NGOs meet, give recommendations on disaster risk reduction for ASEAN
Over 40 local and international non-government organisations operating in the field of disaster management and humanitarian assistance for the ASEAN region gathered in Jakarta last week to give recommendations on how social issues can be factored in disaster risk reduction.
The inputs are to be integrated into the Work Programme of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) and improve the Agreement to be more inclusive, gender fair and socially equitable in its implementation.
AADMER a regional legally-binding agreement that binds ASEAN Member States together to promote regional cooperation and collaboration in reducing disaster losses and intensifying joint emergency response to disasters in the ASEAN region. AADMER came into force on 24 December 2009 and has since become the one and only legally-binding instrument in the world relating to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA).
The NGOs recommended, among others, initiatives to encourage and give more opportunities and mechanisms to the elderly, children, women and people with disability to participate meaningfully in the process of disaster risk reduction, particularly in planning and decision-making. Oxfam Great Britain indicated during the discussion that disasters tend to affect women more. Save the Children Fund, meanwhile, said that children can and do play valuable roles in planning and implementing disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation initiatives. In fact, in one study it was found that countries where the contributions of children to disaster risk reduction are embraced, HFA progress is more likely.
The Workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction Drivers and AADMER: Prospects and Perspectives of Non-Government Organisations was organised by the ASEAN Secretariat, with the support of a consortium of international NGOs called the ASEAN Partnership Group (APG), the Humanitarian Forum Indonesia, and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).