The ASEAN, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) and the World Bank have announced a cooperation programme to strengthen disaster risk reduction and disaster management in Southeast Asia.

The programme aims to help ASEAN reduce its vulnerability to natural hazards, thus protecting its citizens from the impact of extreme weather events in the future.

"The programme is the focus of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) on Disaster Risk Reduction, a tripartite agreement between the ASEAN, the UNISDR and the World Bank," the ASEAN Secretariat said in a statement here on Monday.

The programme lays a framework for technical support from the UN and the World Bank to help ASEAN formulate and implement strategies and action plans for disaster risk reduction and management.

The objectives of the programme includes building ASEAN's capacity in areas of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, mobilising resources for implementing disaster risk reduction initiatives, and helping policy-makers gain knowledge of effective and practical ways to reduce disaster risks.

"ASEAN has been addressing disasters, natural or otherwise, as and when they happen. The region where ASEAN is located geographically is one that is prone to disasters," said Dr Surin Pitsuwan, ASEAN Secretary-General.

ASEAN operates between several tectonic plates causing earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis and the region is also located in between huge oceans namely the Pacific and the Indian oceans causing seasonal typhoons and in some areas, tsunamis.