Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T00:19:38.077Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Disaster Response in Southeast Asia: The ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Response and Emergency Management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2016

Gabrielle SIMM*
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Faculty of Law, [email protected]

Abstract

Southeast Asia includes some of the states at greatest risk of disasters worldwide, and ASEAN has been at the forefront of using international law to attempt to co-operate in disaster risk reduction and response. The ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) is a regional treaty that has been hailed as among the world’s best practice: progressive, comprehensive, and, unusually for a disaster instrument, legally binding. This paper evaluates ASEAN’s responses to two mega-disasters: Cyclone Nargis that hit Myanmar in May 2008 and Super-typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda that hit the Philippines in November 2013. The paper aims further to investigate the role of non-state actors, such as civil society and the private sector, in institutionalizing and implementing AADMER.

Type
Articles
Copyright
© Asian Journal of International Law 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Faculty of Law; Visiting Fellow, Australian Human Rights Centre, University of New South Wales Law. I acknowledge the excellent research assistance of Adrian Hizo, supported by a Macquarie University Faculty of Arts New Staff Grant in 2014. The research is informed by interviews with international organizations, NGOs, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies conducted in Geneva in 2014, and by speakers at a workshop on International Law and Disasters in the Asia Pacific region organized jointly by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Asia Pacific), Australian Red Cross, UTS and hosted by UNSW Law in Sydney in July 2015. Thanks to Ana Vrdoljak for comments on an earlier version.

References

1. The Indian Ocean tsunami also affected parts of South Asia, including Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives, as well as parts of southern and eastern Africa, including the Seychelles, Madagascar, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa. See generally “At-a-Glance: Countries Hit” BBC News (22 December 2005), online: BBC News <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4126019.stm>.

2. JAYASURIYA, Sisira and MCCAWLEY, Peter, The Asian Tsunami: Aid and Reconstruction after a Disaster (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2010) at 2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. On Aceh, see SAMADHI, Tjokorda Nirata, “BRR Aceh-Nias: Post-Disaster Reconstruction Governance” in Simon BUTT, Hitoshi NASU, and Luke NOTTAGE, eds., Asia Pacific Disaster Management: Comparative and Socio-Legal Perspectives (Berlin: Springer, 2014), at 165 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

3. See for example, FIDLER, David P., “Disaster Relief and Governance After the Indian Ocean Tsunami: What Role of International Law?” (2005) 6 Melbourne Journal of International Law 458 Google Scholar; TELFORD, John and COSGRAVE, John, “The International Humanitarian System and the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunamis” (2007) 31 Disasters 1 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed.

4. ALLES, Delphine, “Depoliticizing Natural Disasters to Enhance Human Security in a Sovereignty-Based Context: Lessons from Aceh (2004) to Yangon (2008)” in B.T.C. GUAN, ed., Human Security: Securing East Asia’s Future (Dordrecht: Springer, 2012), 157 at 162 Google Scholar.

5. ONG, Keng Yong, “Leadership in Asia After Tsunami”, remarks delivered by HE Ong Keng Yong, Secretary-General of ASEAN, at the Asian Leadership Conference 2005, Seoul, online: ASEAN <http://asean.org/?static_post=leadership-in-asia-after-tsunami-2>>Google Scholar.

6. ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response, 26 July 2005 (entered into force 24 December 2009), online: ASEAN <http://agreement.asean.org/media/download/20140119170000.pdf> [AADMER], art. 1(3). This definition informed and is consistent with the ILC draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters. which defines “disaster” as “a calamitous event or series of events resulting in widespread loss of life, great human suffering and distress, mass displacement, or large-scale material or environmental damage, thereby seriously disrupting the functioning of society”. “Protection of persons in the event of disasters: Titles and texts of the preamble and draft articles 1 to 19 of the draft articles on the protection of persons in the event of disasters adopted, on second reading, by the Drafting Committee”, UN Doc A/CN.4/L.871, 27 May 2016, art. 3(a). The AADMER definition includes disruption of a community, which is more localized than the ILC definition.

7. AADMER, art. 1(7).

8. “ASEAN Disaster Management Agreement to Enter into Force by End of 2009” (16 September 2009), online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/archive/PR-AADMER-EIF-End-2009.pdf>.

