TOWARD A DISASTER RESILIENT REGION: EXAMINING US-ASEAN COOPERATION ON DISASTER MANAGEMENT UNDER THE

The aftermath of the Indian Ocean tsunami brought the subject of disaster management to the fore and prompted ASEAN Member States to sign the Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) in 2005.4 The AADMER seeks to provide effective mechanisms to achieve substantial decrease in disaster losses, and to jointly respond to disaster emergencies through concerted national efforts. [...] Southeast Asian states, predominantly Indonesia and the Philippines, were hardest hit by natural disasters between 2004 and 2013 with the total report of 527 incidences and 354,293 deaths.7 To respond to the challenges, ASEAN is working to increase the capacity of Member States in coping with disasters in the short run and investing in measures on disaster prevention and mitigation in the long run. [...] The Philip- civilian authorities and the military in organizing a large pines and the US co-sponsored the ARF Voluntary Demonstration of Response (AFVDR) to undertake more scale disaster relief exercise, and promotes exchange of tangible forms of cooperation on humanitarian assistance expertise and practices in disaster management among ARF and disaster relief. [...] Assistant Secretary Daniel Russel of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs mentioned the importance of AADMER Work Programme 2 (2013- disseminating the lessons learned in the aftermath of Typhoon 2015) and the work of AHA Centre Haiyan and in improving the capabilities of the AHA Centre. [...] Salazar is a Senior Foreign Affairs The views expressed in this publication are of the authors Research Specialist with the Center of International alone and do not reflect the official position of the Foreign Relations and Strategic Studies of the Foreign Service Institute, the Department of Foreign Affairs, or the Service Institute.