Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Strengthening of Community Resilience in Southeast Asia.

In a statement received here Thursday, it was explained that the MoU provides the scope and main areas of cooperation on matters of mutual interest in the strengthening of community resilience at regional, national, and local levels in the region.

The document was signed by Secretary-General of the IFRC Jagan Chapagain and Secretary-General of ASEAN Dato Lim Jock Hoi on the sidelines of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) in Bali.

“In the face of increasing frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters due to climate change, in one of the world’s most disaster-prone regions, coupled with an increasingly complex humanitarian landscape, we must build strategic partnerships to enhance our resilience as one ASEAN community,” Lim Jock Hoi remarked.

The MoU also encompasses areas such as disaster management, disaster risk reduction, disaster law, health in emergencies, disaster relief and emergency response, gender, youth, and climate change.

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It is also said to have marked a significant milestone in ASEAN’s longstanding cooperation with the IFRC which has supported the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) in the implementation of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response and its work programmes.

Meanwhile, IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain said “through this partnership our common goal is to put communities in Southeast Asia at the centre by building individual and community capacities that help reduce humanitarian needs and avert loss and damage caused by the climate crisis.”

In regard to the 2022 GPDRR, both sides expressed commitment to supporting the theme of from Risk to Resilience: Towards Sustainable Development or All in a COVID-19 Transformed World, as well as the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

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Reporter: Aria Cindyara
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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