Aarhus Centres excel in community-based disaster risk reduction, concluded at OSCE-organized discussion in Vienna

VIENNA, 8 April 2016 – More than 60 representatives of Aarhus Centres, local authorities, state agencies for emergency situations, NGOs and international and regional organizations concluded in Vienna today a two-year project on community-based disaster risk reduction.

Disaster risk reduction is a systematic approach including measures for prediction, prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery of disasters at all levels.

In the framework of the project, the capacities of Aarhus Centres and their local partners were assessed and then strengthened through training workshops in seven project countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Serbia and Tajikistan. The project then supported twelve selected Aarhus Centres in developing local action plans on awareness-raising on disaster risk reduction and implementing pilot activities.

These activities ranged from targeted training programmes for vulnerable groups such as school children, farmers or women to the organization of an eco-journalism festival or the establishment of local disaster risk reduction co-ordination networks. Aarhus Centres excel in community-based disaster risk reduction, highlighted the participants during their exchange of experiences.

“Through the enhanced knowledge and strengthened relationships with other local stakeholders, Aarhus Centres are now better equipped to be active players in promoting community-based efforts to reduce disaster risks and the security-related impacts of natural hazards,” said Halil Yurdakul Yigitgüden, Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities. “Today we mark the end of the project, but look forward to a new beginning for Aarhus Centres to further reinforce their activities in the field of disaster risk reduction and replicate it in other locations.”

The ENVSEC project “Strengthening the Capacities of Aarhus Centres in Disaster Risk Reduction to Enhance Awareness of Local Communities” is funded by the governments of Switzerland, Austria and Finland.

“The Swiss Government is pleased to have contributed with other participating States to the financing of this project, in particular because a concrete follow-up was given to the 2014 Basel Ministerial Council Decision on Enhancing Disaster Risk Reduction,” said Jean-Luc Oesch, Deputy Head of the Swiss Delegation to the OSCE. “The involvement of the Aarhus Centres and local authorities in raising awareness on disaster risk is sound from the point of view of good governance; another positive impact is cross-border cooperation amongst local stakeholders on environmental challenges.”

The meeting will be followed by a joint volunteering day in the Nationalpark Donau-Auen on 9 April, Saturday.

The project is implemented by OSCE, United Nations Development Programme, the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (REC) and United National Environment Programme (UNEP) within the framework of the Environment and Security (ENVSEC) Initiative - a partnership of OSCE UNDP, UNEP, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and REC, that provides an integrated response to environment and security challenges.