With 20 years of experience leading organizations and programs in various capacities (Deputy Executive Director, Director for Operations, Regional Director), Arnel Capili is a highly experienced international disaster management specialist. He has been involved in several large-scale humanitarian responses in Fiji, the Philippines, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Taiwan and Myanmar. Arnel has also developed programs to strengthen the capacities of national and local disaster management organizations across Southeast Asia.
Arnel has spent almost a decade establishing the preparedness and response capability of the Jakarta-based Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance (AHA Centre), the regional block’s primary coordinating agency for disaster response. He was designated as the team leader of the first ASEAN Preliminary Needs Assessment mission to Northern Rakhine, Myanmar to review the repatriation plan for the displaced Rohingya communities. Prior to his stint at ASEAN, he also once served as the Corporate Emergency Specialist of the Dubai Municipality; Emergency Services Officer of the Asian Development Bank (ADB); and a Regional Director of the Office of Civil Defense, the Philippines’ primary disaster management agency.
Arnel is a certified United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) member, trained in UN Humanitarian Civil Military Coordination and the World Food Programme’s Logistics Response. He holds a master’s in development administration from the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia and a Bachelor of Arts in public administration from the University of the Philippines.