The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) officially launched its ten-day induction course for the fifth batch of ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ASEAN-ERAT) on June 19 in Bogor, Indonesia.

According to the press release by AHA, the 100-hour course aims to prepare regional emergency responders in ASEAN for a faster and more coordinated response towards disasters.

The ASEAN-ERAT is formed to strengthen ASEAN’s preparedness and capacity to respond to disasters, ensuring rapid assessment has been conducted and that collective response from other ASEAN member states can be facilitated accordingly in timely manner.

This year, there are 29 participants who are representatives from ASEAN member states, civil society organisations, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the ASEAN Secretariat, the AHA Centre and also the current AHA Centre Executive (ACE) Programme Officers.

This fifth induction course is made possible by the support from the Indonesian Government (BNPB), the Singapore Government (Singapore Civil Defence Force), the Australian Government, the Japanese Government, the ASEAN Secretariat, as well as partners to the AHA Centre such as the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), the AADMER Partnership Group (APG) and Channel News Asia.-VNA