Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) as a Non-traditional Security Issue in ASEAN: Vietnam’s Interests and Policies

Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) has never received as much attention from the world’s leaders as it does today. This is because in addition to causing economic losses, disasters -both natural and man-made - have increasingly impacted on the quality of human life and human dignity. Disasters have become ‘securitized’ and have become increasingly understood as part of a ‘non-traditional’ security (NTS) agenda. The goal of disaster reduction and mitigation has become a greater priority for governments. In the wake of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, ASEAN countries have paid greater attention to HADR as a non-traditional security issue. HADR is one item under the ASEAN Socio Cultural Community, whose aim is to contribute to building a people-oriented and socially responsible ASEAN Community. HADR has also become the subject of various cooperation activities and mechanisms among regional and extra-regional countries, including the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting (ADMM). As a disaster-prone country, Vietnam has an interest in cooperating with regional states in dealing with, combating, preventing and reducing disasters. Active participation in regional HADR activities provides Vietnam with the chance to deal with its own natural disasters, and creates opportunities for Vietnam to pursue its wider objective of a open, diversified and multilateralized foreign policy.