ASEAN’s Evolution in Disaster Management.

A new milestone has been reached by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
in the evolution of disaster management for the region. Recently, the Philippines’ Senate
ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response
(AADMER), and with that the agreement is expected to enter into force by the end of
2009. The ratification marks a significant highlight in ASEAN’s collective efforts to build
a disaster-resilient community by the year 2015. The agreement binds ASEAN member
states into legal responsibilities to promote regional cooperation and collaboration in
reducing disaster losses and intensifying joint emergency response to disasters in the
ASEAN region.

Margareta Wahlström, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster

Risk Reduction described the agreement as the first of its kind in the world, an agreement
that oblige Asian states together to address disaster risk reduction and improve their
preparedness for response. It also provides for the establishment of an ASEAN
Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) to
undertake operational coordination of activities under the Agreement. Since the signing of
the AADMER agreement in 2005, ASEAN has put into place measures for standard
operating procedures, training and capacity building, disaster information
sharing, communication network, and rapid assessment team. Cyclone Nargis which
affected Myanmar last year became a test bed for ASEAN coordinating mechanism and its
role as the humanitarian bridge between the international community and the affected
population.(i)

The ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) was established

A child sits alone amid the ruins of a collapsed building in Padang, West Sumatra. Photo.
Jefri Aries. IRIN
in 2003. Its formation elevated the institutional mechanism which has existed since the
1970s and comprised of experts group. The ACDM consists of heads of national agencies
responsible for disaster management of ASEAN member countries. With the objective of
having disaster-resilient nations and safer communities, ACDM developed an ASEAN
Regional Programme on Disaster Management (ARPDM) which provided the framework
for cooperation for the period 2004-2010. This regional programme consequently became
the platform for cooperation and collaboration with ASEAN Dialogue Partners and relevant
international organizations. Its regional strategy on disaster management identified
priorities encompassing response action plan, capacity building, information sharing and
communication network, partnership with pertinent stakeholders, funding support, and
generating public awareness including activities for disaster risk reduction. The programme
, launched in May 2004 became the structure for concerted regional cooperation in disaster
management in the ASEAN region fitting in well with the regional strategy for disaster
reduction.(ii)

Books and other school supplies are salvaged from the mud at this elementary school in
Manila. Photo. Jason Gutierrez.IRIN
In the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, ASEAN leaders held a special meeting to
strengthen measures for emergency relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and prevention.
The meeting adopted a declaration of action in these areas notably of mobilizing the
international community to support national relief emergency programme. Of significance
was the call for the development of a regional instrument on disaster management and
emergency response, the establishment of tsunami early warning system for the Indian
Ocean and the Southeast Asian region, and implementation of preventive measures
including public awareness and capacity building. (iii)
An interesting feature in ASEAN’s evolution of disaster management was the tacit
acceptance by member states for the utilization of military together with civilian personnel
in disaster relief. The establishment of a centre to coordinate regional disaster response
was also agreed upon and is now ongoing.

The ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) which
was signed by the member countries in July 2005 in Vientiane, Lao PDR, established the
mechanisms for achieving substantial disaster risks reduction and emergency response. A
salient feature of this accord is that the agreed framework for disaster risk reduction is based on
the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005 -2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and
Communities to Disasters.
ASEAN conducts annual disaster simulation exercises to enhance the
The remains of a mosque that collapsed after being hit by a quake related landslide in Tandidek
Village, Padang Pariaman district, West Sumatra. Photo. Jefri Aries. IRIN
capacities and capabilities of member countries in joint disaster management operations. These
simulation exercises organized in conjunction with contingency planning workshops facilitated
the implementation of the AADMER and also the development of the ASEAN Standby
Arrangements and Standard Procedures (SASOP) for regional disaster management. (iv)
The logical progression in its evolution apparently is broadening regional cooperation in disaster
management and this is borne in the agenda of the fourth East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Hua
Hin, Thailand.
References:-
(i) Press Release. ASEAN Disaster Management Agreement to Enter into Force by End of 2009. ASEAN Secretariat, 16 September 2009.
(ii) Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response.
(iii) Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN Standby Arrangements for
Disaster Relief and Emergency Response
(iv) Association of Southeast Asian Nations. ASEAN Disaster News Watch. 6 September 2006. ASEAN to test regional emergency response and
humanitarian assistance capacities in a simulated flood disaster in Cambodia.

Note: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is composed of Brunei Darussalam,

Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and
Viet Nam.