James Kon
As one of Brunei’s commitments to One ASEAN One Response’s vision of having its very own ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team members (the ASEAN ERAT), the country currently has 29 Brunei ASEAN ERAT members, comprising both government and non-government agencies. They have been deployed to assist in 12 disaster operations, with Myanmar during tropical cyclone Mocha last month being the latest.
This was said by Deputy Permanent Secretary (Safety and Welfare) at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) Nor Hamidah binti Haji Hamidon at the opening of the The One ASEAN One Response roadshow yesterday.
Organised by the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) under the MoHA, the roadshow aimed to share information on the Vision of One ASEAN One Response and discuss ways to overcome challenges in addressing disasters.
The deputy permanent secretary also shared that the roadshow was part of the activities under the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER Work Programme 2021-2025).
It is conducted by all ASEAN member states through the National Disaster Management Offices (NDMO) as the members of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) with support from the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre).
She added that the NDMC is the vice chair of the ACDM this year.
“We humbly offer to be the first of the member states to host this roadshow, and grateful to also invite the United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) to deliver and elaborate on the importance of the interoperability between the United Nation and ASEAN when responding to disasters,” she said.
“The One ASEAN One Response,” she said, “is a mechanism declared in 2016 which aims to bring together all of ASEAN when responding to a major disaster either within the region or outside the region. Our aim today is to ensure we understand and be familiar, the meaning of this declaration – to create the sense of ‘we’ in ASEAN and share the spirit of this vision.”
The roadshow featured representatives from the Ministry of Defence, Fire and Rescue Department, Community Development Department, Ministry of Health, committee members of district-level disaster management teams, Royal Brunei Police Force, Brunei Darussalam Red Crescent Society, Brunei Darussalam Scouts Association and Brunei Darussalam Youth Volunteers.
