Manifested by the commendations from the delegates of the yearly event, the Asia-Pacific Shelter and Settlements Forum (APSSF) this 2024 was successfully organized by the Philippine Government through the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and the Ministry of Human Settlements and Development, the Housing Arm of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), with the Catholic Relief Services, Caritas Manila, Incorporated, Build Change, and other significant development and donor partners.

With this, as the forum concluded, the responsibility of hosting the APSSF next year was handed over on October 22 by Arch. Henry L. Yap, EnP, Undersecretary for Planning International Cooperation and Institutional Partnerships of the DHSUD and Minister Atty. Hamid Aminoddin D. Barra of the MHSD, for the Philippine Government to Khalid M. Shaikh, Secretary of Sindh People’s Housing for Flood Affectees of the Government of Pakistan.

The handover ceremony happened after hours of meaningful learning from the 14 different topics on shelter and settlements during the breakout sessions and networking with prospective partners or collaborators by the MHSD as it represented the BARMM government.

With technical support from the Philippines Organizing Committee members, the turnover was held at the Heritage Ballroom of the Heritage Hotel Manila in Pasay City, Metro Manila.

Minister Barra was grateful for the invitation from the DHSUD to help them host and support the Philippine government. He described the MHSD as the younger brother to the DHSUD as both entities were not far apart from their year of establishment.

Usec. Yap, reiterated synergy, collaboration, cooperation, and trust as the key words that emerged as the core lessons learned from the forum.

Secretary Shaikh represented the Government of Pakistan in receiving the responsibility of hosting the APSSF 2025, committing to share his country’s learnings and culture when it comes to shelter and settlements.

Throughout the forum, the MHSD established and manned an information booth disseminating its core mandate, projects, and services including those with other development partners.

As one of the main organizers of the event, the MHSD served as part of the lead secretariat during registration and ushering, assisted the conduct of breakout sessions with development partners and led the livestreaming and production of the same day edits with the Bangsamoro Information Office of the Office of  Chief Minister of the BARMM.