Translate commitment into reality

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.