Seminar Abstract

“Disaster is localized, transnational, and regionalized. It usually requires assistance from non-affected or less-affected parties from within and outside the affected countries. In this respect, Southeast Asian governments and their partners have in recent years invested more energy towards a more coordinated regional response along the entire cycle of regional disaster management, namely prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and relief, and recovery.” (Kamolvej, Institutionalizing East Asia (2016) These components are related and mutually reinforcing. SENDAI Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) is deliberatively developed to aim for directionally collaborative disaster management for all nations as well as improving disaster risks reduction measures. A comprehensive disaster management system with well-designed pre-disaster measures, as envisioned in the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (ADMER), not only mitigates the consequences when disasters strike, it also helps ease response and relief operations as well as recovery efforts. Enhancing each of these components can strengthen the overall disaster management capacity of a given region and the affected individual countries, which will be better prepared, better able to respond to, and better able to recover from disasters. However, different capacities of local communities and various national governance systems occasionally hinder the effort to institutionalizing disaster risk reduction at all levels.

About the Speaker

Dr. Tavida Kamolvej is currently the Dean of the School of    Political Science, Thammasat University, Thailand. Her academic expertise and research interests emphasize Disaster Risk Management, Social Network Analysis, and Public Policy. Her recent publication is on Non-Structural Measures for Earthquake Disaster Risk Reduction in Thailand, and her latest research involves Development Strategies for Bangkok Metropolitan. She also serves as the Advisor to Director General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, Thailand.  In her field of expertise, Dr. Tavida used to serve as Disaster and Emergency Management advisor to the National Disaster Warning Center, Thailand. She also joined the sub-committee on Disaster and Risk Communication of the National Committee of Broadcasting, Televising, and Telecommunication, to develop national and local communication regulations and a framework for action. At the international level, Dr. Tavida used to be communication and coordination instructor for the US State Department Senior Crisis Management Seminar Program in collaboration with American University, Washington DC, USA. Dr. Tavida used to also represent Thailand in the Technical Expert Team to develop indicators and methodology for Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction with UNISDR