9. Preliminary Report on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, Report by Special Rapporteur Mr Eduardo Valencia-Ospina, UN Doc. A/CN.4/598 (2008), at para. 34; Sixth Report on the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters, Report by Special Rapporteur Mr Eduardo Valencia-Ospina, UN Doc. A/CN.4/ 652 2012, at para. 94; and ASEAN Secretariat, “ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response Work Programme 2010–15” (December 2013), online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/?static_post=asean-agreement-on-disaster-management-and-emergency-response-aadmer-work-programme-2010-2015-4th-reprint>at 4.

10. Discussion with IFRC delegates.

11. The Inter-American Convention to Facilitate Disaster Assistance, 7 June 1991, OAS Treaty Series No A-54 (1996) (entered into force 16 October 1996); Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, 26 February 1991, U.N.T.S. 2256 (entered into force 19 May 2002); The Agreement Among the Governments of the Participating States of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) on Collaboration in Emergency Assistance and Emergency Response to Natural and Man-Made Disasters, 15 April 1998, (entered into force 1 May 1999), online: BSEC <http://www.bsec-organization.org/documents/LegalDocuments/agreementmous/agr4/Documents/Emergencyagreement%20071116.pdf>. See also Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism [2013] OJ L347/924, online: EUR-Lex <http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex:32013D1313> [Decision on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism].

12. The Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters was replaced by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, online: UNISDR <http://www.unisdr.org/we/coordinate/sendai-framework>.

13. For example, disasters result in an average loss of two percent of GDP for up to five years in developing countries. See World Bank Group, “Investing in Resilience” (2015), online: Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction <https://www.gfdrr.org/sites/default/files/publication/Investing-in-Resilience_1.pdf> at 5.

14. For a Foucauldian reading of manuals comprising “soft law”, see JOHNS, Fleur, “Death, Disaster and Infra-legality in International Law” in Fleur Johns, Non-Legality in International Law: Unruly Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), at 185 Google Scholar.

15. See SHAW, Rajib and IZUMI, Takako, eds., Civil Society Organization and Disaster Risk Reduction: The Asian Dilemma (Tokyo: Springer, 2014)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

16. See TAN, Hsien-Li, “Non-State Actors in Southeast Asia: How does Civil Society Contribute Toward Norm-building in a State-centric Environment?” in Jean D’ASPREMONT, ed., Participants in the International Legal System: Multiple Perspectives on Non-State Actors in International Law (London: Routledge, 2011), at 109 Google Scholar.

17. These NGOs are ChildFund International, Oxfam, HelpAge International, Save the Children, Mercy Malaysia, Plan, and World Vision. See AAMDER Partnership Group, “Who We Are: Members”, online: AADMER Partnership Group <http://www.aadmerpartnership.org/who-we-are/members/>.

18. AADMER Partnership Group, “Evaluation Report 2013: Facilitating Partnerships of National and ASEAN DRR Authorities and Civil Society to Support AADMER Implementation” (2013), online: AADMER Partnership Group <http://www.aadmerpartnership.org/aadmer-partnership-group-evaluation-report-2013/> at 1 [AADMER Evaluation Report 2013].

19. COLLINS, Alan, Building a People-oriented Security Community: The ASEAN Way (London: Routledge, 2013) at 131 Google Scholar.

20. FIELD, Christopher B., BARROS, Vicente, STOCKER, Thomas F., QIN, Dahe, DOKKEN, David Jon, EBI, Kristie K., MASTRANDREA, Michael D., MACH, Katharine J., PLATTNER, Gian-Kasper, ALLEN, Simon K., TIGNOR, Melinda, and MIDGLEY, Pauline M., eds., Summary for Policy-makers, Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation: Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012) at 2 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21. Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), “General Classification”, online: CRED <http://www.emdat.be/classification>.

22. THOMAS, Vinod, ALBERT, Jose Ramon G., and PEREZ, Rosa T., “Climate-related Disasters in Asia and the Pacific”, Asian Development Bank (ADB) Working Paper No. 358, July 2013, online: ADB <http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/30323/ewp-358.pdf> at 10 +at+10>Google Scholar.

