Australian university helps develop disaster resiliency in Asean

MANILA, Philippines – The University of Newcastle in Australia is helping to develop disaster resilience capacity through a project linking leading regional higher education institutions including the University of the Philippines to proactively address disaster risk and build resilience through education.

The project is being funded by the Australia-ASEAN Council (AAC).

A workshop was held recently at the University of the Philippines in Manila on “Disaster Resilience Education Capacity Building in South East Asia.”

AAC board member Alice Woodhead, in opening the workshop, said the project was a vital addition to capacity building in the university sector across the region.

“The University of Newcastle recently established a Center for Disaster Risk Reduction, which is recognized by the United Nations as a center of excellence in this field,” Woodhead said.

She said the overarching aim of the project is to create regional synergies among leading higher education institutions in order to build capacity in ASEAN countries.

“The Australia-ASEAN Council is very pleased to support this excellent project and sincerely hopes it will lead to less damage, less dislocation and far fewer fatalities and injuries the next time that a large-scale disaster strikes this part of the world,” Woodhead added.

The ASEAN region is experiencing massive growth in mega cities of over 10 million people, which are also impacted by disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis and mudslides.  

“Understanding what the emerging risks are and how to help countries become disaster resilient will save thousands of lives in the coming years,” Woodhead said.­