ASEAN-Plus nations hold exercises on humanitarian assistance, disaster relief
The Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Experts' Working Group (EWG) of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) launched live exercises in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on October 16.
The exercises attract the participation of representatives from the Defence Ministries and HADR experts from 18 ADMM-Plus member states, the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre). (Photo: VNA)
Jakarta (VNA) – The Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief(HADR) Experts' Working Group (EWG) of the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting-Plus(ADMM-Plus) launched live exercises in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on October 16.
Held from October 16-20, the exercises were co-chaired byIndonesia and India, attracting the participation of representatives from theDefence Ministries and HADR experts from 18 ADMM-Plus member states, the ASEANSecretariat and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance onDisaster Management (AHA Centre).
During this exercise, an 8.8-magnitude earthquake is assumed to happen in 20seconds on the island of Java, resulting in a 22m high tsunami, causing seriousdamage throughout the southern region of Java island. Faced with thatsituation, a large-scale humanitarian assistance and disaster relief campaignwould attract the participation of ASEAN members and partner countries.
It also includes roundtable discussions on ASEAN's operational mechanism indisaster management through the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for RegionalStandby Arrangements and Coordination of Joint Disaster Relief and EmergencyResponse Operations, SOP of ASEAN Militaries Ready Group (AMRG), SOP of Multi-NationalCoordination Centre (MNCC), and that of each country for receiving internationalhumanitarian assistance.
This year's event also includes field exercises onimplementing the mechanism for receiving international support based on theabove-mentioned SOPs, as well as implementing the response, recovery andreconstruction phases, such as search and rescue (SAR), emergency medical teams(EMTs), and post-disaster social services./.
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The exercises attract the participation of representatives from the Defence Ministries and HADR experts from 18 ADMM-Plus member states, the ASEAN Secretariat and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre). (Photo: VNA) 
