OSCE donates equipment to Armenian Emergency Ministry

Ambassador Andrey Sorokin, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, donated equipment on behalf of the Office to Armenia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations on 13 October 2014 to support the Ministry’s efforts in raising its capacities to protect people and the environment.

Armen Yeritsyan, Armenian Emergency Situations Minister, received the equipment on behalf of the Ministry, which includes a portable spectrometer, desktop and laptop computers and a printer/scanner.

In addition to this, the Office also plans to provide full sets of protection gear, including chemical protection suits, masks, gloves, rubber boots and glasses, over the course of next month.

The equipment will considerably expand the capabilities of the Ministry’s units in identifying and analyzing the presence of dangerous particles in the environment. It will help in the development of a corresponding database with regards to contamination levels. This would lead to better planning and improved implementation of the necessary rescue activities for protecting specific areas and the population.

The donation is a follow-up initiative to an OSCE project implemented in 2013 aimed at revealing the volume and contents of toxic waste contained in a burial site in Nubarashen, near Yerevan. The feasibility study supported by the OSCE Office provided an accurate assessment of the risk level of environmental damage in the surrounding areas and suggested remedy action plans.