Translate commitment into reality

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Jakarta

Because we are all vulnerable as human beings, we must reach out to one another and join hands in tackling the miseries of the human condition today as well as the challenges of our common, long-term survival.

We in the affected countries must, first of all, strengthen our transnational, multi-sectoral collaboration in addressing the ongoing crisis and in ensuring our preparedness to quickly and effectively deal with similar crises in the future.

This means transnational coordination of relevant government agencies. It entails mobilizing, on a transnational basis, all sectors of society -- including media and civil society -- in a common effort at disaster prevention and management. When we speak of a "community of caring societies" in our region, we should be referring to this sort of massive collaboration.

Let us make an intensive review of the existing regional mechanisms for disaster management, strengthen them, give them muscle, and put them to good use.

We have an ASEAN Regional Program on Disaster Management, which commit members of the ASEAN family to develop a regional instrument to coordinate and make easier the movement of assistance across borders.

Let us now translate that commitment into concrete reality.

We have a Plan of Action toward the establishment of an ASEAN Security Community, which provides the use of military forces and logistics for rescue and relief operations.

Let us now give substance to that provision of the Plan by establishing a stand-by mechanism for the instant use of military and civil defense resources to save lives during a disaster.

Given the experience of setting up a tsunami warning system in the Pacific Ocean area, the cost of putting up a similar system on the Indian Ocean rim should be much less. At any rate, as a world community, we should not be counting costs today, so that in the future we will not be counting lives lost.

Let us make the first move to build that system in this Meeting.

For transnational coordination to be effective, there must be strong national programs and mechanisms to coordinate. This means the gathering and deployment of resources to carry out capacity- building in all vulnerable countries.

Self-reliant as we should like to be, we cannot muster all the necessary resources for emergency relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction. For all affected countries, the combined costs of rehabilitation and reconstruction will definitely be staggering. In this regard, we truly appreciate the help already received and pledges of support from governments and peoples all over the world.

We must also ensure that we benefit from the experience of the United Nations in establishing and managing a special emergency fund for emergency relief efforts and for enhancing our preparedness for future disasters.

We must ensure the effective role played by UN offices in the affected countries in coordinating emergency relief efforts. In this regard, there is a need for the UN Secretary General to appoint a Special Representative to coordinate the efforts of those UN offices.

We must also secure an effective role for the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in our respective national efforts to rehabilitate and reconstruct the cities, villages and the livelihood of people in the disaster areas.

When the crisis has passed, let us not go back to business as usual, only to become a solid community again when another disaster strikes.

By habitually working together in the spirit of solidarity, we secure ourselves not only from the fury of natural disasters but also from the folly of human conflict. That, in the long term, is the only way the human race can survive.

The article is an excerpt from the president's speech at the Special ASEAN Leaders' Meeting on the Aftermath of the Earthquake and Tsunami.