Nine New Municipalities Certified for ‘Enhanced Disaster Resilience’
Recently, nine municipalities were certified by USAID’s Preparedness and Planning program for “enhanced disaster resilience” in acknowledgement of the progress these municipalities have made in increasing disaster management capacities at the local level and in meeting domestic legal obligations and international standards in disaster management and response. U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Cameron Munter presented the certificates to the mayors of Inđija, Irig, Kanjiža, Kraljevo, Novi Pazar, Vranje, Raška, Titel and Tutin. They join Krusevac and Kragujevac which were the first two cities that were certified earlier this year.
The Preparedness and Planning certification program is designed to recognize local governments that have taken measures to improve their capacities to prepare for, and respond to, natural disasters. These nine municipalities have all successfully coped with landslides, flash floods, fires and environmental incidents in the recent past and have made efforts towards improving the municipal disaster management system.
USAID is helping first responders build and institutionalize a disaster management system that addresses preparedness, response, recovery and prevention and to fulfill legal obligations by producing and/or updating plans that enable them to cope with the hazards they are likely to face.
So far, over 400 persons from 41 municipalities' Disaster Management teams have attended U.S. supported trainings in the areas of risk assessment, risk management, and planning methodology. Local government officials, local representatives of republic-level institutions (such as the Ministries of Health, Interior, Defense and Environmental Protection), Red Cross members, businesspeople, journalists, and others are working together to develop plans to protect citizens from natural disaster, chemical accidents, and other hazards to health and safety.
Currently, USAID is cooperating with ministries of Defense and Interior and providing municipalities with technical and material assistance that complements the actions of the Serbian Government. In November 2007, immediately after the floods that badly hit the region, USAID provided assistance to the municipality of Vlasotince. More recently, USAID delivered water tanks to the Arilje to expand the water supply capacity for this drought-afflicted municipality.
USAID will continue to work with Serbian municipalities in the coming years to support communities’ efforts to improve disaster preparedness, response, recovery and prevention. Currently, 61 municipalities in Serbia are included in program activities.
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| Ambassador Munter with the mayors of the nine municipalities that received certificates and representatives of the Ministries of Interior and Defense. |
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