André Saramago Assistant Professor of International Relations at the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and Online Teaching and Research Assistant of DiploFoundation
ASEAN’s multilateral answer to COVID-19 First published on DiploFoundation Blog, 9 June As COVID-19 spreads across the globe, South East Asia has become a particularly affected region, numbering, by 2 June 2020, more than 90 000 COVID-19 cases and 2000 deaths. As a region characterised by the deep interdependence of its countries, with substantial daily flows of people across borders, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has argued that a concerted answer to the challenges posed by the global pandemic is essential. ASEAN has been playing a pivotal role in co-ordinating the regional answer to COVID-19 through a series of multilateral diplomatic initiatives, making use of its complex institutional network. ASEAN has tried to nurture the ASEAN-Way approach for which it is known, striking a balance between national initiatives on the part of its member states, while encouraging regional co-operation that emphasises ‘ASEAN centrality’ as the ‘basis for cooperation within the region’. On 19 February 2020, before the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic, ASEAN defence ministers met at their retreat in Hanoi, Vietnam, where they issued a Joint Statement, making a commitment to promote co-operation amongst ASEAN defence establishments, especially in the fields of military medicine and sharing information relevant to combating disease outbreaks. After the WHO declared the pandemic on 11 March, ASEAN convened an ASEAN Plus Three (APT) video conference with ASEAN’s health ministers and representatives from China, Japan, and South Korea, where a shared commitment was made to enhance ‘free, open, transparent and timely sharing of information, data and expertise on COVID-19 prevention, detection, control and response measures’, as well as to increase the ‘coordination to share information on rapid research and development of diagnostics, antiviral medicines and vaccines’. These commitments were further reinforced at the Special ASEAN Summit on Coronavirus Disease 2019 that took place on 14 April via video conference, where the centrality of ASEAN’s emergency response network for the novel Coronavirus was additionally underlined. The network involves a series of institutions such as the ASEAN Emergency Operations Centre, the ASEAN Risk Assessment and Risk Communication Centre, the ASEAN BioDiaspora Virtual Centre (which is now responsible for compiling statistics on the development of the pandemic in the region), and the ASEAN Centre for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Management. These instituations have been placed at the forefront of co-ordinating technical and political efforts to contain and fight the pandemic in South East Asia. The Special Summit further underlined the importance of co-operation with ASEAN’s external partners, namely via the utilisation of the APT Emergency Rice Reserve to ensure food security in the region, with a view to reinforce the ‘resilience and sustainability of regional supply chains of food, commodities, medicines, medical and other essential supplies’. Finally, the Special Summit sought to establish a foundation for the post-pandemic period by
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