Dr Alistair D. B. Cook1, Ms Nanthini S1
1S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Biography:
S. Nanthini is an Associate Research Fellow in the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Programme within the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. She holds a master’s in international relations (International Security) from the University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor of Arts (Politics and Gender Studies) from La Trobe University. She is a part of the Australian Institute of International Affairs (AIIA) Indo-Pacific Cooperation Network. Her research interests include HADR, climate security and, gender and security in the Southeast Asian humanitarian landscape.
Abstract:
This paper analyses the humanitarian operations of selected Asian countries in response to the Türkiye and Syria 7.8 magnitude earthquakes. It identifies critical lessons from these emergency response operations and traces the emerging role of Asian states in responding to global humanitarian crises, particularly natural hazard events both inside and now outside the region. It assesses the scope and limitations of Asian state humanitarian responses and its implications for cooperation between them. It assesses the role of ASEAN centrality and the United Nations system, as the key regional and global organisations, that provides a platform for engagement between ASEAN member states and its dialogue partners in humanitarian affairs. The paper assesses the role of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre on Humanitarian Assistance in disaster management (AHA Centre) and the UNDAC teams in facilitating the response of Asian countries. The paper finds that while this response by Asian states was the first significant deployment of humanitarian resources in terms of scale, there was limited cooperation and offers several implications for the regional organisation and the UN system to facilitate a more structured regionally coordinated response in humanitarian assistance.