Strengthening regional and national capacity for disaster risk management: the case of ASEAN

This study attempts to address the knowledge gap in the role of regional organizations in disaster risk management (DRM) and of their role in capacity building at the national level by examining the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which has emerged as a prime example of deepening cooperation and integration in Southeast Asia. It analyzes both the strengths and challenges of ASEAN’s approach to capacity building.

After a brief discussion of terminology and key concepts, this study begins with an overview of ASEAN and its activities in DRM, followed by two short case studies on national disaster management organizations (NDMOs)’ cooperation with ASEAN in building DRM capacity: the Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana (BNPB) in Indonesia and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in the Philippines. The study then provides an analysis of the capacity building efforts of ASEAN and NDMOs, assess es the strengths and challenges of those efforts and closes by offering a number of recommendations.