Southeast Asia is a region with so many differences, from languages, religions to political systems. However, despite these differences, Southeast Asia decides to live in harmony with one another. This determination brought concrete results when ASEAN was officially established in Bangkok on August 8, 1967, with the participation of the 5 founding countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
Since the establishment of ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Southeast Asian countries have continually proven that their solidarity will not be just words, but real deeds. In the past, Southeast Asian countries have shown this by helping one another when unlucky events occurred. Here are a few of them.
The infamous Asian financial crisis began with the collapse of the Thai baht. Then a domino effect began that also seriously affected many countries, akin to Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The effects of the crisis were extremely damaging and included unemployment, economic downturn, inflation, in addition to social instability akin to the deadly riots in Indonesia in 1998.
To help manage the situation, ASEAN decided to take certain actions, akin to sharing reconstruction efforts, where ASEAN members cooperated to stabilize financial systems, and implementing economic reforms. ASEAN has also reached out to Japan, South Korea and China to form “Chiang Mai Initiative“to take care of the crisis by making a multilateral currency exchange agreement.
On December 26, 2004, a robust earthquake that reached a magnitude of 9.1 on the Richter scale caused a terrible tsunami that devastated several ASEAN countries, including Aceh (Indonesia), with this region suffering probably the most damage. Shortly after the disaster, ASEAN countries quickly began offering assistance, sending rescue teams, financial assistance and medical supplies to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, but especially Indonesia.
The massive disaster that killed greater than 230,000 people prompted ASEAN to create a brand new department called ADMER which stands for the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response 2005. AADMER was created specifically to enhance coordination amongst members to work when future disasters occur.
The creation of AADMER turned out to be the correct decision because just 4 years later, one in every of the ASEAN members, Burma, was hit by a robust cyclone called Cyclone Nargis. The disaster killed greater than 130,000 people, particularly within the Irrawaddy Delta region of Burma. Moreover, thousands and thousands of individuals needed to be displaced because they lost every thing that they had.
Shortly after the disaster, ASEAN countries, particularly Thailand and Malaysia, quickly mobilized their resources to assist deliver humanitarian aid. Although Burma was quite reluctant to receive any foreign aid on the time, ASEAN members played an especially necessary role in coordinating and ensuring that the affected region and other people received the help they needed.
The global Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected Southeast Asian countries, causing damage to many elements akin to the economy, social services and straining already fragile healthcare systems. To respond, ASEAN countries have worked together to create the ASEAN Covid-19 Response Fund, which facilitates many necessary things, akin to securing medicine supplies, promoting research and treatment, and coordinating cross-border cooperation.
Following the successful development of vaccines, ASEAN countries have also worked together to offer them to people in Southeast Asia. Important initiatives akin to ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Vaccine Initiative. ASEAN has also collaborated with global organizations akin to Gavi, Vaccine Alliance to be sure that vaccines can reach Southeast Asian populations evenly.
