EU-UNDRR project strengthens state-society coordination in disaster risk reduction in Turkmenistan

The participants met to establish a National Platform for DRR marking an important step forward in national coordination with an inclusive approach. The move comes at an important moment when the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and increasing climate change impacts have made clear the need for accelerating action on disaster resilience.

Nurly Dowletgeldiyev, Head of Department of Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan, said: “The implementation of Sendai Framework cannot be achieved through a sectoral approach, but through a comprehensive approach, that is, through the coordinated collaboration of the ministries and other governmental institutions of our country. In this regard, it is planned to establish the inter-agency working group on DRR in Turkmenistan for the further advancement of efficiency of measures taken on prevention of and response to emergencies, as well as reduction of their risks.”

“The cooperation between the European Union and Turkmenistan is now framed by the new realities. First, we have to build back better after the global pandemic situation caused by the COVID-19 resolves. Second, instead of reacting to the negative changes and harmful effects of the natural and man-made disasters, we are anticipating and addressing the challenges affecting socio-economic goals and security and enhancing ability to embrace innovations and modernization. This is what we call Resilience. The current project on DRR, among other directions of cooperation, will promote and intensify cooperation on implementing the Paris climate commitments and tackling trans-regional environmental challenges to turn them into opportunities. These priorities will remain in the future EU strategy for 2021-2027,” said Renata Wrobel, the representative of the EU Delegation in Turkmenistan.

Deputy Chief of UNDRR Regional Office for Europe, Mr. Sebastien Penzini said “Turkmenistan's initiative on establishing a National Platform marks an important commitment of the country to ensure an inclusive, all of society approach to disaster resilience and safety of its population. It will support the capacity building and mainstreaming DRR within Turkmenistan as well as contributing to the resilience of the Central Asia region.”

The Defense Ministry of Turkmenistan and UNDRR agreed on the further joint actions in building capacity for disaster risk reduction. This collaboration is part of the UN Cooperation Framework in Turkmenistan for 2021-2025.   

The National Platform for DRR is a multi-stakeholder national mechanism that coordinates action on risk reduction across the government and society. The Platform is based on a set of principles, including national ownership and leadership of the DRR process. The collaboration between UNDRR and the Government of Turkmenistan is guided by the Objectives of Presidential Decree No 1156 and the Basic Principles of the implementation of the State Program adopted in 2019. The State Program was developed in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, 2015-2030, the major international agreement to reduce and prevent disaster risks across the globe. The Program also supports and guides the achievement of the targets set by the Sendai Framework.

Background information

The EU-funded project “Strengthening disaster resilience and accelerating implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction in Central Asia”, implemented by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), aims to support countries of the region in implementing the Sendai Framework priorities. The project supports strengthening regional coordination, development of regional DRR strategy, national disaster loss accounting systems, and community level disaster risk reduction. On the local level, the project supports development of disaster resilience strategies of capital cities. For this project, the EU committed EUR 3,750,000 for the three year implementation.