Disaster Management

Despite concerted efforts in disaster management, ASEAN Member States face a significant funding gap, with current expenditures falling short for optimal disaster recovery and reconstruction. To address this, many states have adopted Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance to enhance their financial capacities and mitigate disaster risks. However, common challenges such as low insurance utilization rates, inadequate social protection coverage, and insufficient natural capital protection persist across the region. Leveraging existing facilities like the ASEAN Disaster Risk Finance and Insurance and the Southeast Asia Disaster Risk Insurance Facility is crucial for fostering regional collaboration and collective problem-solving.

ASEAN is actively leveraging technology for disaster risk management, as evidenced by initiatives like the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) Work Programme and ICT Roadmap. Despite the improvement of technology in ASEAN countries' disaster management, there is a need to consolidate information-sharing platforms and integrate emerging technologies, as well as strengthening human capacity, improving technology skills and data literacy, and developing people-centred systems to support effective implementation.

Loss and damage refer to the adverse impacts of climate change that occur such as hurricanes, floods, droughts, and sea-level rise despite mitigation and adaptation efforts. Integrating climate change adaptation and disaster risk resilience is the key to addressing loss and damage. Having a more integrated and advanced approach to loss and damage assessment in ASEAN will help to bridge disaster management and climate change sectors. Investments in capabilities and technologies for loss and damage data collection are necessary, alongside the development of adaptive social protection systems to support vulnerable communities in coping with and adapting to shocks.

In ASEAN, localization becomes one of the guiding principles in AADMER Work Programme 2021-2025 as it aims to contribute in strengthening and leveraging the role of ASEAN Member States, both locally and nationally in leading national disaster management and emergency response. Localisation of disaster management efforts still face the challenge of limited funds allocation, most funds are still allocated to UN agencies, which then distribute them to NGOs. To address these challenges, ASEAN should play a role in standardizing national and local capacities, supporting local responders and community leadership, and optimizing funding schemes to benefit local actors. This requires collaboration among ASEAN Member States to leverage localization effectively in the region and ensure a more equitable humanitarian response.