| Danial Norjidi |
DISASTER response is the collective responsibility of civilians, military, international organisations, NGOs and other non-traditional partners.
This was said by Haji Mohd ‘Abdoh bin Dato Seri Setia Haji Abdul Salam, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs while delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the First Exercise Planning Team (EPT) Meeting for the Asean Regional Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise (ARDEX) yesterday at the International Convention Centre in Berakas.
In his speech, the permanent secretary described Asean as one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world.
“The disasters that are hitting our region are getting bigger in scale and the responses are also becoming more complex,” he said. “Thus, disaster response is no longer a responsibility of one or two actors and it is now a collective responsibility among civilians, military, international organisations, NGOs and other non-traditional partners.”
In the region, disaster response has always been a multi-actors’ effort and Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) is central in coordinating these collective responses as envisioned in “One Asean One Response”.
Haji Mohd ‘Abdoh bin Dato Seri Setia Haji Abdul Salam, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs (C), in a group photo with the Asean Regional Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise (ARDEX) delegates. – AZROL AZMI
He highlighted that it is an honour for Brunei Darussalam to host ARDEX this year, noting that it was here in 2014 during the country’s chairmanship of the 2nd Asean Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management that ministers endorsed the concept of “One Asean One Response”.
“I’m pleased that this vision will be put to the test for the first time during our hosting of ARDEX in Brunei Darussalam,” he said.
The permanent secretary also remarked that this year’s event is a very important milestone as it is the first ARDEX to be conducted after the launching of the Asean Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) Work Programme 2016-2020 during the 3rd AADMER Partnership Conference in Semarang, Indonesia last week.
He said that the primary goal of ARDEX exercises is to practice, evaluate and review Asean-SASOP (Standard Operating Procedures for Regional Standby Arrangements and Coordination of Joint Disaster Relief and Emergency Response Operations).
In addition to that, new response coordination protocols and guidelines outlined in the Priority Programme 5 will also be tested, such as the Joint Asean Disaster Response Plan, or AJDRP, and the Joint Operation Coordinating Centre for Asean (JOCCA) as well as civil-military coordination.
Addressing the participants of yesterday’s EPT meeting, he said, “As host of ARDEX, we appreciate your continued support in planning for this very important exercise for Brunei Darussalam and for our region.”
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