23. United Nations University and Alliance Development Works, “World Risk Report 2014” (2014), online: United Nations University <http://i.unu.edu/media/ehs.unu.edu/news/4070/11895.pdf>.

24. ASEAN Secretariat, “ASEAN Vision 2025 on Disaster Management”, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/storage/2016/02/ASEAN-Vision-2025-on-Disaster-ManagementAdopted.pdf> at para. 6 [ASEAN Vision 2025].

25. AADMER Work Programme 2016–2020, 16 December 2015, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/storage/2016/02/AADMER-Work-Programme-2016-2020ADOPTED.pdf> at 5 [AADMER Work Programme 2016–2020].

26. UNISDR and the World Bank, “Synthesis Report on Ten ASEAN Countries Disaster Risks Assessment” (December 2010), online: UNISDR <http://www.unisdr.org/files/18872_asean.pdf>.

27. PETZ, Daniel, “Strengthening Regional and National Capacity for Disaster Risk Management: The Case of ASEAN”, Brookings Institution, Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, November 2014, online: Brookings Institution <http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2014/11/05-south-east-asia-drm-petz/strengthening-regional-and-national-capacity-for-drm--case-of-asean-november-5-2014.pdf> at 25 +at+25>Google Scholar. On Indonesia, see BUTT, Simon, “Disaster Management Law in Indonesia: From Response to Preparedness?” in Butt et al., supra note 2 at 183 Google Scholar.

28. Bangkok Declaration, 8 August 1967, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/the-asean-declaration-bangkok-declaration-bangkok-8-august-1967/>.

29. Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia, 24 February 1976, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/treaty-amity-cooperation-southeast-asia-indonesia-24-february-1976/>, art. 2.

30. ACHARYA, Amitav, Constructing a Security Community in Southeast Asia: ASEAN and the Problem of Regional Order (London: Routledge, 2001)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

31. FAN, Lilianne and KREBS, Hanna B., “Regional Organizations and Humanitarian Action: The Case of ASEAN”, Humanitarian Policy Group, Working Paper, September 2014, at 7 Google Scholar.

32. ASEAN Secretariat, “ASEAN Member States”, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/asean/asean-member-states>; A. Ibrahim ALMUTTAQI, “The Case for Timor Leste’s Membership of ASEAN” Jakarta Post (11 October 2015), online: Jakarta Post <http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/10/11/the-case-timor-leste-s-membership-asean.html>.

33. ASEAN Secretariat, “About ASEAN: Overview”, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/asean/about-asean/overview>.

34. ASEAN Secretariat, “ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint” (2009), online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/wp-content/uploads/archive/5187-19.pdf> at 11.

35. ASEAN Regional Forum, online: ASEAN <http://aseanregionalforum.asean.org/gallery/arf-ism-on-dr.html>.

36. Partners are Australia, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia, and the US. See AHA Centre, “AADMER Work Programme Phase I: Accomplishment Report”, online: AHA Centre <http://www.ahacentre.org/download-file/default-file_admeer-iREmV3Qp0fnwe4gx.pdf> at 27 [AADMER Accomplishment Report].

37. United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), “ASEAN-UN Strategic Plan of Action on Disaster Management (2011–2015)”, online: UNOCHA <https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/ROAP/Partnership/FINAL%20ASEAN-UN%20SPA%20%282011-2015%29.pdf>.

38. Alisa TANG, “After Decade of Disasters, U.N. Shifts Its Asia Operations” Reuters (29 June 2015), online: Reuters <http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/30/us-asia-disaster-un-idUSKCN0PA03220150630#9BfAXEtHkrG6euBZ.97>.

39. Charter of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 20 November 2007 (entered into force 15 December 2008), online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/storage/images/ASEAN_RTK_2014/ASEAN_Charter.pdf> [ASEAN Charter].

40. ASEAN Declaration on Enhancing Cooperation in Disaster Management, 9 October 2013, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/storage/images/pdf/Final_Draft_ASEAN_Declaration_on_Disaster_Management_-_23rd_ASEAN_Summit.pdf> at para. 7.

