Disaster Management & Humanitarian Assistance

Overview

ASEAN is also the most natural disaster-prone region in the world with more than 50 percent of global disaster mortalities occurred in the region during the period of 2004 to 2014. The rising frequency and intensity of disasters have resulted in greater economic loss, increase in the rate of disaster mortality and the number of displaced populations in the region. Reducing disaster risks is one of the top priorities of ASEAN to ensure that the region will achieve the target of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) and the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. The ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) sets as policy backbone for the ASEAN Member States to enhance their collective efforts in reducing disaster risks and responding to disasters in the region.

However, to ensure a comprehensive and robust disaster management and emergency response system is in place requires a flexible and innovative implementation of the AADMER. Three mutually-inclusive strategic elements – Institutionalisation and Communications, Finance and Resource Mobilisation, and Partnerships and Innovations – are the key guiding principles identified in the ASEAN Vision on Disaster Management 2025 to guide the direction of the future implementation of the AADMER.

As ASEAN moves toward a more localized approach, it is important to look beyond national capitals and engage with subnational entities such as cities and provinces as key players in disaster management. In ASEAN, many initiatives have progressed with regard to partnership with civil society organisations which offers great advantage for swift and timely emergency response. For example, a consortium of seven (7) international organisations called AADMER Partnership Group (APG), which has significantly contributed to the institutionalisation of AADMER and in supporting the AHA Center as part of the ASEAN-ERAT, as well as contributing to the capacity building programme. It is important to nurture these relationships and invest in new ones to expand the membership of APG and the number of NGOs affiliated to ASEAN over the next ten years as societies evolve and new actors emerge.

ASEAN Leaders signed the Declaration on “One ASEAN One Response: ASEAN Responding to Disasters as One in the Region and Outside the Region” at the 28th ASEAN Summit in Lao PDR on 7 September 2016. The declaration laid out high-level and solid political commitments of ASEAN to achieve faster response, mobilize greater resources and establish stronger cross-sectoral and cross-pillar coordination to ensure ASEAN’s collective response to disasters. Through these mutually-inclusive strategic elements, ASEAN is trying to position itself as a pioneer in transforming the disaster management landscape in the Southeast Asian region and beyond, and strengthen its leadership to maintain ASEAN Centrality. In doing so, ASEAN will also continue to further develop and apply its people-centered approach as a main priority. This approach will ensure inclusiveness and empower those who are most vulnerable such as women and children.

As disasters affect all aspects of development, deeper cross-sectoral collaboration will be needed to fully implement a comprehensive disaster management strategy. It is essential that disasters are approached holistically across the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community, ASEAN Economic Community and ASEAN Political-Security Community and coordinated through the ASEAN Secretariat. The ASEAN Secretariat should administer dedicated platforms for cross-sectoral collaboration to actively engage others in implementing AADMER and to collaborate with other sectors mandated to cover, respond to and mitigate different types of risks with regional implications. This would move the region forward significantly to better assess the needs and provide protection during humanitarian crises.

Priority Areas of Cooperation

ASEAN realises the importance of innovation in enhancing regional knowledge capacities. Beyond ASEAN’s risk outlook, herein lies a region that is a rich source of disaster-related science and research, indigenous knowledge, good practices, and other forms of tacit knowledge across the disaster management spectrum. To remain relevant with resilience building of the future, a robust and agile knowledge management system is crucial to address strategic information needs by respective ASEAN stakeholders across sectors. One of the most critical and often overlooked areas in disaster management is communications exchange between all stakeholders. Therefore, moving forward, ASEAN will continue to enhance the existing comprehensive disaster communication master plan based on Information and Communication Technology such as the ASEAN Roadmap on ICT that allows for accurate and timely communication exchange amongst all stakeholders collaborating with ASEAN in disaster management. This will help expedite the disaster management process and keep the public informed of what ASEAN is doing for the disaster-affected population thus enhancing ASEAN’s visibility in the region, and position ASEAN as the pioneer in this area.

ASEAN adopted the Declaration of ASEAN Concord I and the ASEAN Declaration on Mutual Assistance on Natural Disasters on 26th June 1976, followed by the Declaration of ASEAN Concord II in October 2003, and the Declaration on Action to Strengthen Emergency Relief, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Prevention in the Aftermath of the Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster on 26 December 2004. The ASEAN Charter, signed in 2007 and entered into force in 2008, supports the promotion of regional resilience and sustainable development through greater cooperation among Member States. The ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER), as the legally-binding regional agreement in ASEAN, came into force on 24 December 2009, reiterated ASEAN’s commitment to reducing disaster losses and responding collectively to disasters that support resilience-building of the ASEAN Community. The AADMER Work Programme was first developed in 2010 to translate the spirit of AADMER into more practical actions and charts the priorities of the ACDM in disaster management in 5-year cycles. The Work Programme outlines the key initiatives of ASEAN in strengthening the regional mechanisms for joint response and disaster risk reduction. Over the years, the implementation of AADMER Work Programme is supported by an increasing number of stakeholders and a vast network of partners at various levels.

