Jakarta: A U.S.-based nonprofit inked an agreement with ASEAN to help boost its disaster relief capabilities. \r\n \r\nAs one of the world’s most disaster-prone sub-regions, Southeast Asia has been working on setting up new institutions to strengthen regional capabilities to respond to natural disasters. Following the ratification of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) in 2009, Southeast Asian states set up an ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (the AHA Center) in 2011 in Jakarta to facilitate regional and international collaboration, with the Emergency Rapid Assessment Team (ERAT) brought to bear to provide dozens of rapidly deployable experts as well. |
