Finance
The East Asia Summit (EAS) participants have reaffirmed their collective commitment to strengthening disaster resilience across the region, asking for immediate action to boost the ASEAN Community’s ability to withstand and recover from disasters.
The 20th East Asia Summit (EAS) was held in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, with Malaysia serving as ASEAN Chairman. During this time, the participating countries issued a declaration emphasizing the increasing complexity of global disaster risks, which are being driven by environmental challenges, rising urbanization, and socioeconomic weaknesses.
Recognizing the rising frequency and severity of catastrophes, the Summit reaffirmed key agreements such as the 2009 Cha-am Hua Hin Statement and the 2014 EAS Statement on Rapid Disaster Response, which emphasized regional collaboration in disaster preparedness, response, and rehabilitation.
The leaders noted that anticipatory action, especially when localised, has proven “effective” in reducing disaster impacts. Localisation, involving active participation from local authorities, communities, organisations, and the private sector, was highlighted as a cornerstone of successful disaster management.
The leaders also recalled the localisation that has been highlighted in key frameworks and agreements, including the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER), ASEAN Declaration on One ASEAN, One Response: ASEAN Responding to Disasters as One in the Region and Outside the Region, ASEAN Framework on Anticipatory Action in Disaster Management, ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Sustainable Resilience, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and the Co-Chairs’ Summary of the Seventh session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR), also known as the Bali Agenda for Resilience.
These documents collectively underscore the importance of community-led approaches and the integration of local wisdom and capacities in disaster risk reduction.
The Summit recognized that localized anticipatory action can minimize physical, social, and economic vulnerabilities by providing tailored responses to specific dangers.
It emphasized the need of empowering local actors in disaster preparedness and response, ensuring their central role in resilience building and impact mitigation. The declaration underlined the need for science and technology-based, locally customized, and frequently updated disaster risk assessments, hazard maps, and impact-based early warning systems as important enablers of anticipatory methods.
Recognizing the importance of risk-informed investment, the Summit confirmed that “prudent” planning and resource allocation can result in cost-effective and equitable solutions for long-term community resilience.
The attending countries expressed their commitment to upholding regional and international duties, such as those specified in AADMER, ASEAN SHIELD, and the Sendai Framework, while emphasizing the importance of local communities in disaster management.
The declaration called for more regional coordination through the sharing of best practices, capacity building, and resource mobilization, which would be supported by institutions like the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Centre).
It stimulated investment in local anticipatory response capacities, infrastructure, and early warning systems, thereby incorporating disaster risk reduction into post-disaster recovery and reconstruction activities.
The countries also reaffirmed the commitment to “foster multi-stakeholder partnerships among EAS participating countries, enhancing cooperation with the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) and the AHA Centre, the ASEAN Center for Climate Change (ACCC), the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (ACC THPC), local governments, the private sector, academia, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and other relevant stakeholders to strengthen capacities and resources.”
The Summit urged collaboration to enhance local early warning systems, mobile-based alerts, GIS-based community risk mapping, and AI-powered forecasting models for effective dissemination of early warning information.
The declaration also advocated for active participation of local actors in regional and community-led catastrophe efforts, capacity building, and the execution of contextually relevant preventive interventions. It emphasized the need of utilizing local culture and wisdom, as well as recognizing communities as first responders and critical contributors to disaster risk reduction efforts.
The Summit discussed the creation of national-level norms and tools, such as pre-arranged funds, to enable speedy decision-making and the implementation of anticipatory initiatives at the local level.
It also campaigned for the incorporation of localization concepts into national and regional disaster management frameworks, assuring their successful implementation through EAS pronouncements.
Source: IANS
