The 16th ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting (16th ADMM) held here on June 22 under the chairmanship of Samdech Pichey Sena Tea Banh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia, adopted four important documents and welcomed two discussion papers, according to the Joint Declaration released after the meeting.
The ministers adopted the Concept Paper on Enhancing Cooperation Amongst Defence Forces of ASEAN Member States (AMS) in Cross-Border Pandemic Containment as part of the regional whole-of-government efforts to enhance regional synergy and collaboration in tackling current and future global communicable and infectious diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
They also adopted the Concept Paper on Enhancing Support Mechanism for ASEAN Women Peacekeepers, which provides a useful mechanism for promoting knowledge, capacity, and interaction of ASEAN women peacekeepers, in cooperation with ASEAN Peacekeeping Centres Network or related fora to be ready for their deployment.
This mechanism also emphasises ASEAN commitment to increasing the role of women in the UN peacekeeping efforts as well as promoting the realisation of the UN Agenda of Women, Peace, and Security and the ASEAN Leaders’ Joint Statement on Promoting the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda in ASEAN through the promotion of full and meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and peacebuilding.
At the same time, the ASEAN defence ministers also endorsed the Concept Paper on the Establishment of ASEAN Defence Educational Institutions’ Collaboration (ADEIC) to develop stronger linkages between ASEAN defence educational institutions and strengthen both capability and capacity of military education, as well as deepen trust and confidence among ASEAN Member States through exchange of visits, workshops, and seminars; and adopted the Terms of Reference of the ADMM Cybersecurity and Information Centre of Excellence, which contributes to the region’s understanding of and response towards challenges and threats from the cybersecurity and information domains.
Besides, they welcomed the Discussion Paper on Promoting Information-Sharing Between the Southeast Asia Maritime Law Enforcement Initiative (SEAMLEI) and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) in the area of Maritime Security, in order to enhance the effectiveness of regional maritime cooperation and build regional capacity to address shared challenges at sea as well as to promote mutual trust and confidence through greater dialogues and transparency with a common objective to enhance peace, stability, and security in the region; and the Discussion Paper on Reflecting Military History to Promote Sustainable Peace, which highlights the importance of military history in promoting sustainable peace and stability in the region.
Source: Agency Kampuchea Press