The AADMER is a legally binding agreement ratified by all of ASEAN’s member states. It calls on political commitment and concrete implementation from national governments to local communities within the nations. AADMER is designed to help ASEAN and national governments to conduct comprehensive disaster management processes within the region. It covers all aspects of disaster management from before, during, and after a disaster. Before a disaster, the agreement requires participants to conduct disaster risk identification, assessment and monitoring; to establish, maintain
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Although AADMER is equivalent to a legal binding for all member countries to implement, its power to enforce and evaluate outcomes is limited. Still, this agreement may be the only instrument ASEAN has to create regional collaborative action and to produce the effective results as a community. “[L]aws that regulate organizational procedures more than substantive results of those procedures, and laws that provide weak enforcement mechanisms leave more room for organizational mediation” (Edelman 1992: 1532, cited in Scott 1995: 126). Voluntary contributions may be viewed as too weak and too contingent upon the capacity and priorities of each nation. The less risk-prone countries may find they have less interest in contributing to this particular fund. On the one hand, the agreement emphasizes a mutual commitment to collaborating; on the other hand, it may reflect the degree to which a country pays attention and commits to prioritizing disaster management.