- AHA Centre has been established as part of ASEAN’s commitment to strengthen collective response to disasters and to become the premier coordinating agency in disaster management within the region
- In the past six years, AHA Centre has been instrumental in promoting better coordination and collective response to disasters among ASEAN Member States, but to accomplish more, a better partnership between the public and the private sector is needed.
JAKARTA, 5 December 2017 – Today, the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) conducted a seminar and a press conference at Graha BNPB, Jakarta, with the theme “Fostering Public-Private Partnerships to Enhance Disaster Management: Towards One ASEAN, One Response” This event was attended by, amongst others, Mr. Dody Ruswandi, Executive Secretary of the Indonesian National Authority of Disaster Management (BNPB); Mr. J.S. George Lantu, the Director of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Cooperation Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia; H.E. Lê Luong Minh, the Secretary-General of ASEAN; Mr. Rene S. Meily, President of the Philippines Disaster Resilience Foundation; various companies, journalists, and partners of the AHA Centre. The event aimed to promote the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in disaster management across ASEAN region.
“We are very pleased to mark the sixth-year anniversary of the AHA Centre by engaging more with our stakeholders, especially the private sectors and the media because we want to stress the importance of Public – Private Partnerships (PPP) in Disaster Management,” said Ms. Adelina Kamal, the Executive Director of AHA Centre during the press conference. “The immense resources required to manage disasters in the region will not be achieved by just AHA Centre alone without active, coordinated and the strategic participation from other stakeholders, including the private sector. The role of the AHA Centre as the premier coordinating agency in disaster management in the ASEAN region is also to promote a good PPP across the region in managing disaster preparedness, disaster responses and post-disaster recovery efforts.”
The AHA Centre was established in November 2011 as part of ASEAN’s commitment to strengthen the collective response to disasters and to reduce disaster losses. For the past six years, the AHA Centre has been generating several highly visible accomplishments. Hence, to mark its sixth-year contribution to Indonesia and the ASEAN region, the AHA Centre aims to embrace many parties, from the private, public, and government, to simultaneously conduct a dialogue for a partnership in disaster management and a better emergency response. For this event, the AHA Centre engaged more like-minded private sector with CSR on humanitarian assistance or disaster management and others who would support the endeavors for One ASEAN One Response. The event featured an interactive high-level panel dialogue with prominent speakers. The momentum will be used to gain insights and discussion with the potential partners to build an innovative partnership in building a resilient ASEAN Community.
The Executive Secretary of BNPB, Mr. Dody Ruswandi, shared his thoughts on the PPP in disaster management: “The private sector’s role is very important in improving our disaster management, and the government is keen to work with them in all aspects of disaster management, from disaster preparedness to quick disaster response to long-term disaster recovery efforts.”
As for the role of the AHA Centre as the premiere regional coordinating agency in disaster management within ASEAN, J.S George Lantu, the Director of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Cooperation Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia said: “the AHA Centre plays an important role to help ASEAN countries to be better in managing all kinds of disasters. The AHA Centre in the past six years has been delivering ASEAN’s solidarity and collective efforts to disasters. They can do more in the future. Therefore, I call all ASEAN members to give the Centre their full support.”
In the same occassion, the Secretary-General of ASEAN , H.E. Le Luong Minh, stated: “I really hope that through the ASEAN Declaration on ‘One ASEAN, One Response’, and with AHA Centre at the helm, our efforts to boost disaster management capabilities of ASEAN and its member countries will be achieved faster, especially with the support of the private sector.”
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About AHA Centre
The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) is an inter-governmental organisation which aims to facilitate cooperation and coordination among ASEAN Member States and with the United Nations and international organisations for disaster management and emergency response in ASEAN Region. The Centre was established by 10 ASEAN Member States; Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam on 17 November 2011, through the signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management in Bali, Indonesia. The Agreement was signed by ASEAN Foreign Ministers, witnessed by the ASEAN Heads of States.
For further information about AHA Centre, please contact:
Shintya Kurniawan
Communications Officer – AHA Centre
Tel:+6221 29827793 Ext. 108
E-mail: shintya.kurniawan@ahacentre.org
