By Asmahanim Amir
Pix Shahiddan Saidi

MANILA, 1 Sept 2016 – ASEAN Youth Volunteer Programme (AYVP) 2016, which was jointly organised by the National University of Malaysia (UKM), has united ASEAN youths and enlightened them on disaster risk management, said UKM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Industry and Community Partnership Prof Dato’ Dr Imran Ho Abdullah.

Held at University of Philippines (UP), Prof. Imran said the programme helps train and inculcate good values among young people especially on leadership, volunteerism and the ASEAN spirit.

“Themed Disaster Risk Reduction, the AYVP is a culminated effort of UKM and three other universities in ASEAN – UP, Ateneo De Manila University and De La Salle University,” he said at the closing ceremony of AYVP UKM Philippines 2016 in UP, recently.

He said the closing ceremony is not the end of the programme, but marks the beginning of a new journey for the participants.

“Harness the networking, solidify the friendship built and put into practice the information, knowledge and practical solutions learnt from experts and community members here to practice at your home countries,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Director of University Community Transformation Centre (UCTC), Assoc Prof Datuk Dr Rokiah Omar said all the volunteers were given hands on exposure to disaster risk management.

 “They (volunteers) were attached to the community for two weeks and learn and share with the community the knowledge gained from lectures and the implementation of the disaster risk programme,” she explained.

She said after two weeks, the volunteers return to the UP and did some reflection on how they used the knowledge and plan to share it with the community to be applied in their respective countries.

The one month programme successfully assembled some 50 youth volunteers from 10 ASEAN countries including 13 participants from Malaysia.

Also present at the closing ceremony were President of UP, Dr Alfredo E Pascual, President of Anteneo De Manila University, Fr Jose Ramon T Villarin Sj, President of De La Salle University, Br Raymundo B Suplido FSC and representatives of the ASEAN ambassadors in the Philippines.