41. UNOCHA-ROAP, “Disaster Response in Asia and the Pacific: A Guide to International Tools and Services”, online: UNOCHA <http://www.unocha.org/publications/asiadisasterresponse/> at 16–20; Elizabeth FERRIS and Daniel PETZ, “In the Neighbourhood: The Growing Role of Regional Organizations in Disaster Risk Management”, Brookings Institution, Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, February 2013, online: Brookings Institution <http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports/2013/02/regional-organizations-disaster-risk-ferris> at 63–76.

42. Collins, supra note 19 at 132.

43. ASEAN Agreement for the Facilitation of Search for Aircrafts in Distress and Rescue of Survivors of Aircraft Accidents, 14 April 1972, online: ASEAN <http://agreement.asean.org/media/download/20150407141705.pdf>; ASEAN Agreement for the Facilitation of Search of Ships in Distress and Rescue of Survivors of Ship Accidents, 15 May 1975, online: ASEAN <http://agreement.asean.org/media/download/20140119164542.pdf>.

44. Agreement on the ASEAN Food Security Reserve, 4 October 1979, online: ASEAN <http://agreement.asean.org/media/download/20140422150508.pdf>.

45. ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, adopted June 2002 (entered into force November 2003), online: ASEAN <http://haze.asean.org/?wpfb_dl=32>.

46. ASEAN Declaration on Mutual Assistance on Natural Disasters, 26 June 1976, online: AHA Centre <http://www.ahacentre.org/download-file/default-file_admeer-pOhDYAT20GEH11dy.pdf>.

47. ASEAN Vision 2025, supra note 24; Work Programme 2016–2020, supra note 25 at 3.

48. ASEAN Vision 2025, supra note 24 at para. 5.

49. For terms of reference, see Work Programme 2016–2020, supra note 25, annex 4.

50. ASEAN Secretariat, “ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Disaster Management (AMMDM)”, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/asean-socio-cultural/asean-ministerial-meeting-on-disaster-management-ammdm/>.

51. On the role of the Executive Secretary, see ASEAN Charter, supra note 39, art 11.2.b; for terms of reference of the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Coordinator, see Work Programme 2016–2020, supra note 25, annex 6.

52. ASEAN Earthquake Information Centre, “Introduction”, online: Government of Indonesia <http://aeic.bmkg.go.id/>.

53. Declaration on Action to Strengthen Emergency Relief, Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Prevention on the Aftermath of Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster of 26 December 2004, 6 January 2005, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/?static_post=declaration-on-action-to-strengthen-emergency-relief-rehabilitation-reconstruction-and-prevention-on-the-aftermath-of-earthquake-and-tsunami-disaster-of-26-december-2004>.

54. Jayasuriya and McCawley, supra note 2, chapter 6.

55. AADMER, art. 2.

56. Ibid.

57. Ibid., preamble.

58. Ibid., art. 3(1).

59. Ibid., art. 3(1) and (2). See also the ILC, Report on the Work of the Sixty-third Session (2011), chapter IX, Protection of persons in the event of disasters, draft article 11 and commentary at para. 2, ftn 619.

60. AADMER, art. 3(3).

61. For a list of selected Asian state practice (e.g. Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, the Philippines, and Cambodia), see Rebecca BARBER, “Localising the Humanitarian Toolkit: Lessons from Recent Philippines Disasters” (August 2013), online: Save the Children (Australia) <https://www.savethechildren.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/6558/Localising_the_Humanitarian_Toolkit_-_SC_Report_Aug_2013.pdf> at 4.

62. AADMER, art. 11(2).

63. Barber, supra note 61 at 17.

64. Guiding Principles Annexed to GA Res 46/182 (1991) on Strengthening of the Coordination of the Humanitarian Emergency Assistance of the United Nations, UN Doc. A/RES/46/182 (1991), para. 3.

65. In the context of the 2011 floods, see BARBER, Rebecca, “Responding to Emergencies in Southeast Asia: Can we do Better?” (September 2012), online: Save the Children (Australia) <https://www.savethechildren.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/6561/SC_report._Review_of_2011_southeast_Asia_floods.pdf> at 22 +at+22>Google Scholar.

