New Delhi: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministers and officials celebrated the annual ‘ASEAN Day for Disaster Management’ with the theme ‘Bridging Disaster Recovery to Resilience’ today in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.
Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi said “ASEAN exerted solidarity through our regional mechanisms, such as the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER), ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance, and ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Teams. Yet much remains to be done to strengthen our resilience.”
ASEAN is among the most disaster-prone region in the world. In 2018, ASEAN particularly faced a difficult year as it recorded over 400 disaster occurrences, namely the earthquakes in Indonesia, flash floods in Lao PDR, dump fire in Myanmar, and typhoon in the Philippines. The ASEAN Day for Disaster Management is celebrated to raise regional awareness on the importance of building a more resilient ASEAN Community.
The event was officiated by Vice President of Myanmar Henry van Thio and held in conjunction with the 7th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management and the 8th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response.
About ASEAN Day for Disaster Management (ADDM)
The ASEAN Day for Disaster Management aims to promote a regional culture of risk-awareness and disaster management. The event is historically observed together with the United Nations’ International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in the first week of October.
The event highlights the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management and is convened annually since 2006. The ADDM was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last year and will be held in Metro Manila, the Philippines next year.