Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations raises the issue of increasing the level of resistance to natural disasters

ArmInfo. Within the framework of the National Platform for Risk Reduction from Natural Disasters, the 5th International Forum was held on February 20, timed to coincide with the program on increasing the level of disaster resilience in communities.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the forum was organized by the Oxygen Fund for the Protection of Youth and Women's Rights, the Armenian representation of the international organization Save the Children International and the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia, the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development, the United Nations Development Program, UNICEF and the Red Cross Society of Armenia.

During the forum, the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia expressed readiness to discuss and analyze the policy of the communities in connection with the management of risks from natural disasters, for this the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development of the Republic of Armenia should introduce a disaster risk management component in regional and community development programs.

At the forum, Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia David Tonoyan stressed the importance of organizing and holding the first such event within the framework of the program. "In the context of today's challenges, all potential participants should pool their efforts to coordinate common issues to reduce the risk of natural disasters, and to find the most effective forms of cooperation and mechanisms for mutual assistance," the minister said. In his turn, the head of the EU delegation in Armenia, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Peter Piotr Switalski confirmed the commitment of the European Union to assist partner countries in reducing the risk of natural disasters at the community level.

First Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Development Vache Terteryan stressed the need to increase resilience to natural disasters of communities, noting that the Ministry of Emergency Situations has done a great job of identifying problems of resistance to natural risks in communities and improving the legislative framework in accordance with it.

Minister of Emergency Situations David Tonoyan urged the participants of the forum to pay more attention to the analysis of disaster risk in regional and community programs, noting also that subsidies for communities should be considered as a means of increasing resilience to natural disasters. "Without reducing the level of danger from natural disasters, it is impossible to develop," the minister said.

The forum discussed issues of increasing the level of resistance to natural disasters in communities as part of the Sendai Framework Program strategy.