The Asian Development Bank has announced a grant of $1.3 million to advance disaster risk management in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) through technical assistance.
Southeast Asia is one of the most hazard-prone regions in Asia and the Pacific. The region suffered $91 billion in financial losses in 2004–2014 from the impacts of typhoons, storm surges, floods, drought, and earthquakes. Southeast Asia’s poor and vulnerable are also the ones most likely to be adversely affected when disasters strike.
To advance proactive integrated disaster risk management measures within ADB’s developing member countries (DMCs) in Southeast Asia, ADB and the Government of Canada established the Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRM) Fund in February 2013. The IDRM Fund funded 19 technical assistance projects, including knowledge-sharing activities, in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam.