Vol 41-RedR Australia
RedR Australia
The ASEAN region, being prone to a range of natural disasters, aims to be a step ahead in delivering response to such disasters when they strike. To achieve this, well-trained and prepared human capital is required, with strong teams developed through relevant and up-to-date seminars and workshops. Through the recent formalisation of a long-standing working partnership between RedR Australia and the AHA Centre, both parties aim to mutually promote, develop, and strengthen their cooperation in disaster management to further improve response for the ASEAN region’s communities.
RedR Australia is a non-governmental, international humanitarian agency that provides disaster management training across the world. One of their key objectives is to help rebuild and support communities to recover immediately after disaster strikes, by both delivering and equipping key actors with appropriate and efficient humanitarian skills. Adelina Kamal, the Executive Director of AHA Centre, and Kirsten Sayers, the Chief Executive Officer of RedR Australia, recently signed and formalised a partnership through a Memorandum of Intent, on the side lines of the 8th Meeting of the Governing Board of the AHA Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the 27th of June 2018.
The partnership is channelled through the “Australia Assists – Technical Assistance in Disaster Risk Management” programme, managed and co-designed by RedR Australia and the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The programme aims to develop and increase the capacity of deployable civilian resources that meet humanitarian policy and procedure requirements and standards. The formation of collaboration between RedR Australia and AHA Centre will not only strengthen disaster response, but also develop stronger disaster management capacity within the region. The platform of the partnership has been undertaken with the intention of providing the highest quality disaster response and management practices within a constantly changing environment and context, and more importantly, to build resilience and improve the quality of humanitarian action to alleviate suffering and save lives.
This MoI stands as a bilateral recognition of the value that both parties’ ongoing engagement has created, and to expand on this, the formalised partnership will allow both parties to engage on a wider level. It aims to provide the ASEAN region with access to a deeper pool of deployable expertise, efficient roster management practices, effective monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning (MEAL) processes, appropriate and effective risk management, and more opportunities to develop disaster-related activities with RedR Australia.
Since 2016, RedR Australia’s expertise has also been integrated within the AHA Centre’s existing training programmes, such as the AHA Centre Executive (ACE) Programme, in which they have provided specific training modules on project management elements. Such engagement has been an integral part of the ACE Programme, which focuses specifically towards developing ASEAN leaders from all 10 Member States, who hold the capacity and skills to lead the region in response and operations when a disaster strikes. Alongside the new overall MoI, RedR Australia and the AHA Centre have also agreed to continue and strengthen their partnership through the ACE Programme, developing stronger, more specific training materials and engagements as part of ACE Programme Phase 2, being implemented from 2018-2020.
Written by : Valerie Bayhon | Photo : RedR Australia, AHA Centre
- Published in Partnership
Vol 41-Types of Recorded Disasters in ASEAN Member States
TYPES OF RECORDED DISASTERS IN
ASEAN MEMBER STATES
Since its foundation, the AHA Centre has actively monitored seven types of natural disasters that have occurred on a frequent basis across the Southeast Asian region. The natural disasters types that have registered on the AHA Centre’s radar include drought, earthquake, flood, wind, storm, volcano, and landslides.
Throughout the previous six years, a total of 1380 disasters have been recorded by the AHA Centre’s team. While floods, winds, storms, and landslides top the list for frequency, slower-onset disasters, such as drought, still pose significant risk, primarily for ASEAN’s agricultural-based communities.
The most recent recorded disasters have been the floods in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam, that occurred due to the accumulated impact of the monsoon season and Tropical Storm 11 (Son-Tinh/ Henry). Between end of July and early August, the AHA Centre activated three emergency responses, responding to severe flooding in Southern Lao PDR and 4 states/regions of Myanmar, as well as powerful earthquakes in Lombok, Indonesia. The following chart may support further development of mitigation plans for disaster managers, as part of wider disaster-preparedness strategies.
Written by : Shintya Kurniawan
DISCLAIMER
The presented information above is consolidated from the ASEAN Disaster Information Net (ADINet) and the Emergency Events Database (EM-DAT). Presented numbers may not reflect the actual risks due to lack of data availability in some ASEAN countries.
- Published in Insight
Vol 41-Response to Tropical Storm 11
RESPONSE TO
TROPICAL STORM 11
The formation of Tropical Storm 11 (TS 11 – also known as Son Tinh, or Henry in the Philippines) had been closely monitored by the AHA Centre since early July 2018, as the team worked alongside the National Disaster Management Organisations of ASEAN Member States to prepare for the potential disaster impacts that may materialise should the storm continue to gain strength. Towards the end of July, TS 11 intensified, with torrential rains and strong winds buffeting a number of nations, including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam, resulting in widespread flooding through many districts within these nations. By the end of July, the AHA Centre was engaged in two disaster responses to flooding in both Lao PDR and Myanmar – which stands as the first time the AHA Centre provided support to two different ASEAN nations in unison.
