Talking on the sidelines of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) on June 13, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Deputy Head of the National Steering Committee on Disaster Management Disaster Prevention and Control said that Viet Nam has proposed to expand the model of a humanitarian assistance coordination center for natural disasters in Viet Nam and other countries in the region.
Deputy Minister Nguyen Hoang Hiep informed that, after the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) was signed in 2005, the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management in Viet Nam (AHA) was established in 2011 with the aim of enhancing cooperation among ASEAN members in coordinating disaster response in the region, and in line with the declaration of "One ASEAN, One Response" of the region.
Currently, the ASEAN AHA Center is located in the Philippines, this is a model with support and funding from international organizations and units. From the operation of this model, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is proposing to build a similar model in the central region of Viet Nam. This center will have appropriate stockpiles, equipment and necessities.
It is forecast that the El Nino phenomenon will appear in the second half of the summer of 2023 and remain until 2024 with a high probability of about 70-80% and will last, with complicated developments like 2015-2016, including: drought, forest fire and abnormal saltwater intrusion. In particular, Viet Nam and the Philippines are two countries that are greatly affected.
Over the years, Viet Nam has received active support from the AHA Center in many disasters and natural disasters. The basic operating process and mechanism of the center to respond in case of natural disasters and disasters and support people. When there is a disaster in a certain country, this center has the coordination of human and material support in a timely manner. Therefore, it is necessary to have many central models like AHA located in different countries.