24 February 2025
NTS Bulletin February 2025
Domino Effect: SDGs and ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief
By Keith Paolo C. Landicho
The United Nations Statistical Commission will convene its 56th session in March 2025. The meeting will discuss outputs of the Comprehensive Review conducted by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal (IAEG-SDGs) Indicators to optimise global monitoring of the 2030 Agenda. Yet for ASEAN, that has faced an increasing number of disasters caused by natural hazards in the last five years, this review carries urgency. A 2023 report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) reveals that the Asia-Pacific region has only achieved 14.4% of the SDG targets, far below the expected 50% at the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda. This slow pace threatens not only the region’s development and sustainability progress but also disaster management, most importantly Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
Considering ASEAN’s escalating risks: sinking cities, intensifying cyclones, chronic vulnerabilities like poverty and the present condition of infrastructure, strengthening resilience is more urgent than ever. These intersecting crises deepen the implications of slow SDG progress.
The SDGs are not mere checklists or metrics but a prerequisite for sustainable disaster resilience. When societies remain in poverty, and clean water, quality healthcare, and education remain inaccessible, HADR becomes a stopgap rather than a solution. The IAEG-SDGs’ indicator review must prioritise metrics that reflect these realities or risk being trapped in a cycle of reactive disaster management where HADR will be under pressure from simultaneous operations and lack of resources.
Implications for HADR
The achievement of SDG targets is linked to improving disaster resilience. A study by Cook et al. (2025) names specific SDGs – such as SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 4 (Quality Education), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 13 (Climate Action) – as related to disaster risk reduction. Progress in these areas could mean the enhancement of preparedness, the addressing of vulnerabilities, and overall improving propensity for HADR.
Weak progress on the SDGs not only hinders overall development but also deepens the vulnerabilities communities face when disaster strikes. This further heightens demand for short-term reactive responses rather than more proactive, longer-term solutions. For instance, persistent poverty (SDG 1) and inadequate healthcare (SDG 3) may hinder communities’ ability to build the resilience needed to withstand shocks. Non-climate adaptive infrastructure (SDG 9) could exacerbate these challenges if essential services such as schools, hospitals, and transportation networks remain to be ill-prepared to cope with or recover from disaster impacts. Moreover, the lack of access to clean water (SDG 6) leaves communities particularly vulnerable to waterborne diseases like cholera in the aftermath of disasters, further stretching overburdened HADR systems. SDG 11 and SDG 13 directly influence disaster resilience by aiming at making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable and taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Additionally, despite experiencing less overall warming compared to global averages, sea levels in South-east Asia are rising at a faster rate than elsewhere. According to a 2021 report by the World Economic Forum, 450 million people live in coastal areas where shorelines are re-treating, increasing the risk of large-scale displacement and placing even greater pressure on regional HADR. The inter-connectedness of these goals and the cascading risks that may ensue underscore the importance of advancing SDG progress to build resilience, shifting towards proactive disaster management, and reducing dependence on HADR that is unsustainable in the long run.
A Race Against Time
Without substantial progress in these SDGs, the ASEAN member states face an increased risk of more frequent and severe disasters, which will inevitably exceed national HADR capacities. As disasters become more frequent and extensive, the demand for more regional HADR will rise. For example, more ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT) missions will need to be organised to assist affected member states, and more disaster relief from the Disaster Emergency Logistics System for ASEAN (DELSA) will need to be mobilised. The need to fund and replenish these resources places additional strain on already limited budgets, further testing the region’s capacity. This heightened demand risks trapping ASEAN in a cycle of reactive HADR, where attention and resources will continually be directed toward immediate response instead of proactive, long-term strategies aimed at reducing vulnerability, and building resilience.
The 2025 SDG Review presents an opportunity to disrupt this domino effect. ASEAN’s vulnerabilities—sinking cities, coastal populations at risk of being displaced, and overlap-ping climate hazards, demand indicators that can more realistically reflect regional problems. Without substantial revisions or a recognition of the urgency at hand, the region risks a vicious cycle of delayed SDG progress, heightened disaster impacts, overwhelmed HADR systems, and further delay in SDG achievement.