66. Ibid., at 15.

67. AADMER, art. 3(4) and (5).

68. Ibid., art. 3(6).

69. Ibid., art. 4(1).

70. Ibid., art. 4(b)(c)(d).

71. Ibid., art. 5.

72. Ibid., art. 6.

73. Ibid., art. 8.

74. Ibid., art. 7: obligations subject to qualification “as appropriate”.

75. Ibid., art. 10.

76. Ibid., art. 11(2).

77. Ibid., art. 1(12) and (13).

78. Ibid., art. 1(1).

79. Ibid., art. 11(4) and (5).

80. Decision on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism, supra note 11, preamble and para. 1.

81. AADMER, art. 12.

82. Ibid., art. 12(3).

83. Ibid., art. 12(4).

84. UNOCHA, “Guidelines on the Use of Foreign Military and Civil Defence Assets in Disaster Relief (Oslo Guidelines)” (November 2007), online: UNOCHA <https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Documents/Oslo%20Guidelines%20ENGLISH%20(November%202007).pdf>.

85. APC-MADRO, “Asia-Pacific Regional Guidelines for the Use of Foreign Military Assets in Natural Disaster Response Operations” (14 January 2014), online: UNOCHA <https://docs.unocha.org/sites/dms/Documents/Guidelines-APC%20MADRO-%20Final.pdf>.

86. SARI, Aurel, “The Status of Armed Forces in Public International Law: Jurisdiction and Immunity” in Alexander ORAKHELASHVILI, ed., Research Handbook on Jurisdiction and Immunities in International Law (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 2015), at 319 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

87. For example, AADMER, arts. 15(1) and 12(2) refer to military personnel being permitted to wear uniform, and the prohibition on carrying arms, respectively.

88. Ibid., art. 12(1).

89. Ibid., arts. 13 and 14.

90. See for example, the Model Agreement Covering the Status of National Elements of the EADRU on Mission on the Territory of a Stricken Nation, in annex 4 of the Standing Operating Procedures for the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Unit (EADRU), online: NATO <http://www.nato.int/eadrcc/sop/sop.htm>.

91. See further US Department of Defense Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, ASEAN Disaster Management Reference Handbook 2015, online: CFE-DMHA <https://www.cfe-dmha.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=3ZJKfisgWnk%3d&portalid=0> at 33–43, 61–5.

92. AADMER, art. 20(1).

93. Ibid., annex.

94. Ibid.

95. Petz, supra note 26 at 13.

96. Ibid.

97. Ibid., at 29.

98. Humanitarian Futures Programme, “ECOWAS-ASEAN Exchange”, online: Humanitarian Futures Programme <http://www.humanitarianfutures.org/forewarn/ecowas-asean-exchange/>.

99. AADMER, art. 24.

100. AADMER Accomplishment Report, supra note 35 at 28–9.

101. AADMER, art. 24.

102. AADMER Accomplishment Report, supra note 35 at 5–6.

103. Ibid., at 12.

104. For more on the Japan-US-Philippines Civil-Military Disaster Preparedness Initiative, see EHRENFELD, Jon and AANENSON, Charles, Frameworks and Partnerships: Improving HA/DR in the Asia Pacific (Seattle, WA: Peace Winds America, 2015)Google Scholar.

105. ASEAN Charter, art. 1(13).

106. CARREON, Lilian Mercado, “Working with ASEAN on Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management” Humanitarian Exchange Magazine (May 2011)Google Scholar, online: Overseas Development Institute: <http://www.odihpn.org/humanitarian-exchange-magazine/issue-50/working-with-asean-on-disaster-risk-reduction-and-disaster-management>.

107. AADMER Partnership Group, “Where We Work”, online: APG <http://www.aadmerpartnership.org>.

108. Carreon, supra note 106.

109. AADMER Evaluation Report 2013, supra note 18 at 15.

110. AADMER Accomplishment Report, supra note 35.

111. Ibid., at 23.

112. Ibid.

113. AADMER Evaluation Report 2013, supra note 18 at 12.

114. Ibid., at 8.

115. Ibid.

116. Petz, supra note 27 at 27.

117. See Alex ROBINSON, “Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction: Reflecting on Haiyan”; HelpAge, “Older People Disproportionately Affected by Typhoon Haiyan”; Save the Children, Plan, UNICEF, and World Vision, “After Yolanda: What Children Think, Need and Recommend”, online: AADMER Partnership Group <http://www.aadmerpartnership.org/>.

