ASEAN strengthens collaboration in building regional disaster resilience

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reaffirmed its resolve to strengthen collaboration in building disaster resilience in the region at the 10th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM) and 11th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) on October 20.

The meetings were hosted by the Government of Thailand as the current Chair of AMMDM and ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM).

The ministers noted the progress in the implementation of the five priority programmes of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) Work Programme for 2021-2025.

They also charted the strategic directions to further strengthen ASEAN’s capacity on disaster prevention and mitigation, preparedness and response, and recovery, amid the evolving, complex disaster risk landscape.

The meeting welcomed the establishment of the ASEAN Disaster Resilience Platform (ADRP) this year, with the participation of 12 relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies from all three pillars of the ASEAN community. It noted the ADRP's plan to host the first ASEAN Disaster Response Forum together with the ASEAN Strategic Policy Dialogue on Disaster Management as well as the 20th anniversary of ACDM next year in Singapore.

The meeting lauded the organisation of the first ASEAN-Republic of Korea Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM ROK); highly appreciated the new commitments of China, Japan and the RoK in the field of disaster management, as well as the launch of negotiations on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish ASEAN-China Centre for Emergency Management Cooperation (ACCEMC).

The conference also welcomed the signing of the MoU by ASEAN and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies  (IFRC) on strengthening community resilience in Southeast Asia in May this year. It reaffirmed the role of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) in implementing the “One ASEAN, One Response Declaration”.

The 11th AMMDM and the 12th AADMER are scheduled to be held next year under the chair of Vietnam./.

VNA