With the ongoing drought crisis in Southeast Asia, a recent joint study by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) urged Southeast Asian nations to take immediate action. They are encouraged to build drought resilience to cope with the increased frequency and intensity of future drought situations in parts of the region.

The study also revealed that Cambodia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are currently facing serious social and economic impacts from drought. The cumulative impacts of drought in the region have been found to hit the poor greatly, which causes land degradation while increasing inequality and the prospect of violent conflict. Such impacts can be particularly damaging to countries where people rely on agriculture for primary employment.

Titled ‘Ready for the Dry Years: Building Resilience to Drought in South-East Asia’, the study seeks to present an analysis of the principal risks in the region and was launched at the 34th Meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management on 24 April as part of ESCAP and ASEAN’s collaboration on disaster-risk reduction under the ASEAN-UN Joint Strategic Plan of Action on Disaster Management.

“Timely interventions now can reduce the impacts of drought, protect the poorest communities and foster more harmonious societies,” said United Nations under-secretary-general and executive secretary of ESCAP Armida Alisjahbana.

Drought resilience is an integral part of the UN’s agenda for sustainable development as activities targeted at building resilience contribute to the achievement of several sustainable development goals. However, increasing resilience to drought will require much better forecasting and more efficient forms of response, at both national and regional levels. This will rely primarily on national efforts which need to be set within frameworks of regional cooperation such as the ASEAN Vision 2025 on Disaster Management and ASEAN Disaster Risk Financing and Insurance.

The study proposes the following priority areas of intervention for ESCAP and ASEAN:

• Strengthen drought-risk assessment and early-warning services, for example, by sharing data from space-based technologies.
• Foster risk-financing instruments that can insure communities against slow-onset droughts.
• Enhance people’s capacities to adapt to drought, thereby reducing the potential for conflict.

ASEAN secretary-general Dato Lim Jock Hoi said, “The priority areas of intervention highlighted in this report will contribute to the development of policy responses to mitigate the impact of future drought and eventually will strengthen efforts on building the ASEAN community that is resilient to drought.”