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Task Force for Emergency Preparedness |
The Asia-Pacific region comprises 52% of the earth's surface area and 59% of the world's population, and experiences over 70% of the world's natural disasters. Disturbingly, scientists warn that the intensity and frequency of disasters in the Asia-Pacific region will increase in the decades ahead, exacerbated by unplanned urbanisation, poor land-use management, global warming and climate change.
Emergency preparedness is one of the key elements of APEC's human security agenda, along with countering terrorism and pandemics. Disasters that affect one member economy can have significant spill-over effects in other economies.
APEC's Task Force for Emergency Preparedness (TFEP) plays a constructive role in enabling the region to better prepare for and respond to emergencies and disasters by helping to reduce the risk of disasters and building business and community resilience. By sharing expertise and collaborating on emergency preparedness issues, APEC members strengthen their capacity to mitigate, prepare for, and respond to emergencies and disasters.
Through the TFEP, APEC's 21 economies maximise APEC's strengths of multi-sectoral participation, private-sector partnerships, broad regional reach and high-level political involvement.
Catastrophes in the region - such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the May 2008 earthquake in China's Sichuan province - are important reminders of the importance of APEC's emergency preparedness work.
The TFEP was established by APEC Senior Officials in 2005. Originally called the Virtual Task Force for Emergency Preparedness, the TFEP carries out much of its work via electronic communications. Pursuant to its Terms of Reference, the Task Force is mandated to coordinate and facilitate emergency and disaster preparedness within APEC.
In 2008, APEC Senior Officials extended the TFEP's mandate to the end of 2009. The Task Force's future will be reconsidered in November. Australia and Indonesia have jointly chaired the TFEP since its inception.
Achievements
The TFEP brings together the largest annual gathering of heads of emergency management agencies in the region to help APEC's 21 member economies - both individually and collectively - better prepare for and respond to disasters. The first APEC Emergency Management CEOs' Forum was held in Cairns, Australia, in 2007. The 2008 Forum was held in Lima, Peru. The forums provide participants with the opportunity to share experiences, lessons learnt, tools and the latest thinking related to disaster preparedness, thereby helping to enhance regional cooperation and preparedness efforts.
In November 2008, APEC Leaders and Ministers welcomed the APEC-wide Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Preparedness and Response in the Asia Pacific Region 2009 - 2015, which was developed by APEC Emergency Management CEOs and TFEP members. The Strategy, which provides an important framework for APEC's current and future emergency preparedness activities, identified three important objectives:
1. To provide APEC economies with solid information on the economic and social costs of disasters and on the human and economic costs of failing to take action;
2. To analysis gaps in regional disaster risk reduction approaches with a view to developing targeted capacity-building initiatives; and
3. To identify a suite of practical mechanisms, instruments and communication products for implementation at a community level, including measures that enhance business and community resilience.
The Task Force is also building a library of APEC-wide principles and information resources to support the development of emergency preparedness capabilities in the region, including:
- An APEC stocktake of best practices and capacity building needs (2008)
- APEC Principles on Disaster Response and Cooperation
- An electronic library of disaster risk reduction school education material (under development)
APEC Principles on Disaster Damage and Loss Assessments (under development)
Current activities
TFEP activities in 2008 include:
- Study Course on Disaster Emergency Response and Recovery (April, China)
- Dialogue Among APEC Economies, Business Community, International and Regional Partners on Emergency Preparedness (April, Viet Nam)
- Workshop on Large Scale Disaster Recovery (September, Chinese Taipei and China).
For more details see the 2008 Summary of Annual Fora Report to SCE and SOM.
In 2009 the TFEP has focused on: strengthening business and community resilience; public-private partnerships; disaster risk reduction; cooperation and coordination among heads of APEC emergency management agencies; preparations for the recovery phase; and the integration of disaster risk awareness and management education into school curricula. This is captured in the Task Force's 2009 work plan and its July 2009 progress report to APEC Senior Officials.
In August, Australia and Indonesia co-hosted an APEC Workshop on Damage Assessment Techniques in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Little is known about the full economic and social impact of disasters because of the lack of holistic damage and loss assessment methodologies and measurement challenges. This workshop therefore considered the various processes used to assess the nature and magnitude of physical damage and economic loss. Participants developed draft principles on disaster damage and loss assessment.
By the end of 2009, the Task Force will have completed the following:
- Third APEC Emergency Management CEOs' Forum - Hanoi, September 2009.
- Workshop on the Framework of Long-Term Capacity Building for Disaster Risk Reduction in APEC, which will bring together the heads of emergency management training institutions in the APEC region - Taipei, October 2009.
- Electronic library of disaster risk reduction school education material.
Task Force for Emergency Preparedness (TFEP) - Key Contacts
Co-Chair of TFEP
Mr Quinton Devlin
Director, APEC Branch
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Australia
Tel: (61-2) 6261 2904
Email: quinton.devlin@dfat.gov.au
Co-Chair of TFEP
Mr. Tabrani
Disaster Management Steering Council of the National Agency for Disaster Management of Indonesia (BNPB).
Jln. Ir. Juanda no. 36
Jakarta Pusat, Indonesia
Telp. +62-21 352 0862
Fax. +62-21 352 1374
Email: tabrani@bnpb.go.id
APEC Secretariat
Mr Vincent Liu
Director (Program)
E-mail: jyl@apec.org
