The National Disaster Management Authority of Indonesia (BNPB) and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) co-organised the First Exercise Planning Team Meeting for the ASEAN Regional Disaster Emergency Response Simulation Exercise 2023 (ARDEX-23) on 15 to 16 February in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

ASEAN Member States and ASEAN Secretariat were invited to contribute to the planning of ARDEX-23, including exercise scenarios, timelines, and proposed elements to be tested.

ARDEX is a full-scale simulation exercise that seeks to test, practice, review, and evaluate ASEAN’s emergency response and disaster management mechanisms. ARDEX-23 in particular will test the terms of reference for the Secretary General of ASEAN as the ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Coordinator, as well as the Standard Operating Procedure for the Coordination of Emergency Medical Teams and the Multinational Coordination Centre which are new chapters of ASEAN’s Standard Operating Procedure for Regional Standby Arrangements and Coordination of Joint Disaster Relief and Emergency Response Operations.

ARDEX-23 is hosted by the Government of Indonesia as one of its ASEAN Chairmanship deliverables in 2023.