ASEAN Accelerates Innovation, Data Sharing, and Partnerships for Early Warning Systems

MANILA, Philippines— The ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Disaster Resilience (AMCDR) 2026 opened the third session bringing together disaster management leaders, public safety officials, and international partners to discuss concrete ways to translate regional frameworks into local action and strengthen public protection systems across the region.  Opening the discussion, National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Executive Director and Administrator of the Office of Civil Defense, Undersecretary Harold N. Cabreros stressed that regional commitments only gain real value when converted into concrete, localized actions where disasters strike. He emphasized the need to give local government units the authority and funding they need, modernize civil defense systems, and strictly enforce accountability to protect lives, livelihood, and critical infrastructure. "Regional commitments can only translate into resilience outcomes if local governments and frontline institutions have the authority, resources, information, and technical capacity to act," Usec. Cabreros emphasized. He highlighted that strengthening local capacities should extend beyond preparedness and response to include risk anticipation and foresight, ensuring hazard and impact data directly inform local decision-making. Usec. Cabreros added that while national governments bear the responsibility of providing the necessary policy, institutional, financial, and capacity-building support, local governments and frontline institutions must remain accountable for translating these resources into concrete measures on the ground. The discussion brought together regional and international perspectives and was moderated by Mr. Ronaldo Reario of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA). Speakers included Mr. Teong How Hwa, Deputy Commissioner for Strategy and Corporate Services, Singapore; and His Excellency Mr. So Socheath, Advisor to Cambodia’s National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM). Framing conversations around the 20-year milestone of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER), speakers focused on the critical necessity of empowering frontline communities while modernizing civil defense architectures to withstand multi-hazard disasters. “Disaster risk reduction or resilience cannot sit solely with the disaster management authority, which in this case is the Singapore Civil Defence Force. We believe that disaster management responsibility must be integrated across areas such as land use planning, infrastructure, health, environmental management, and also the continuity of essential services,” Mr. Teong emphasized. He noted that embedding disaster risk considerations across all key government sectors forms the core of Singapore's national strategy, which also guides its contributions to regional policy frameworks under ASEAN. The session also highlighted the importance  of practical cooperation, and regional interoperability, particularly using ASEAN mechanisms and  arrangements.  Singapore’s Operation Lionheart and India’s NDRF operational models were cited as examples of how to strengthen mutual assistance, cross-border response capacity, and critical infrastructure resilience in alignment with the Sendai Framework. Delegates further underscored that localization must be people-centered and responsive to local needs.  Discussions emphasized that engaging local governance, academia, businesses, communities, civil society, must be fully integrated into disaster preparedness structures to ensure no community is left behind.  AHA Centre and ASEAN representatives framed the session's overarching purpose as a transition toward strict implementation and accountability. To ensure regional declarations translate into tangible resilience on the ground, progress should be assessed not only through  frameworks and , but also through  measurable outcomes in community preparedness, capacities of local institutions, protection of the vulnerable populations, continuity of essential services, and resilient recovery across Member States. As  climate-related hazards, and other emerging and systemic risks continue to increase and affect communities  across Southeast Asia, the panelists affirmed the importance of fully institutionalizing and localizing the AADMER Work Programme 2026-2030. The session underscored the need to translate regional commitments into practical action at the national and local levels, ensuring that communities are better equipped to anticipate, prepare, respond, and recover from disasters.