ASEAN Regional plan of action for adaptation to drought 2021-2025

The ASEAN Regional Plan of Action for Adaptation to Drought (ARPA-AD) aims to enhance coordination at the regional and national (international) level for achieving sustainable management of drought by considering the impact of drought on the livelihood of people, natural resources and ecosystem, agriculture, energy, and sustainable socio-economic development. This document was developed following two consultative workshops with active participation by all relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies, ASEAN Centres, and ASEAN Member States.

The ASEAN Regional Plan of Action for Adaptation to Drought consists of nine groups of action covering a full set of drought management cycle, partnership, and coordination on the regional and national levels. The drought management cycle is in line with the three parallel tracks of drought intervention identified in the joint ASEAN-ESCAP study Ready for the Dry Years: (i) reduce and prevent, (ii) prepare and respond, and (iii) restore and recover. The actions that reflect the drought management cycle are composed of (1) risk, impact and vulnerability assessment, (2) early warning system, preparedness and planning, (3) adaptation actions, and (4) response and recovery; while partnership and coordination actions are (5) strengthening coordination between ASEAN sectoral bodies, (6) partnership and collaboration with non-ASEAN partners, (7) capacity-building/enhancement, (8) data sharing and dissemination, and (9) monitoring and evaluation.