International Disaster Risk Reduction focus of study tour to Switzerland organized by OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and Programme Office in Bishkek

Disaster risk reduction in areas with transboundary water flows was the focus of a study tour to Switzerland and Italy for ten disaster risk management experts from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan organized jointly by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan and the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek from 7 to 9 June 2018.

The study tour was hosted by the Swiss Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications and included briefings by this Department as well as the Swiss Federal Roads Office, Swiss Development Co-operation, the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Europe and the UN division for the Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents.

Over the course of the tour, participants were introduced to a variety of aspects pertaining to international co-operation in disaster risk reduction. Specific topics in this regard were integrated risk management focusing on flood risk management, national road management and the interaction between natural hazards and the transfer of goods and person through mountainous areas. To complete the study tour, the participants conducted a field visit along the route Grand St. Bernhard on the Swiss-Italian border.

The study tour was organized within the framework of the Project Co-ordinator’s project Monitoring Pollution in the Syrdarya River Basin and Assessment of the Transboundary Impact of Toxic Waste, one aim of which is to build confidence and co-operation between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan on the implementation of inter-governmental disaster risk reduction mechanisms.