Conference Highlights ASEAN Disaster Initiatives

MANILA 02 May 2018 – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) initiatives in disaster response and management was among the highlights during the Master in Crisis and Disaster Risk Management (MCDRM) Research Conference held on 17-18 April 2018 at the U.P Asian Studies Center, University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

The conference tackled, among others, existing regional cooperation on disaster management and response, and humanitarian assistance mechanisms in implementation of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) signed by ASEAN Member States (AMS) in July 2005, and which entered into force on 24 December 2009.

Mr. Alfred Kristoffer Guiang, Principal Assistant of the DFA-Office of ASEAN Affairs, gave an overview of ASEAN mechanisms in providing assistance to AMS in times of disasters, which is in line with the AADMER and the “ASEAN Declaration on One ASEAN One Response: ASEAN Responding to Disasters as One in the Region and Outside the Region”—the region’s commitment to unite and collectively respond to disasters within or outside the region.

Mr. Guiang also discussed the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), which serves as the operational engine of the AADMER and facilitates cooperation and coordination of disaster management among AMS. Among the tasks of the AHA Centre are disaster monitoring, mobilization of resources between AMS and its partners in times of disasters, and capacity building for disaster preparedness and response.

ASEAN’s resiliency (in times of calamities and disasters) was among the six (6) thematic priorities of the Philippines’ ASEAN Chairmanship in 2017. The ASEAN region is among the most disaster-prone regions in the world, being geographically situated between several tectonic plates causing intermittent earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. The region is also located between two great oceans, causing seasonal typhoons and tsunamis.  According to the World Risk Report 2016, the Philippines is the most high risk in terms of natural disasters among AMS, followed by Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

From 2012-2017, the AHA Centre has responded to a total of 19 incidents in seven (7) countries across the region, including nine (9) from the Philippines. In the aftermath of typhoon Haiyan in 2013, AHA Centre deployed its Emergency Rapid Assessment Team (ERAT) and provided support to the Philippine government in damage assessment, coordination, and information and logistics management at the initial phases of the disaster. The AHA Centre was also able to provide 17 transport planes of relief goods, naval vessels, shelter kits, and medical and rescue teams, among others. Assistance from ASEAN was valued at US$ 6 million. In the spirit of “One ASEAN, One Response,” ASEAN also gave support to the Philippines after the Marawi incident in the form of relief items, such as family kits, hygiene kits, kitchen sets, and water filtration units, among others, to internally displaced persons in Marawi City.

The MCDRM Research Conference was organized by the Philippine Public Safety College (PPSC), which is under the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), and was attended by civil servants from national and local government agencies who are also graduate students of PPSC’s Master in Crisis and Disaster Risk Management Program. The conference has the theme: “Innovation in the Areas of Public Safety: Academic Conglomeration and Integration with Partner Institutions.”

PDDG Ricardo de Leon, PPSC President, said that that the conference aims to address the challenge of how the Philippines and the ASEAN region could build a culture of safety through continuous innovation, research, and education that would help increase capacities in reducing vulnerability and strengthening disaster resilience.

Also present in the program was Dr. Joefe B. Santarita, Dean of the U.P Asian Center, who discussed initiatives for ASEAN integration, which are steps toward narrowing the development gap among AMS, as well as in enhancing ASEAN’s competitiveness in the global market. END