118. Barber, supra note 65.

119. Collins, supra note 19 at 150.

120. Barber, supra note 66 at 19; ASEAN Secretariat, “Weathering the Perfect Storm: Lessons Learnt on the ASEAN’s Response to the Aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan” (2014), online: ASEAN <http://www.rcrc-resilience-southeastasia.org/document/weathering-the-perfect-storm/> at 7 [The Perfect Storm].

121. ASEAN Vision 2025, supra note 24 at para. 19.

122. AADMER Work Programme 2016–2020, supra note 25 at 46.

123. ASEAN Vision 2025, supra note 24 at para. 43.

124. Declaration on Institutionalising the Resilience of ASEAN and its Communities and Peoples to Disasters and Climate Change, 27 April 2015, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/declaration-on-institutionalising-the-resilience-of-asean-and-its-communities-and-peoples-to-disasters-and-climate-change/> at para. 5.

125. ASEAN Secretariat, “A Humanitarian Call: The ASEAN Response to Cyclone Nargis” (18 July 2010), online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/storage/images/2012/publications/A%20Humanitarian%20Call%20The%20ASEAN%20Response%20to%20Cyclone%20Nargis.pdf> at 9 [A Humanitarian Call].

126. Tripartite Core Group, “Post Nargis Joint Assessment Report”, July 2008, online: Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction <https://www.gfdrr.org/sites/default/files/GFDRR_Myanmar_Post-Nargis_Joint_Assessment_2008_EN.pdf>.

127. ASEAN Secretariat, “Compassion in Action: The Story of the ASEAN-led Coordination in Myanmar” (1 August 2010), online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/?static_post=compassion-in-action-the-story-of-the-asean-led-coordination-in-myanmar-2> [Compassion in Action].

128. See now the National Disaster Management Law, Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Law No. 21, 31 July 2013, online: <http://www.themimu.info/sites/themimu.info/files/documents/Natural_Disaster_Management_Law_2013_ENG.pdf>.

129. A Humanitarian Call, supra note 125 at 14.

130. Collins, supra note 19 at 139.

131. A Humanitarian Call, supra note 125 at 14.

132. “Myanmar to Allow Copters to Deliver Aid, U.N. Says” Associated Press (21 May 2008), online: New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/world/asia/21myanmar.html?_r=0>.

133. “Burma Shuns Foreign Aid Workers” BBC News (9 May 2008), online: BBC < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7391535.stm>; Julian BORGER and Ian MACKINNON, “UN: Burma Junta is Seizing International Storm Aid” The Guardian (10 May 2008), online: The Guardian <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/10/cyclonenargis.burma>.

134. MACKINNON, Ian and BORGER, Julian, “Burmese Junta Allows Neighbours to Provide Cyclone Aid” The Guardian (20 May 2008), online: The Guardian <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/20/burma.cyclonenargis>>Google Scholar.

135. CREACH, Yves-Kim and FAN, Lilianne, “ASEAN’s Role in the Cyclone Nargis Response: Implications, Lessons and Opportunities” Humanitarian Exchange Magazine (December 2008)Google Scholar, online: Overseas Development Institute <http://odihpn.org/magazine/asean%C2%92s-role-in-the-cyclone-nargis-response-implications-lessons-and-opportunities/>.

136. A Humanitarian Call, supra note 125 at 14.

137. It was assisted on the ground by representatives of the World Food Programme, UNOCHA, and the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team. See Compassion in Action, supra note 127 at 34–5.

138. ASEAN Secretariat, “ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assessment Team Mission Report, 9–18 May 2008: Cyclone Nargis, Myanmar”, online: ASEAN <http://www.asean.org/uploads/archive/21558.pdf> at para. 2.

139. Ibid., para. 1.

140. Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 23 May 1969, 1155 U.N.T.S. 331 (entered into force 27 January 1980), art. 18(b).

