ReliefWeb

JAKARTA, 17 November 2017 – ASEAN officials in charge of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) committed themselves to strengthening integration of actions in their respective agencies that will effectively address disaster risk and climate change, with particular focus on water-related disasters including flood, storm, landslide and drought.

The officials agreed on several immediate collaborative activities as indicated in the Workplan for Strengthening Institutional and Policy Framework on DRR and CCA Integration which was developed under the auspices of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) Working Group on Prevention and Mitigation with full support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. The plan was endorsed at the 31st ACDM Meeting held in Luang Prabang, Lao PDR, on 17 October 2017.

The Senior Official-Level Forum held at the National Agency for Disaster Management in Jakarta, Indonesia today brought together over 50 high-ranking participants from disaster risk reduction and climate change offices, hydro-meteorological, public works agencies and other relevant institutions. The forum provided a platform to share good practices, explore inter-agency engagements, and to prioritise collaborative actions to be implemented in accordance with the Work Plan 2018 – 2020.

“Disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation have several overlapping areas which make them easy to be integrated in approaches,” said Mr. Dicky Fabrian, Head of Legal and Cooperation Bureau from Indonesia’s National Agency for Disaster Management, who is hosting the senior official-level forum.

Speaking at the forum, Mr. Vilayphong Sisomvang, Co-Chair of the forum, representing Lao PDR, said that integrating disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in national and local development plans will help ASEAN tackle climate change impacts in a more effective manner.

“The collaborative actions outlined in the work plan will need to be prioritised and implemented by all relevant agencies and institutions through the coordination of the ACDM Working Group on Prevention and Mitigation,” added Mr. Saharat Wongsakulwiwat, who is also the Co-Chair of the forum, representing Thailand. “Once implemented effectively and practically, we will be able to create an enabling risk governance environment for long-term risk reduction,” he explained.

Growing populations living in hazard-prone areas in Southeast Asia, coupled with more intense, severe and longer impacts of climate change, require strong linkage between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, where greater intensification of disasters in the region was exacerbated by the effect of climate change risks.

The JICA project team has completed a baseline study to assess the degree of such integration in each ASEAN country. Three national workshops have been organised in Myanmar, Viet Nam and the Philippines between May and July 2017, and a regional forum has been held in Bangkok, Thailand in September 2017 to discuss the work plan. A publication showcasing good practices in ASEAN for strengthening disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation integration is also published.

For more information about the Forum and the Project on “Strengthening Institutional and Policy Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Integration,” visit https://www.drrandcca.com.