ASEAN to set up disaster center

ASEAN to set up disaster center

BANDUNG: Representatives of the member states of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United
Nations and other international organizations are in Bandung for
a two-day seminar on disaster management and emergency responses
that began on Wednesday.

The director general of ASEAN affairs at the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Marty Natalegawa, said the seminar was being
held to explore the establishment of a regional center for
humanitarian assistance.

"An ASEAN center would improve the capacity of member
countries to provide quick-response humanitarian assistance in
case of natural disasters," Marty said.

If it materialized, the center would compile data on the
financial and human resources each member country could commit to
disaster relief efforts.

"Each country could just call the center when it came to a
disaster. The center would play a coordinating role," said Marty.

The ASEAN center would back up national efforts to deal with
natural disasters.

Such regional cooperation in response to natural disasters is
seen as urgent following the deadly tsunami last December. -- JP