141. Surin Pitsuwan, cited in Compassion in Action, supra note 127 at 38.

142. LOEVY, Karin, “The Legal Politics of Jurisdiction: Understanding ASEAN’s Role in Myanmar’s Disaster, Cyclone Nargis (2008)” (2015) 5 Asian Journal of International Law 55 at 58 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

143. The Tripartite Core Group was assisted by an Advisory Group comprising representatives from China, India, Bangladesh, the UN, the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and NGOs. Donors Australia, Norway, and the UK joined later: Compassion in Action, supra note 127 at 41.

144. See further Compassion in Action, supra note 127 at 33.

145. “Myanmar Agrees to Accept ASEAN Cyclone Aid” CNN (19 May 2008), online: CNN <http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/05/19/myanmar.aid/index.html>.

146. Compassion in Action, supra note 127 at 29.

147. “Burmese Storm Toll ‘Tops 10,000’” BBC News (6 May 2008), online: BBC News <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7384041.stm>; Aid Data, “China Provides $10 million for Cyclone Nargis Emergency Response”, online: Aid Data <http://china.aiddata.org/projects/34291>.

148. Compassion in Action, supra note 127.

149. Matthew WEAVER, “Cyclone Nargis: The Relief Effort in Burma” The Guardian (7 May 2008), online: The Guardian <http://www.theguardian.com/news/blog/2008/may/07/cyclonenargisinburmathere>.

150. “Burma Continues to Reject Help” BBC News (13 May 2008), online: BBC News <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7397617.stm>.

151. “France Angered by Burmese Delays” BBC News (17 May 2008), online: BBC News <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7405998.stm>; Seth MYDANS, “Myanmar Faces Pressure to Allow Major Aid Effort” New York Times (8 May 2008), online: New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/world/asia/08myanmar.html?_r=0>.

152. RENSHAW, Catherine Shanahan, “Disasters, Despots, and Gun-boat Diplomacy” in David D. CARON, Michael J. KELLY, and Anastasia TELESETSKY, eds., The International Law of Disaster Relief (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 164 at 177 Google Scholar.

153. Collins, supra note 19 at 138; Andrew SELTH, “Even Paranoids Have Enemies: Cyclone Nargis and Myanmar’s Fears of Invasion” (2008) 30 Contemporary Southeast Asian Studies 379.

154. CHACHAVALPONGPUN, Pavin and THUZAR, Moe, Myanmar: Life after Nargis (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2009) at 74 Google Scholar.

155. There are similarities with the 2015 earthquake in Nepal being regarded as potentially rescuing the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation from irrelevance: Chanakya, “SAARC’s Resurrection May Lie in Nepal’s Tragedy” Hindustan Times (2 May 2015), online: Hindustan Times < http://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/saarc-s-resurrection-may-lie-in-the-nepal-tragedy/story-gnp6iej51Ob0AfxE17VPtL.html>.

156. Collins, supra note 19.

157. Ibid., at 144.

158. AMADOR, Julio Santiago III, “Community-building at the Time of Nargis: The ASEAN Response” (2009) 28 Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 3 at 17 Google Scholar. See further “Deployment of ASEAN Emergency Rapid Assessment Team to Assess 2011 Floods on the Basis of Agreement Between the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ASEAN Secretary-General”, Barber, supra note 65 at 18.

159. Loevy, supra note 142 at 91.

160. BROWER, Ralph S., MAGNO, Francisco A., and DILLING, Janet, “Evolving and Implementing a New Disaster Management Paradigm: The Case of the Philippines” in Naim KAPUCU and Kuotsai Tom LIOU, eds., Disaster and Development: Examining Global Issues and Cases (Cham: Springer, 2014), 289 at 292 Google Scholar.

161. Barber, supra note 61 at 6.

162. “Typhoon Haiyan: Worse than Hell” The Economist (16 November 2013), online: The Economist <http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21589916-one-strongest-storms-ever-recorded-has-devastated-parts-philippines-and-relief> [Worse than Hell].

163. International Institute for Strategic Studies, “Asian Disaster Relief: Lessons of Haiyan” (2014) 2 Strategic Comments iii [Lessons of Haiyan]Google Scholar.

