ASPECT Framework takes ASEAN high-level forum

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) led the opening of the two-day ASEAN High-Level Forum on the ASEAN Strategic Protocol for Emergency and Comprehensive Transformation (ASPECT) Framework at the Diamond Hotel in Malate, Manila.

Leaders from the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) and the Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) gathered to discuss strategic priorities and regional disaster response mechanisms through the framework.

“The ASPECT framework allows us to further translate our commitment to One ASEAN: One Response into practical arrangements that can work when speed is critical,” DSWD Undersecretary for Disaster Response and Management Group Diana Rose Cajipe said in her welcome message.

“This includes stronger information sharing, rapid deployment, cross-border coordination, pre-arranged support and better use of science, technology and partnerships,” she added.

Cajipe noted that the two-day forum aims to identify practical actions, operational changes and areas where existing ASEAN mechanisms can work together efficiently in disaster management.

The ASPECT Framework, outlined by ASEAN leaders, identifies six shared priorities for regional disaster response including digital and faster cross-border coordination, risk-informed action using science-based mechanisms, accessible emergency financing, a multi-hazard approach, and community-based, inclusive and protection-centered response.

The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) commended ASEAN for its decade-long leadership in regional cooperation and disaster response.

“For more than two decades, ASEAN has developed one of the world’s most advanced regional architectures for cooperation on disaster risk management,” UNDRR Head Kamal Kishore said in a video message.

Kishore stressed that the ASPECT Framework builds on ASEAN’s progress and opportunities to enhance interoperability, streamline operational processes and accelerate regional action on disaster response across Southeast Asia.

The DSWD together with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), meanwhile, introduced the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Innovations Gallery featuring innovations, technologies and partnerships of the country that contributed to risk-informed and live-saving actions and social protection.