CPDG attends Malaysia ALNAP meet

Last November 16-18, CPDG attended the 26th meeting of the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Professionalism in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP) in Kula Lumpur, Malaysia.

The event was hosted by Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and supported by Mercy Malaysia.

Themed "The role of national governments in international humanitarian response to disasters," the 26th ALNAP Meeting focused on the relationship between the international humanitarian system and national governments. Building on existing and new research by ALNAP and others, the meeting brought together a range of key humanitarian and government actors with the specific aim of exploring better ways of collaborating in disaster response.

In order to facilitate dialogue between humanitarian practitioners and representatives from national governments, ALNAP invited officials from Asian, African and Latin American countries, many of whom have experience of responding to humanitarian crises within their borders.


The meeting was opened by H.E. Dato Misran Karmain, Deputy Secretary-General, ASEAN who identified the importance of events such as this for ALNAP in achieving its strategic objective to expand its global reach and engagement in order to better promote humanitarian learning.

The first keynote speaker, Dr. Bhichit Rattakul, Executive Director, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center shared his thoughts on the importance of Preparing for Disaster Response, by both national governments and humanitarian agencies.

Fernanda Teixeira, former Secretary General, Mozambique Red Cross provided the second keynote presentation on her real world experience of responding to humanitarian crises and working with both national governments and humanitarian agencies.

The latest research on this topic was presented by Paul Harvey, Partner, Humanitarian Outcomes, here, and Jane Keylock from Development Initiatives, here.

In the afternoon of day one, five parallel workshops showcased examples of collaboration between national governments and the international system.

On the second day, speakers representing national governments from Asia, Africa South and Central America took to the stage on day two, presenting their views on the limits and possibilities of improved collaboration.

Further external perspectives were explored as Dato Johan Raslan, Chairman Pricewaterhouse Cooper, Malaysia, presented on how humanitarian organisations and the corparate sector can make collaboration work. Aik Cheng Heng, Mercy Malaysia, presented his experiences from working on the Asia Pacific Conference on Military Assistance in Disaster Related Operations.

Delegates went on to explore ways forward and setting a shared agenda for collaboration between national government and international actors. A final panel considered how to move forward collectively and provided some concrete next steps for ALNAP and the international humanitarian system.