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Fostering a culture of prevention in ASEAN
Every year on average, the region faces the brunt of damage in excess of US$4.4 billion as a consequence of natural disasters.
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Listen up, kids: A policeman speaks with children at the Swecapura sports complex, which has become one of the centers for evacuees fleeing from the rumbling Mount Agung in Bali. (JP/Zul Trio Anggono)
W
e are living in a rapidly changing world today where the impact of global challenges reverberates at the regional level. To adapt to this new dynamism, ASEAN as a region cannot continue with its business-as-usual approach.
Our region is vulnerable to various threats related to diseases, drugs, crime and human trafficking. Asymmetric threats, including deliberate falsehoods and online radicalisation are emerging challenges. Social malaise including poverty, inequitable access to education and health care, are some of the perennial challenges that we need to continue working on.
We are also in a region prone to natural disasters, and this has become more so as a result of climate change. Every year on average, the region faces the brunt of damage in excess of US$4.4 billion as a consequence of natural disasters. We also cannot overlook our responses to human-induced disasters, and to take concrete and urgent steps to manage environmental degradation.
Without a comprehensive response to these multitude of challenges, the quality of a good life for individuals, vulnerable groups, urban and rural communities would continue to be adversely affected by the fast-changing landscape, especially in this era of the 4th Industrial Revolution.
