Brunei Darussalam – Datuk Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, President of MERCY Malaysia, led a three-day visit from the 29th of November to the 1st of December 2006 to Brunei Darussalam to share the history and vision of MERCY with interested groups in the country. Speaking with various government officials, active citizens and the national foundation, Dr. Jemilah described the great success that MERCY has seen since its founding. The people with whom the team met expressed their interest in increasing Brunei’s participation in the humanitarian field and hoped to learn from the experiences of MERCY.

Throughout the three days, official meetings were held with the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Foundation. Participants in the meetings inquired about the involvement of other Asian nations in humanitarian affairs, and what action and support are in most needed throughout the region. Dr. Jemilah highlighted the many gifts that the people of Brunei have been blessed with and the increasing need to be generous in our support of humanitarian response. She also urged Asian nations to lead the way in providing humanitarian response – both regionally and globally – as 90% of the world’s natural disasters occur in Asia. Additionally, Dr. Jemilah discussed continued partnership possibilities with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, saying, “I look forward to the opportunity to strengthen the cooperation and coordination of Malaysian and Bruneian Civil Society as we continue to share this discussion.”

The capstone of the visit was a formal presentation given by Dr. Jemilah to a group of over 50 individuals who gathered to learn how Brunei might play a more active role in humanitarian emergencies. Using MERCY as their model, they hope to begin their own NGO that will provide support in emergencies in Brunei and throughout Asia. While they are still in the exploratory phase, they hope to launch the new organization early 2007. The room was filled with emotion – both hopefulness and sadness – as Dr. Jemilah described the joys and pains that MERCY has experienced so far thus fuelling the attendees’ drive to form their organization. This new organization hopes to invite MERCY Malaysia to return for the official launch next year.