The 10 ASEAN member countries adopted the Ha Long Declaration on strengthening early action in disaster management, at the ministerial conference on the morning of October 12.
The Declaration includes seven contents. The first is the goal of making ASEAN a pioneer in changing the landscape of disaster management by 2025; strengthening ASEAN's leadership role, maintaining an innovative approach, building networks, sustainable finance, cross-sectoral and multi-layered governance, and putting people at the center.
Second, ASEAN recommits to supporting the implementation of the Early Action Framework for Disaster Management, promoting and scaling up early action approaches to protect people, property and livelihoods from potential disasters.
ASEAN Ministers issued the Ha Long Declaration on the morning of October 12. Photo: Contributor
Third, ASEAN members emphasized the importance of strengthening the disaster risk management system, especially building three pillars: disaster risk information, forecasting and early warning systems; planning, operation and finally implementation, allocating support funds.
Fourth, ASEAN commits to work towards improving risk information, forecasting and early warning systems at the regional and national levels. Countries will recommend the Committee on Disaster Management and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) to explore and develop mechanisms for sharing quality data within the region and with partners.
Fifth, ASEAN agreed to strengthen planning and early action in disaster preparedness and response at the regional and national levels. “To this end, we will continue to promote the implementation of the ASEAN Declaration on One ASEAN, One Response: ASEAN Responding to Disasters as One Entity in and Beyond the Region,” the statement said.
Sixth, countries are encouraged to leverage financial resources to facilitate early action in disaster management. This will be done through promoting cross-sectoral cooperation with other sectors in ASEAN.
Finally, the joint statement stressed the value and urgency of cooperation, partnership building and technology transfer, especially in supporting training and enhancing risk intelligence.
Dai Loc district, Quang Nam province was flooded in October 2022. Photo: Dac Thanh
The ministerial conference took place in Ha Long City ( Quang Ninh ) from October 8 to 13 with the participation of 8 ministers, 4 deputy ministers and more than 140 international delegates from disaster management agencies from ASEAN countries and regional partners such as Japan, Korea and China.
Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most disaster-prone regions. According to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific , natural disasters including floods, storms, heat waves, droughts, earthquakes and tsunamis cost countries in the region an average of $86.5 billion in annual economic losses.
In Vietnam, over the past 30 years, each year natural disasters have caused an average of 400 deaths and missing people, with economic losses of 1-1.5% of GDP.
Source link
Comment (0)