Floods were being reported across numerous ASEAN countries in the aftermath of TS 11. However, in the of evening of July 23rd, the walls of Xe Pien and Xe Nam Noy dams in Lao PDR burst, with flash floods impacting thousands of households downstream from the large water catchments. Within 24 hours, the AHA Centre’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) in Jakarta activated its emergency response operations, and an In-Country Liaison Team (ICLT) was deployed and arrived in Vientiane. For this response, the AHA Centre provided four key aspects of assistance to the Government of Lao PDR and its people, including logistical management and coordination, information management and mapping, advisory support for operations planning, and finally mobilisation of relief items.
During the handover, the AHA Centre’s Executive Director, Ms. Adelina Kamal, stated that “The spirit of One ASEAN One Response is well-demonstrated in times of crisis, such as today. The swift coordination is enabled through continuous partnerships between NDMOs of all ASEAN Member States and our partners, built over the years under ASEAN cooperation on disaster management”.
ASEAN’s relief items were delivered by the AHA Centre on both the 27th and 29th of July. The first batch included 1 alumunium rescue boat, 150 family tents, 2616 hygiene kits, alongside a mobile storage unit for use as a temporary warehouse for all incoming relief items. In addition, the National Disaster Management Agency of Malaysia (NADMA) also added to the assistance by providing an extra alumunium rescue boat. Whereas the first batch of relief items were flown-in to Wattay International Aiport in Vientiane, a second batch comprised of 3500 mosquito nets were delivered alongside Australian relief items, directly into Pakse Airport, Attapeu, one of the province’s hardest hit by the natural disaster. The mobilised relief items are crucial to the specific needs of Lao PDR’s NDMO, as well as the affected population.
“When we found out that we had a serious disaster, like the dam collapsing, the first thing that came to mind was the AHA Centre. Emergency response is not only about mobilisation of funds, materials and food. We also need to learn about coordination for medical support, military cooperation, and camp management. I would like to take this opportunity to train people and learn how to organise, starting from the village level”, said Mr. Prasong Vongkhamchanh, the Director-General of Social Welfare Department of Lao PDR’s NDMO, during a briefing with the AHA Centre’s ICLT.
Overall, TS 11 and the resulting flooding affected 10 out of 17 provinces across Lao PDR. On the 28th of July, the ASEAN Secretary-General – H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi, Deputy Secretary-General for ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community – H.E. Vongthep Arthakaivalvatee, the Director-General of Social Welfare Dept. Head of NDMO Lao PDR – Mr. Prasong Vongkhamchanh, and the Executive Director of AHA Centre – Ms. Adelina Kamal, visited one of the severely affected provinces, handing over ASEAN’s assistance to the Governor of Attapeu and the Mayor of Sanamxay District.
“Being forced from our homes is not a choice anyone desires for oneself, nor impose on others. The storm may have rendered our lives tragic and difficult, but we shall weather it through the triumph of our spirit”
said the Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Dato Lim Jock Hoi, upon his visit to Sanamxay.
Before the mission in Lao PDR was concluded, monsoonal conditions in Myanmar saw the AHA Centre launch its second response on the 30th of July, to support the Government of Myanmar as nine regions/states were inundated by floodwaters, damaging homes and threatening lives in the central and southern states of the country. As conditions worsened, more and more of the nation’s population felt the brunt of the monsoon, with the Government of Myanmar reporting that more than 150,000 people had been internally displaced floods and landslides across nine regions, with the regions of Bago, Kayin, Mon, and Tanintharyi most heavily impacted. With many of the affected communities living in rural areas, a key issue highlighted was the limited electricity supply. To address this, the AHA Centre provided 12,000 portable solar lanterns, procured locally at a value of approximately USD $79,883 that were then distributed to communities facing power outages throughout the flooded nation. These items, alongside the provision of an In-Country Liaison Team to support Myanmar’s NDMO, displayed the solidarity of the ASEAN region as it provided disaster relief assistance, through the AHA Centre, to the communities affected by flood in Myanmar. The relief items were received by Mr. Win Shwe, Yangon Director of Department of Disaster Management, Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement Department, in Yangon, Myanmar on the 3rd of August 2018. During the handover ceremony, Mr Win Shwe emphasised Myanmar’s gratitude by saying, “We would like to convey our deepest appreciation to AHA Centre for its readiness to support Myanmar. By taking this opportunity, we would also like to extend our personal thanks to the Government of Japan for its generous donation to ASEAN, through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund. This assistance will definitely signify the unity and friendship amongst the ASEAN Member States and would enhance mutual understanding”.
The mission in Myanmar was concluded on the 4th of August 2018, with the overlapping responses forming the first time that the AHA Centre has activated missions to different countries at the same time. Although the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT) was not activated for both responses, the AHA Centre managed to obtain the support of a Yangon-based ASEAN-ERAT personnel, who volunteered to help the AHA Centre’s ICLT during their mission in Myanmar. With less than 30 personnel, the AHA Centre also managed to gain ad-hoc support from various partners. At the end of its first ever in-unison response, the AHA Centre was already gearing up to support a Government-led emergency response in the earthquake-affected areas in Lombok, Indonesia, of which will be detailed in the next edition of the AHA Centre’s Column.
Written by: Shintya Kurniawan | Photo : AHA Centre
- Published in Highlight
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