Vol 37-Contingency Planning Workshop
CONTINGENCY
PLANNING WORKSHOP
JAKARTA, 13-14 MARCH 2018
In Jakarta on 13-14 March 2018, the AHA Centre engaged about 50 participants in a two-day ASEAN Contingency Planning workshop for Indonesia. Participants came from different Indonesian line ministries involved in disaster response and disaster management, including the National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB), the Local Disaster Management Agency (BPBD), the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Body (BMKG), the Department of Defence, the army, the Transportation Department, and the Ministry of Health.
Using a scenario of a large tsunami hitting the industrial city of Cilegon, the participants managed to identify at least 31 items, consisting of assets and capacities, that were categorised as immediate needs by the affected population. Included in the identified items are medicine, emergency medical teams, urban search and rescue teams, water treatment facility, and the needs of vulnerable groups: nutritious food for infants, breastfeeding mothers, and aid for people with disabilities. The workshop also stimulated discussions on transportation and logistics access, that would serve to enable timely distribution of humanitarian assistance from ASEAN Member States and partners.
The workshop is part of the AHA Centre’s effort to continue the development of the ASEAN Joint Disaster Response Plan (AJDRP). The AJDRP has identified three major disaster risks in the region–a major earthquake in Metro Manila, a super cyclone in the Ayeyarwady Delta in Myanmar, and tsunami caused by a megathrust earthquake in Indonesia. Three workshops, with Jakarta being the final, have now been undertaken using these scenarios, in order to enhance the speed, scale, and solidarity of ASEAN’s collective response to major disasters in the region. Similar workshops have been conducted in Manila, the Philippines, and Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar in 2017.
With the conclusion of the workshop in Jakarta, the AHA Centre is now able to identify common needs in large-scale disasters, and consider how ASEAN can support the affected Member State(s) at such a time. However, it is important to highlight that any disaster response operation should always be nationally led, regionally supported, and internationally reinforced as and when necessary.
Arnel Capili, the Director of Operations of the AHA Centre, noted that ASEAN can only engage effectively if a relationship of trust has been developed within all the Member States. “We can only operate on the speed of trust”, he remarked, “which is why it is important to continue the dialogue, to build on what we already have, and move forward from there.”
Written by : Shintya Kurniawan | Photo : BNPB
- Published in AHA Centre Diary 1
Vol 38-Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination (UN-CMCOORD) Training
HUMANITARIAN CIVIL-MILITARY
COORDINATION (UN-CMCOORD) TRAINING
BENGKULU, 5-10 APRIL 2018
On 5th–10th of April 2018, the AHA Centre participated in a Humanitarian Civil-Military Coordination (UN-CMCOORD) training, conducted on-board the US Naval Hospital Ship (USNS) Mercy in Bengkulu, Indonesia. The training was implemented by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) alongside the United States Pacific Fleet.
As military institutions often play a significant role within emergency responses, there is a real need to foster meaningful collaboration between military actors, civilians, and other international humanitarian organisations. This sees UNOCHA facilitating trainings such as the UN-CMCOORD on a regular basis across the world. The training’s underlying principle is to create and share common understanding for the facilitation of the right assistance, to the right people, at the right time, and using the most appropriate methods during emergency response. The training included a variety of modules, such as coordination and sharing of resources, protection of civilians, and the security of humanitarian aid workers – an effort that has developed the global #NotATarget campaign.
The participants in the UN-CMCOORD training held a range of diverse backgrounds. Alongside military representatives and UNOCHA staff, representatives from non-governmental organisations, National Disaster Management Organisations, regional organisations, and the International Red Cross/Crescent Societies were also involved. However, this event stands as the first time such a training was conducted on a military vessel. The USNS Mercy was originally an oil tanker, redeveloped into a military medical hospital, complete with a surgery operation room for humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.
“I found the environment and direct exposure to military responses throughout the training as a very insightful experience. Furthermore, the content on liaising, communicating and facilitating dialogues between civilian and military actors during emergency operations is also very crucial in the region, as military actors often are the first responders in emergency situations,” stated Janggam Adhityawarma, Assistant Director of Preparedness and Response, and the AHA Centre’s representative at the training.
