Key Decision-Making Meeting for Advancing Regional Academic Activities — 5th ASEAN Academic Network on Disaster Health Management (AANDHM) Steering Committee Meeting & — 2nd Editorial Board Meeting of the ASEAN Journal of Disaster Health Management (AJDHM)

On September 24^th - 25^th, 2024, two key meetings were held at the ASEAN Institute for Disaster Health Management (AIDHM) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, to advance academic activities under the ASEAN Academic Network on Disaster Health Management (AANDHM):

These back-to-back meetings brought together representatives from ASEAN Member States to coordinate the next phase of regional knowledge management efforts. The SC meeting focused on the governance and strategic planning of AANDHM activities, including upcoming research, academic events, and capacity-building initiatives.
Meanwhile, the Editorial Board meeting served as a platform to refine editorial processes, finalize the roadmap for future issues of the AJDHM, and strengthen the journal's role as a peer-reviewed platform for regional scholarship in disaster health management.
Hosted at AIDHM, these meetings reaffirmed the institute's role as a regional hub for academic coordination and marked a significant step toward institutionalizing disaster health knowledge-sharing across ASEAN.

The second Editorial Board Meeting of the ASEAN Journal of Disaster Health Management (AJDHM)—and the first to be held in person—took place as part of the September 2024 academic coordination meetings at AIDHM in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
The planning and management of the AJDHM are being led by the Editorial Board, composed of members from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan, along with the AJDHM Production Unit housed within AIDHM.

Since the journal's inception, both bodies have worked intensively to establish:

In this framework, the Editorial Board is responsible for reviewing submitted manuscripts, ensuring content quality, and making key editorial decisions, while the Production Unit at AIDHM manages the technical and operational aspects of publication. This meeting marked a crucial milestone in transforming AJDHM from concept to reality, laying the final groundwork for the first issue to represent ASEAN’s collective voice in disaster health management scholarship.

The SC Meeting of AANDHM functions as the central decision-making platform for guiding and overseeing the region’s academic collaboration in disaster health management. At this meeting, participants reviewed the progress of activities under the Knowledge Management priority area and approved key agenda items to ensure alignment with the goals of the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Disaster Health Management.

A key highlight of the meeting was the expansion of the Network’s membership, which now includes a total of 25 institutions, following the approval of three new members at this session. These members include both ASEAN-based and international institutions, reinforcing AANDHM’s vision of building a diverse, collaborative, and regionally grounded academic community. AANDHM's activities are designed to be inclusive and participatory, enabling all member institutions to actively contribute to and benefit from academic initiatives, such as journal publication, joint research, and regional conferences. The expanding membership is expected to play a vital role in advancing scholarly collaboration and strengthening the evidence base for disaster health management in the ASEAN region.

A key new agenda item was proposed and discussed regarding the establishment of Regional Training Centers and the implementation of DHM-related training at both national and regional levels. This initiative is directly aligned with Regional Target 10 of the Plan of Action (POA) to implement the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Disaster Health Management, which is supported by the ARCH Project. Under this plan, the AIDHM is expected to assume coordinating responsibilities for training implementation after the completion of the ARCH Project.
To support this goal, the ARCH Project has already developed and supported a tiered training system that includes:

The proposal includes further discussions on a framework for recognizing and accrediting Regional Training Centers, developing additional training modules, and establishing governance mechanisms for long-term sustainability. These discussions are critical for ensuring that ASEAN Member States retain the capacity to independently manage and expand disaster health management training systems after the Project.

Additionally, during the meeting, it was formally agreed that Thailand will host the 3rd ASEAN Academic Conference on Disaster Health Management, scheduled for FY2025. This decision marks another important step in institutionalizing academic exchange and regional collaboration in the disaster health management field.
Active and forward-looking discussions were held on each agenda item, contributing to the stabilization of AANDHM’s operational functions as the ARCH Project enters its final phase.