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Southeast Asia: Annual Report 2014 (MAA51001)

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Overview

ASEAN region is undoubtedly a very dynamic region in Asia and the Pacific. With Indonesia accounting for two-fifth of regional output, value added in South-East Asia (SEA) continues to grow by 5 percent in 2014. According to the World Bank, Singapore and Brunei are the only ASEAN countries that are considered high income. Malaysia and Thailand are categorized as upper-middle income economies, while Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam are lowerincome economies. Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar, on the other hand are categorized as low income. In spite of progress in reducing poverty, the region still faces development challenges and gaps closely associated with social inequities. Irregular migration and human trafficking remain significant challenges that will continue to increase in the coming years. Migration public health, concerns the governments, particularly the re-emerging infectious disease such as tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and malaria. Natural disasters and conflict in certain areas also pose on-going threats to population and have resulted in the displacement of significant numbers of people.

However, growing levels of wealth and the resultant penetration of new technologies, means that innovation is necessary if the Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies are to maintain our privileged position within the humanitarian community. Shifting disaster and developmental trends, driven by factors such as climate change, rapid urbanization and weakening social structures, demands more strategic, evidence-based approach to communications and advocacy. This growing focus on the development agenda (Community Safety and Resilience-CSR, National Society Development-NSD, Communication and Advocacy/Humanitarian Diplomacy-HD) in SEA is part of a broader effort in 2014 to re-imagine and reposition the regional delegation in a rapidly changing Red Cross and Red Crescent context. There is a clear need to innovate; adapting our ways of working and communication and understanding better our operating context. Focus has been placed on working on profiling the needs of vulnerable communities, using Bangkok as the third largest humanitarian hub in the world to position the Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies in the region.

In 2014, the SEA region has witnessed widespread natural calamities (Indonesia, Lao and Philippines) and political instability (Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand), which had impacted some of the planned activities towards the end of the year.

The resilience agenda has been structured maximizing health, disaster risk reduction (DRR), NSD, climate risk reduction and public health in emergencies as well as other cross-cutting components as defined in the “Resilience House Model” and “Regional Road Map” of Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies of the region. The project on building regional capacity and collaboration for community resilience in SEA (Regional Resilience Initiative – RRI, previously named C3R) commenced as a regional project to provide platform for National Societies to explore opportunities in order to build their capacity towards strengthening advocacy/ HD, disaster law and gender and diversity components in National Societies programming, along with technical competencies on DRR, climate change, pandemic preparedness and response preparedness. The project also facilitated to strengthen the links between the National Disaster Management Authority of the specific country along with other stakeholders including ASEAN Secretariat, Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies, which ultimately has added value in forging strong partnership and provided an opportunity to be better placed within a specific country.

The key highlights of the Regional Community Safety and Resilience Forum (RCSRF) in September were the agreement of participated National Societies to reactivate the Regional Disaster Response Teams (RDRT) mechanism in the region and to accelerate the technical cooperation with ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) to support peer-to-peer training and capacitybuilding among National Societies of the region. A joint plan of action between AHA Centre and Red Cross Red Crescent was agreed at a meeting in Jakarta in October 2014. Climate Change Master Training-of-Trainers was organized to develop a core group of climate change experts amongst SEA National Societies who can provide technical support to plan and implement climate smart project activities at national, sub national and community levels.

Many National Societies in SEA have taken great strides in working with their governments and other key partners to influence the development of laws, rules and regulations for disaster management (DM), risk reduction and response. Given the ongoing activities and momentum with regards to disaster law among National Societies and governments in the region, a dedicated regional disaster law delegate joined the team in the South-East Asia regional delegation (SEARD) in August 2014 to support SEA National Societies to build their knowledge and capacity in disaster law and legislative advocacy; to participate in the development or review of DM and related laws (and the associated regulations and guidelines); and in the undertaking of technical assistance projects. Disaster law is one of the key components in the RRI project. The project will continue building on the trusted, pre-established relationships with National Societies, governments and humanitarian partners (e.g. the UN), capitalizing on the auxiliary status of the National Societies as well as their participation in national-level processes relating to DM and response, in order to positively influence legislative work in SEA.

A number of actions were carried out to promote youth engagement and strengthen the youth network in SEA. Youth empowerment initiatives were carried out and youth trained on Youth as Agents of Behavioural Change (YABC) were linked with different programmes such as health, DM and so on. Initiatives were taken to mainstream/integrate youth into CSR actions with their improved positioning and increased representation. The second Asia Pacific Youth Summit in Beijing in October has also re-affirmed the importance of regional Red Cross Red Crescent Youth Network (SEAYN), where SEAYN commitment in the final Beijing Youth Summit Commitment has been included and endorsed.

The increase of interest on gender and diversity was seen and support is being provided from SEARD based on the needs and demands of the National Societies. The First Regional Red Cross Red Crescent Workshop on Gender and Diversity was organized for National Societies to gain a shared understanding about gender and diversity as well as their inclusion within programming. A regional Red Cross and Red Crescent network on gender and diversity was also launched during the event. The organization of this network is being promoted and possibilities have been explored for peer learning and sharing. The participants also reviewed the terms of reference (ToR) of the network, provided inputs and suggested for its endorsement at the SEA Leadership meeting in February 2015.

The organizational capacity assessment and certification (OCAC) process has been progressing well with increased interests from Myanmar Red Cross Society (Myanmar RC), Timor-Leste Red Cross Society (CVTL) and Viet Nam Red Cross Society (Viet Nam RC) to carry out OCAC self-assessment in 2014. Myanmar RC reviewed its OCAC findings and developed a plan together with the partners for harmonized support on organizational development (OD) and capacity building. Cambodian Red Cross Society (Cambodian RC) is undertaking branch organizational capacity assessment (BOCA) exercises in its branches. Significant progress has been made in finance development in Myanmar, Timor-Leste and Viet Nam. SEARD also supported the Brunei Darussalam Red Crescent Society (Brunei Darussalam RC) to prepare financial statement and submit to the Finance Commission.

A range of communication materials were developed and several other activities took place to voice the needs of vulnerable communities and support National Societies to build their capacity to function effectively in both emergencies and non emergencies. Some of the resources that were developed including World Disaster Report 2014, numerous publications to support global and regional events such as one-year anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan, Ten Years on: Remembering the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Global Volunteering Forum and so on.