1.

ASEAN Web EOC was officially released on 12 December. ASEAN Web EOC is a platform of disaster-related information and it can be used byAHA Centre and National Disaster Management Offices of ASEAN Member States in such areas as situation update, request/offer of assistance, acceptance of assistance and matching of assistance between the affected country and the country offering the assistance. In a non-disaster situation, the system enables disaster-related information to be exchanged and shared seamlessly and timely in ASEAN region. The effectiveness of ASEAN Web EOC was already confirmed through such occasion as ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Simulation Exercise (ARDEX-13) held in October in Viet Nam and typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.

2.

This information system has been developed since April under the project on “Establishment of an integrated Information and Communication Technology System to strengthen the operation of ASEAN Coordination Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) – Phase2”, funded by Japan ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF). With this system, information exchange and sharing between AHA Centre and ASEAN National Disaster Management Offices (NDMOs) as well as among NDMOS is expected to be largely improved.

3.

For ASEAN as a disaster-prone region, the capacity building in the area of disaster management is an urgent need. Japan will continue to support ASEAN for its effort to establish a disaster-resilient community.