Major Sectoral Bodies/committees

The ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) was first established in 2003 to facilitate regional cooperation in addressing problems associated with disaster management, and enable individual members to fully realize their development potentials as well as to enhance the mutual ASEAN spirit. The ACDM comprised the National Disaster Management Organization (NDMOs) from each ASEAN Member State that meets at least once a year. The ACDM main roles include:

To provide leadership and guidance towards fulfilling the goals and objectives of AADMER, according to the vision of disaster-resilient nations and safer communities within ASEAN by 2015;
To initiate, direct and oversee the development, monitoring and implementation of the AADMER Work Programme and other initiatives implemented by the respective working groups;
To strengthen coordination with relevant ASEAN bodies;
To collaborate with ASEAN Dialogue Partners, multilateral agencies, NGOs and the private sector.

The ACDM is supported by five (5) ACDM Working Groups, namely: (i) Risk Assessment and Awareness; (ii) Prevention and Mitigation; (iii) Preparedness and Response; (iv) Recovery; and (v) Knowledge and Innovation Management. As the Lead Sectoral Body in charge for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), the ACDM also coordinates its work with other relevant ASEAN bodies through the Joint Task Force (JTF) on HADR which consists of the Chairs from the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting (ASEAN SOM), the ASEAN Defence Senior Officials Meeting (ADSOM), the Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) and Senior Officials Meeting on Health Development (SOMHD). The ACDM also engages various partners and stakeholders to ensure that the implementation of the AADMER is inclusive and comprehensive. The ACDM’s work is guided by the AADMER and its subsequent Work Programmes, ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprints, ASEAN Vision 2025 on Disaster Management and the ASEAN Declaration on ‘One ASEAN One Response’. The ACDM Focal Points also act in a separate capacity as the Governing Board of the AHA Centre. The ACDM reports regularly to the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM) and the Conference of Parties (COP) to the AADMER.

The Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance (DMHA) Division at the ASEAN Socio-Cultural (ASCC) Pillar of the ASEAN Secretariat is responsible for (i) managing ASEAN’s cooperation in disaster management; (ii) supporting and facilitating the work of the ACDM as the Lead Sectoral Body in charge of disaster management in ASEAN, including the AMMDM, the COP to the AADMER, and the ACDM Working Groups; and (iii) monitoring the implementation and operationalization of ASEAN’s agreements on disaster management including the AADMER and its Work Programmes as well as the ASEAN Declaration on One ASEAN, One Response: Responding to Disasters Within and Outside the Region. DMHA also supports the role of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) as the regional hub for information and knowledge for disaster management, and as the coordination engine to ensure ASEAN’s fast and collective response to disasters within the ASEAN region, including in the mobilisation of resources to disaster-affected areas. The Division also work closely with relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies, ASEAN Dialogue Partners, United Nations, Civil Society Organizations, Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, private sector entities, academe, other regional organisations, and many others.

Significant strides have been achieved in the development of disaster management tools and capacities since the adoption of the AADMER. On Disaster Risk Reduction, ASEAN has strengthened efforts to mainstream risk assessment and awareness through several key initiatives including the adoption of ASEAN Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA) Guidelines which provides a curated risk analysis for respective ASEAN Member States, advocating for the ASEAN Safe School Initiative (ASSI) to raise awareness and preparedness amongst youths in ASEAN, the development of the urban resilience guidebook and checklists, strengthening institutional frameworks for mainstreaming DRR and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA), and fostering regional risk financing and insurance framework through ASEAN Disaster Risk Financing Insurance (DRFI) programme, among others. Some of ASEAN’s flagship initiatives in disaster preparedness and response include the ASEAN Joint Disaster Response Plan (AJDRP) which outlines ASEAN’s standby arrangements for large-scale disasters, the ASEAN Standard Operating Procedure for Regional Standby Arrangements and Coordination of Joint Disaster Relief and Emergency Response Operations (SASOP) which serves as the main SOP governing disaster response in the region, the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ASEAN-ERAT) that supports disaster-affected countries in the region by providing immediate needs analysis, the AHA Centre Executive Programme (ACE) which is a capacity-building and training programme for the next generation of leaders in disaster management.

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