Domino Effect: SDGs and ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief
By Keith Paolo C. Landicho
The United Nations Statistical Commission will convene its 56th session in March 2025. The meeting will discuss outputs of the Comprehensive Review conducted by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal (IAEG-SDGs) Indicators to optimise global monitoring of the 2030 Agenda. Yet for ASEAN, that has faced an increasing number of disasters caused by natural hazards in the last five years, this review carries urgency. A 2023 report by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) reveals that the Asia-Pacific region has only achieved 14.4% of the SDG targets, far below the expected 50% at the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda. This slow pace threatens not only the region’s development and sustainability progress but also disaster management, most importantly Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR).
Considering ASEAN’s escalating risks: sinking cities, intensifying cyclones, chronic vulnerabilities like poverty and the present condition of infrastructure, strengthening resilience is more urgent than ever. These intersecting crises deepen the implications of slow SDG progress.
The SDGs are not mere checklists or metrics but a prerequisite for sustainable disaster resilience. When societies remain in poverty, and clean water, quality healthcare, and education remain inaccessible, HADR becomes a stopgap rather than a solution. The IAEG-SDGs’ indicator review must prioritise metrics that reflect these realities or risk being trapped in a cycle of reactive disaster management where HADR will be under pressure from simultaneous operations and lack of resources.
Implications for HADR
The achievement of SDG targets is linked to improving disaster resilience. A study by Cook et al. (2025) names specific SDGs – such as SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 4 (Quality Education), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and SDG 13 (Climate Action) – as related to disaster risk reduction. Progress in these areas could mean the enhancement of preparedness, the addressing of vulnerabilities, and overall improving propensity for HADR.
Weak progress on the SDGs not only hinders overall development but also deepens the vulnerabilities communities face when disaster strikes. This further heightens demand for short-term reactive responses rather than more proactive, longer-term solutions. For instance, persistent poverty (SDG 1) and inadequate healthcare (SDG 3) may hinder communities’ ability to build the resilience needed to withstand shocks. Non-climate adaptive infrastructure (SDG 9) could exacerbate these challenges if essential services such as schools, hospitals, and transportation networks remain to be ill-prepared to cope with or recover from disaster impacts. Moreover, the lack of access to clean water (SDG 6) leaves communities particularly vulnerable to waterborne diseases like cholera in the aftermath of disasters, further stretching overburdened HADR systems. SDG 11 and SDG 13 directly influence disaster resilience by aiming at making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable and taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. Additionally, despite experiencing less overall warming compared to global averages, sea levels in South-east Asia are rising at a faster rate than elsewhere. According to a 2021 report by the World Economic Forum, 450 million people live in coastal areas where shorelines are re-treating, increasing the risk of large-scale displacement and placing even greater pressure on regional HADR. The inter-connectedness of these goals and the cascading risks that may ensue underscore the importance of advancing SDG progress to build resilience, shifting towards proactive disaster management, and reducing dependence on HADR that is unsustainable in the long run.
A Race Against Time
Without substantial progress in these SDGs, the ASEAN member states face an increased risk of more frequent and severe disasters, which will inevitably exceed national HADR capacities. As disasters become more frequent and extensive, the demand for more regional HADR will rise. For example, more ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ERAT) missions will need to be organised to assist affected member states, and more disaster relief from the Disaster Emergency Logistics System for ASEAN (DELSA) will need to be mobilised. The need to fund and replenish these resources places additional strain on already limited budgets, further testing the region’s capacity. This heightened demand risks trapping ASEAN in a cycle of reactive HADR, where attention and resources will continually be directed toward immediate response instead of proactive, long-term strategies aimed at reducing vulnerability, and building resilience.
The 2025 SDG Review presents an opportunity to disrupt this domino effect. ASEAN’s vulnerabilities—sinking cities, coastal populations at risk of being displaced, and overlap-ping climate hazards, demand indicators that can more realistically reflect regional problems. Without substantial revisions or a recognition of the urgency at hand, the region risks a vicious cycle of delayed SDG progress, heightened disaster impacts, overwhelmed HADR systems, and further delay in SDG achievement.
