Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) is an autonomous international organization for cooperation in and implementation of disaster risk reduction and building climate resilience in Asia and the Pacific. It was established in 1986 as a regional disaster preparedness center (DMC) in Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand. It has grown its activities over the past three decades and in 2005, ADPC's international Charter was signed by nine founding member countries: Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The Charter was put into effect in 2018 through the ratification by all the founding members. As of January 2020, ADPC is operating as an autonomous international organization governed by the Board of Trustees.
The vision of ADPC is "safer communities and sustainable development through disaster risk reduction" and its geographical remit is Asia and the Pacific. In the current context it provides an excellent mechanism to address existing and the emerging negative impacts of natural hazard and climate change, continue to support global initiatives on climate resilience, urban resilience, making humanitarian response to disasters more effective and give support and direction for recovery and rehabilitation, building back better.
The headquarter in Bangkok, Thailand and sub-centers in country of operations are the operational parts of ADPC. The organs of ADPC, defined in the ADPC Charter include the Board of Trustees, the Executive Committee, the Advisory Council and the Regional Consultative Committee (RCC), which are the governing or advisory bodies of ADPC.
As per Article 1.1 of the Charter, ADPC operates as a non-profit, autonomous, regional organization, international in status, and non-political in management, staffing and operations
