Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan set up joint disaster response center

DUSHANBE, August 20, 2011, Asia-Plus -- On Friday August 19, the emergency ministers of Tajikistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan signed the agreement on the establishment of a Central Asian Center for Disaster Response and Risk Reduction.

The official signing ceremony that took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan was attended by high-level representatives of UN Agencies, other international organizations, European and Asian embassies as well as the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department.

According to Kazakh media outlets, the agreement was penned by Vladimir Bozhko, Kazakh Emergency Situations Minister, Bolotbek Borbiyev, Minister of Emergency Situations of Kyrgyzstan, and Khaybullo Latipov, Chairman of the Committee for Emergency Situations of Tajikistan. 

The center’s main objectives are to bolster regional coordination and cooperation in reducing the risk of natural and manmade disasters by developing and strengthening institutions and their capacities.

“The project involves the development of capacity at the sub-national, national and regional levels within the three participating countries,” Bozhko said at the official signing ceremony.

The operation will be staffed by five full-time members and four part-time units of technical personnel.

The project has the support of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), as well as Europe’s Department of the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection.