Report of Discussion Group on ARF Work Plan on Disaster Relief 9 th ARF ISM on DR, 18 September 2009 Honolulu, Hawaii, USA

Objectives for Breakout Group Discussions There are three objectives in the Group Discussion: To achieve common understanding of the Work Plan. To update current status of the projects/activities in the Work Plan. To invite nomination of lead countries for the 5 priority areas.

General observations Delegates from 15 ARF participating nations and relevant international organizations, attended the “ARF Discussion Group on the ARF Work Plan on Disaster Relief”, 8:30-10:15, on 17 th September 2009 Indonesia briefed the Discussion Group on the background and objective of the Work Plan.

General observations The Work Plan was adopted by the 16 th ARF in July There are two main parts of the Work Plan: (1) Concept Paper; and (2) Implementation Annex. The Implementation Annex is a living document that should be reviewed and updated. The Discussion Group updated the status of implementation of the projects and incorporated new proposals. The Group also categorized the projects into “ARF projects” and “Relevant ongoing regional/international efforts (outside of ARF)”.

The 5 Priority Areas of the Work Plan # 1: Disaster Risk and Vulnerability Identification, Reduction and Prevention in Selected ARF Sub-Region(s); #2: Improving Government Emergency Response, Relief and Early Recovery; # 3: Capacity Identification and Improving Coordination of Capacity Building Efforts; # 4: Regional Mapping, Monitoring and Early Warning; and # 5: Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Tier 1 Tier 2 Remarks: Tier 1: Active priority areas and projects under ARF framework. Tier 2: Priority areas and projects to be considered at a later stage

Current Status # 1: Disaster Risk and Vulnerability Identification, Reduction and Prevention in Selected ARF Sub-Region(s) Current projects: Shared Experience: A collection of case studies from ARF Member States to encourage information sharing, mutual cooperation and institutional linkages Participants: All ARF Participants Sponsors: ARF Unit Date: Ongoing Location: through-out the ARF region Lead Countries: One ASEAN Country (TBD) and Australia

Current Status # 2: Improving Government Emergency Response, Relief and Early Recovery Current Projects: Observation of ARF Members at the ASEAN’s ARDEX-09 and ARDEX-10 ARF Strategic Guidance (ongoing) 2 nd ARF Field Exercise on Joint Disaster Relief Operations, Indonesia, March 2011 ARF Disaster Relief Mapping Service Initiatives (Australia & Singapore) Lead Countries: One ASEAN Country (TBD) and USA (expressed interest)

Recommendations/Next Steps: Some ARF member states expressed interest to include new initiatives to the Work Plan as well as becoming lead countries. Encourage ARF participants to submit voluntary nomination as lead countries. Develop a format help to monitor the progress of the implementation of the Work Plan. The Work Plan should provide clearer definition of what constitute an ARF project or activity. Projects that are not under the direct purview of ARF should be placed under the category of “Relevant Ongoing Regional/International Efforts”. Combine priority areas no. 1 and 4 to be overseen by the same lead country to avoid possible overlapping of efforts.

Thank you