"The Asia and Pacific region is the supermarket of disasters” Ms Adelina Kamal, Executive Director of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, highlighted in her opening words to the plenary. With hydrometeorological hazards accounting for at least 90% of the disasters in the region, Asia-Pacific is the most disaster-prone region in the world. Furthermore, she stressed the urgent need for action. Ms Kamal’s talk coincides with the 9th birthday of the AHA Centre that continues to strengthen its position as a regional hub of knowledge in disaster management, including anticipatory action, for the humanitarian community.
As Head of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management, Ms Kamal urged that the ASEAN region must transition to a forecast-based humanitarian response. Here, not only governments, NGOs and regional organizations bear a responsibility but also the humanitarian community as a whole. She emphasized that the community can and should make a transformative change to strengthen anticipatory action in the future taking a no-regret-approach.