Illustrative image (Source: AFP/VNA)

Jakarta (VNA) – The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have inked a memoradum of understanding (MoU) to promote and develop their engagement in disaster management.

The document aims to strengthen community resilience at regional, national and local levels in the ASEAN region, encompassing such areas as disaster management, disaster risk reduction, disaster law, health in emergencies, disaster relief and emergency response, gender, youth, and climate change.

It also marks a significant milestone in ASEAN’s longstanding cooperation with the IFRC which has supported the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) in the implementation of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) and its work programmes. 

The MoU was signed by Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Secretary-General of ASEAN and Mr Jagan Chapagain, Secretary General of the IFRC, on the sidelines of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) in Bali, Indonesia, in the presence of the representatives of ACDM and the Southeast Asia representatives of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.  

At the signing ceremony, the two sides expressed appreciation over the progress of cooperation between ASEAN and the IFRC. 

Recognising their mutually beneficial roles in building a disaster-resilient ASEAN Community, both ASEAN and the IFRC look forward to the implementation of the MoU through collaborative projects in the AADMER Work Programme 2021-2025. 

In his remarks, the ASEAN Secretary-General emphasised: “In the face of increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters due to climate change, in one of the world’s most disaster-prone regions, coupled with an increasingly complex humanitarian landscape, we must build strategic partnerships to enhance our resilience as one ASEAN Community.” 

For his part, the Secretary General of the IFRC stated: “Through this partnership our common goal is to put communities in Southeast Asia at the centre by building individual and community capacities that help reduce humanitarian needs and avert loss and damage caused by the climate crisis.’’   

Both sides expressed their commitment to support the theme of GPDRR 2022 “From Risk to Resilience: Towards Sustainable Development for All in a COVID🍌-19 Transformed World and the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction”./.