ASEAN humanitarian center becomes active

Tony Hotland ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/09/2008 9:38 AM  |  World

As illustrated by the Myanmar cyclone disaster, the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Center needs to immediately coordinate its procedures for disaster mitigation.

The center is born out of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response, which was signed in June 2005 following the December 2004 tsunami.

The center's headquarters will be in Jakarta and will be managed by the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management.

Indonesia has not yet ratified the agreement pending a decision from the House of Representatives. The deadline for all 10 ASEAN members to ratify the agreement, which will allow the center to officially commence work, is the end of the year.

DIAN TRIANSYAH DJANI

Indonesia has set up an "interim" center in the meantime, said Dian Triansyah Djani, ASEAN cooperation head at the Foreign Ministry, Thursday.

"We decided to set up an interim center because disasters don't wait. Currently, the center gets assistance from the Bakornas and ASEAN Secretariat," he said.

Bakornas is Indonesia's national coordinating agency for disaster management. The interim center is situated next to Bakornas' crisis center in Juanda, Central Jakarta.

"With what's happening in Myanmar now, the interim center is doing what it will be doing when it's actually official. It's working with the ASEAN secretary-general to alert disaster agencies and to pool aid relief," he said.

Budi Dhewajani, science and environment head at the Foreign Ministry, said the center coordinated all disaster relief from ASEAN agencies.

"When a disaster strikes, the center assesses the impacts based on applications filled out by the affected state when requesting regional or international relief assistance.

The center collects the assessments from the affected state and relief agencies, then coordinates an action plan and aid for the crisis," she explained.

A panel of ASEAN members and disaster experts are still working on the center's standby arrangements and standard operating procedures, she said.

"One of the most difficult issues is deploying military personnel to affected states.

"We're still examining how to best finance the center. We're exploring cost-sharing mechanisms and potential donations from countries and organizations outside ASEAN," she said.

The center will recruit personnel from all ASEAN members, including from local disaster agencies, Budi said.

ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

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