164. The Perfect Storm, supra note 120.

165. Fan and Krebs, supra note 31 at 11.

166. The Perfect Storm, supra note 120 at 3.

167. Worse than Hell, supra note 162.

168. Ibid.

169. Brower et al., supra note 160 at 298.

170. Ibid., at 290.

171. Ibid., at 297.

172. HOFMANN, Charles-Antoine, FISHER, David, SCHMIDT, Mel, and NOGRA, Joseph, “Learning Review of the Cooperation Between the Government of the Philippines and Humanitarian Actors in Their Response to Typhoon Yolanda” (18 June 2014), online: DRD Initiative <http://www.drdinitiative.org/v2/files/armadillo/media/DRDlearningreviewFINAL5Aug.pdf> at 18 +at+18>Google Scholar.

173. Petz, supra note 27 at 24.

174. KOH, Kheng-Lian and EISMA OSORIO, Rose-Liza, “The Role of ASEAN in Disaster Management: Legal Frameworks and Case Study of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda” in KOH Kheng-Lian, Ilan KELMAN, Robert KIBUGI, and Rose-Liza EISMA OSORIO, eds., Adaptation to Climate Change: ASEAN and Comparative Experiences (Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd, 2016), 455 at 486 Google Scholar.

175. Department for International Development, “What Works in Addressing Violence Against Women and Girls? Lessons Learned from Typhoon Haiyan: Workshop Report” (2015), online: <https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-works-in-addressing-violence-against-women-and-girls>.

176. Brower et al., supra note 160 at 302–5.

177. The Perfect Storm, supra note 120 at 27–9, 5.

179. UNOCHA, “Philippines: Typhoon Haiyan—Situation Report No 27” (26 December 2013), online: UNOCHA <https://www.unhcr.org.hk/files/2014%20Emergency/Phillippines/jan%208/OCHAPhilippinesTyphoonHaiyanSitrepNo27.27December2013.pdf> at 2.

180. The Perfect Storm, supra note 120 at 52.

181. Ibid., at 42.

182. Lessons of Haiyan, supra note 163 at iv.

183. Hofmann et al., supra note 172 at 16.

184. Lessons of Haiyan, supra note 163 at iii.

185. KEITHLEY, Steven, “ASEAN Slowly Gets Up to Speed on Haiyan” The Diplomat (23 November 2013), online: The Diplomat <http://thediplomat.com/2013/11/asean-slowly-gets-up-to-speed-on-haiyan/>; Jeffrey WRIGHT, “Wherefore Art Thou ASEAN? Typhoon Haiyan’s Teachable Moment” The Internationalist (20 November 2013), online: Council on Foreign Relations <http://blogs.cfr.org/patrick/2013/11/18/wherefore-art-thou-asean-typhoon-haiyans-teachable-moment/>;+Jeffrey+WRIGHT,+“Wherefore+Art+Thou+ASEAN?+Typhoon+Haiyan’s+Teachable+Moment”+The+Internationalist+(20+November+2013),+online:+Council+on+Foreign+Relations+>Google Scholar.

186. This compares with NGOs that sent twenty to fifty staff each, and UNOCHA that deployed 150–170 staff at a time: The Perfect Storm, supra note 120 at 35–6.

187. Ibid., at 5, 38.

188. Ibid., at 62, 19.

189. Ibid., at 64, 10.

190. AADMER Work Programme 2016–2020, supra note 25 at 73.

191. ZYCK, Steven A., FAN, Lilianne, and PRICE, Clare, “ASEAN and Humanitarian Action: Progress and Potential—Jakarta Expert Roundtable” (2014), online: Humanitarian Policy Group and Center for Strategic and International Studies <http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/events-documents/5081.pdf> at 3 +at+3>Google Scholar.

192. AADMER Work Programme 2016–2020, supra note 25 at 108.

193. The Perfect Storm, supra note 120 at 12.

194. AADMER Work Programme 2016–2020, supra note 25 at 61.

195. The Perfect Storm, supra note 120 at 11.

196. AADMER Work Programme 2016–2020, supra note 25 at 62.

197. Adelina Kamal, who led the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team, cited in Compassion in Action, supra note 127 at 29.

198. Fan and Krebs, supra note 31 at 13.

199. I am grateful to an anonymous reviewer for this point.

200. ASEAN Vision 2025, supra note 24 at para. 40.