmar.

The Myanmar Task Force reassured the Meeting that it will do its utmost ability to ensure that humanitarian assistance and vaccines provided by ASEAN and partners will reach communities in Myanmar including Ethnic Armed Organizations areas, where internally displaced people (IDP) camps and affected communities locate, so that no one and no place will be left behind. The Myanmar Task Force also reiterated that it will continue the good works of the AHA Centre in Rakhine State to implement both the recommendations of the Preliminary Needs Assessment and Phase 2 of the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar.

H.E. Prak Sokhonn underscored that it is imperative to ensure that humanitarian programmes in Myanmar have a long-lasting impact in addressing pressing humanitarian concerns faced by the affected communities. He also encouraged the procurement, delivery, and distribution of humanitarian relief items, including COVID-19 vaccines, to Myanmar to be carried out in a timely, effective, safe, and nondiscriminatory manner. He emphasized that access, safety, and security of all implementing parties, including the ASEAN Monitoring Team, have to be guaranteed.

The Meeting also welcomed the much-needed high-level commitment from ASEAN and the United Nations in their joint response to the humanitarian situation in Myanmar and supported the effort to expand the AHA Centre’s Partners for long-term humanitarian assistance projects.

The Meeting commended Cambodia for prioritizing the humanitarian efforts in Myanmar on Cambodia’s agenda during ASEAN Chairmanship this year. The Meeting looked forward to more progress in the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance to Myanmar framework based on the spirit of “One ASEAN, One Response” that would complement the implementation of the 5PC.