Activity Report

20-21 May 2025 Cambodia

Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC) facilitated two back-to-back consultations on the development of AADMER Work Programme 2026-2030 at the sidelines of the 46th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) and the 7th ASEAN Disaster Resilience Platform (ADRP) meeting, 20-21 May 2025, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. AADMER (ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response)is a regional and legally-binding agreement signed on 26 July 2005 and enacted on 24 December 2009. Since its enactment, ACDM has developed three AADMER Work Programmes: AWP 2010-2015, AWP 2016-2020, and AWP 2021-2025. The AWP 2026-2030 is currently being drafted with ADRC serving as consultant.

The first consultation, held on 20 May 2025, was focused on seeking the views of ACDM members on the draft contents of the AADMER Work Programme 2026-2030, particularly: i) the vision; ii) priority program outcomes; iii) outputs, and iv) implementation mechanism and the monitoring and evaluation framework.

The second consultation, held on 21 May 2025, was focused on seeking the views of ASEAN Sectoral Bodies (ASBs), primarily among the members of the ADRP, which is the main mechanism pursuing synergy and cross-sectoral collaboration using AADMER as the regional policy platform. The areas of consultation included: i) validation of the list of ASBs involved in cross-sectoral outputs, ii) confirmation of the mechanism identified; and iii) verification of possible joint collaborations with ACDM.

Participants in both consultations provided meaningful insights and guidance in updating the draft AWP 2026-2030.

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22 May 2025, Cambodia

The 9th ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management (ACDM) + Japan Meeting

was held on 22 May 2025, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Various activities which have been supported under the "ASEAN-Japan Work Plan on Disaster Management 2021-2025" were reported during the meeting. It was highlighted that the ASEAN DRR cooperation frameworks supported by Japan made significant contributions during Typhoon Yagi, which
struck Vietnam and other ASEAN countries in September 2024, and the earthquake that occurred in Myanmar in March 2025. As a part of the program, Mr SASAHARA Akio, Executive Director of the ADRC, proposed the second phase of two projects aimed at promoting the ASEAN-Japan Disaster Management Cooperation Work Plan 2021--2025: "Promotion of Database Linkage and Capacity Enhancement through Utilization of GLIDE" and the "Pilot Project on Utilization of State-of-Art Communication Technologies for CBDRM and Disaster Emergency Management." Regarding the GLIDE-related activities, the AHA Centre, which is expected to become a co-proponent of the project, expressed its support. With regard to the CBDRM activities, the representative from Malaysia, one of the target countries of the project, expressed their support and high expectations for the proposal.

On the final day of the meeting, a field trip was organized to World Heritage sites such as Angkor Wat, providing participants with an opportunity to deepen their exchanges with one another.

27-30 May 2025 in Seoul, Republic of Korea

Under the auspices of the Cabinet Office Government of Japan, ADRC has been participating in the Typhoon Committee's Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction (WGDRR) meetings and actively collaborates with other members in implementing joint activities. The GLIDE number system, pioneered by ADRC, is an integral part of the WGDRR's annual operations plan (AOP) wherein members use the GLIDE number in reporting their respective typhoon disasters.

The 20th WGDRR annual meeting was held on 27-30 May 2025 in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Around 50 participants from members and representatives from UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Typhoon Committee Secretariat (TCS), DRR members (China, Hong Kong China, Japan, Lao PDR, Macao China, Malaysia, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Thailand, USA (Guam), Vietnam) and Advisory Working Group (AWG) members participated in the meeting. The main objective of the meeting is to review this year AOPs and discuss the AOPs of 2026. Participants presented their membership report and exchanged valuable insights on disaster risk and reduction issues.

During the meeting, the members renewed their interest to continue using GLIDE (e.g., Japan Meteorological Agency, which is proposing to harmonize the assignment of local typhoon IDs) while the partners expressed their deeper commitment to strengthening linkages with GLIDE (e.g., WMO, which is continually updating the classification of hazards and typhoon databases).

For the forthcoming Typhoon Committee events, the WGDRR will be engaged in the following: (i) 20th Integrated Workshop (IWS), 3-5 December 2025 in Macao, China; and (ii) 58th Session of the Typhoon Committee, March 2026 in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea.

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From 11 to 18 May 2025

(Left) Lecture by the Cabinet Office, Government of Japan

(Right) Visit to the Kamenose Landslide & History Reference Room

This study visit welcomed 20 middle level officials, each with over five years of experience in disaster management organisations, from nine ASEAN Member States (excluding Vietnam), along with four accompanying staff members from the AHA Centre. During the visit, they attended lectures from various Japanese organisations, such as the Cabinet Office of Japan, Hyogo Prefectural Government, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the ADRC. They also visited several disaster management facilities, such as the Arakawa Lower River Management Office, the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution (DRI), the Tsunami and Storm Surge Disaster Prevention Station, and the Kamenose Landslide Historical Museum deepening their understanding of Japan's disaster management policies. As an example of private sector initiatives for DRR, the participants visited Geosphere Environmental Technology Corp., where they learned about technologies for pre-disaster and disaster risk reduction planning, as well as real-time watershed monitoring using an advanced watershed water circulation model.

As part of the programme, the participants also visited Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, the theme of which is "Designing Future Society for Our Lives." There, they explored innovative approaches to addressing global challenges such as carbon neutrality and digital transformation, which are also relevant to DRR, with a focus on diverse values and inclusive solutions.

Visit to the ASEAN Pavilion of EXPO2025, Osaka, Kansai

At the conclusion of the visit, the participants shared what they had learned and presented key takeaways and insights on enhancing disaster management efforts in their respective countries. Upon their return to Indonesia, the participants continued to reflect on their experiences and began formulating action plans based on the knowledge and skills gained through the ACE-LEDMP programme.

One of the final presentations on "Bosai Window"

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May 2025

ADRC participated in an international scientific and practical conference

entitled "Monitoring and Forecasting Climate-related Natural Disasters" for strengthening early warning and resilience through science, innovation, and partnerships, held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. ADRC gave a presentation related to the activities of Sentinel Asia. The presentation included an overview of Sentinel Asia, and examples of emergency observation requests (EOR) submitted by the Sentinel Asia members in the past. Participants noted that landslides are a significant challenge in Kyrgyzstan and expressed interest in utilising satellite imagery for image analysis and other applications.

Presentation by Dr IKEDA Makoto, ADRC Senior Researcher

In addition to participating in the conference, ADRC representatives visited the Central Asian Institute of Applied Geosciences (CAIAG) on behalf of Sentinel Asia, and exchanged opinions on the future activities of Sentinel Asia. CAIAG suggested that satellite images and image analysis results provided through EOR should be shared with disaster risk management agencies as appropriate.

Extracts from the ADRC presentation: (Left) Explanation on EOR, (Right) Good practices of EOR

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