Written by : Shintya Kurniawan | Photo : AHA Centre
- Published in AHA Centre Diary 1
Vol 39-Strengthening The Interoperability of ASEAN-ERAT and UNDAC
STRENGTHENING THE INTEROPERABILITY OF
ASEAN-ERAT AND UNDAC
SWITZERLAND, 29 APRIL – 11 MAY 2018
THE ASEAN REGION WAS REPRESENTED BY THREE MEMBERS OF THE REGION DURING THE UNITED NATIONS DISASTER ASSESSMENT AND COORDINATION (UNDAC) GLOBAL INDUCTION COURSE, HELD IN SWITZERLAND FROM THE 29TH OF APRIL TO THE 11TH OF MAY, 2018. THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN THE UNDAC TRAINING SERVES TO DEMONSTRATE THE STRENGTHENED PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE UNITED NATIONS AND ASEAN FOR INCREASING COLLECTIVE DISASTER PREPAREDNESS IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN REGION.
The participants, from Indonesia, Malaysia and Lao PDR, included two members of the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ASEAN-ERAT), thus their engagement in the UNDAC course formed another opportunity to test the interoperability between international and regional humanitarian mechanisms.
“The purpose of our involvement in the UNDAC course is to ensure quality learning process of UNDAC methodology and approach, increase the number of ASEAN-ERAT members who are also UNDAC-certified, as well as showcasing the quality of ASEAN-ERAT in collaborating together with other humanitarian actors within the UNDAC system,” said Dr. Mizan Bisri, the Disaster Monitoring and Analysis Officer of the AHA Centre, and one of the participants in the 2-week course.
At the completion of the course, numerous key-learnings could be identified, especially regarding points of improvement for adoption from UNDAC within ASEAN-ERAT processes. These included, amongst others, the strategic elements of coordination, access to assessment results, and back-end support mechanisms of UNDAC missions. A particular highlight is the strategic element of UNDAC system that forms a link between their assessment results and greater resource mobilisation, as well as public disclosure of such assessment results to increase the transparency of UNDAC and its standing in the wider humanitarian community. Therefore, dissemination of the assessment report produced by ASEAN-ERAT at the completion of each deployment/disaster response is increasingly important. While a response might not necessarily lead to greater resource mobilisation, having a public report will increase the visibility of ASEAN-ERAT, promote the values of ASEAN-ERAT, and potentially fortify the partnerships with global humanitarian partners.
The training also provided in-depth insights that may be integrated into the development of ASEAN-ERAT Level-2 curriculum, particularly related to rapid assessment, information management, logistics, humanitarian civil-military coordination and early recovery. The UNDAC holds a wide array of experiences designing back-end support with partner organisations, both within and outside of the UN system, particularly focused towards assessment and analysis, and information management aspects. Based on these experiences, within the Southeast Asian context, there are opportunities to enable ASEAN-ERAT members to provide remote support for ongoing missions on the ground.
During the UNDAC global induction course, ASEAN-ERAT was highlighted as a key regional partner for responding on the ground, capacity building and inter-operability preparedness. The ongoing participation between both ASEAN-ERAT and UNDAC within each other’s respective induction courses and exercises was highlighted and praised. UNDAC members also evidenced awareness that, in the case of disasters in ASEAN region, there is a great likelihood that a Joint Operations and Coordination Centre of ASEAN (JOCCA) would run in parallel to the Onsite Operations and Coordination Centre (OSOCC). Both centres would serve as coordinating platforms and provide support to the affected countries to manage incoming assistance. The existence of a Standard Operating Procedure between the OCHA/UNDAC and AHA Centre/ASEAN-ERAT, tailored to the respective UNDAC and ASEAN-ERAT mission cycles, was highlighted as a good institutional approach to ensure quality response for supporting the needs of the affected population. Overall, better strategic, tactical and operational linkages between ASEAN and UN agencies are fundamental to the holistic implementation of One ASEAN One Response, both for responding inside and outside the region. As of May 2018, there are 18 out of 252 ASEAN-ERAT members who had been trained and qualified as UNDAC personnel, with plans to continuously increase these numbers, in line with the ASEAN-ERAT Transformation Plan as part of the AHA Centre Work Plan 2020.
Written by : Mizan Bisri | Photo : AHA Centre, United Nations
- Published in AHA Centre Diary 1