Purpose:

ASEAN Member States signed the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) on 26 July 2005 in Vientiane, Lao PDR. The Agreement seeks to provide effective mechanisms to achieve substantial reduction of disaster losses in the social, economic, and environmental assets of the Parties, and to jointly respond to disaster emergencies through concerted national efforts and intensified regional and international cooperation.

To ensure preparedness for effective response, AADMER requires for the establishment of the ASEAN Standby Arrangements for Disaster Relief and Emergency Response where Parties, on a voluntary basis, shall identify and earmark assets and capacities which may be made available and mobilised for disaster relief and emergency response.

AADMER also requires the preparation of this Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that shall guide the actions of Parties and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) in implementing:

• The regional standby arrangements for disaster relief and emergency response;
• The utilisation of military and civilian personnel, transportation and communication equipment, facilities, good and services, and the facilitation of their trans-boundary movement;
• The co-ordination of joint disaster relief and emergency response operations.

Overview:

This SOP provides:

• The guides and templates to initiate the establishment of the ASEAN Standby Arrangements for Disaster Relief and Emergency Response,
• The procedures for joint disaster relief and emergency response operations,
• The procedures for the facilitation and utilisation of military and civilian assets and capacities,
• The methodology for the periodic conduct of the ASEAN regional disaster emergency response simulation exercises (ARDEX) which shall test the effectiveness of this procedure.

Usage: Guidance for disaster response