A working meeting was held on issues of disaster risk management

Municipal representatives and representatives of community organizations met for a working meeting to discuss the roles and responsibilities of municipalities in the process of disaster risk reduction and management. Participants in the project "Reducing the risk of climate-driven disasters in Georgia" included representatives from 13 target municipalities: Gore, Telavi, Akhmeta, Sighnaghi, Lagodekhi, Samtredia, Abasha, Senaki, Khobi, Kobuleti, Chokhatauri, Ozurgeti, and Lanchkhuti.

The meeting, which was organized by the EIEC of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, was opened by the deputy director of the centre, Ekaterine Bendeliani.

"The mentioned meetings help the representatives of municipalities understand their role and responsibility in the process of disaster risk management and reduction. Facilitation of dialogue between local governments and community organizations in a working format ensures the identification of local needs. It is important that, within the framework of the project, the resilience of vulnerable communities to the risks of disasters caused by climate change be strengthened," said Ekaterine Bendeliani.

The significance of the emergency plan and public and community sector collaboration in disaster risk management were among the topics covered by the meeting attendees, project experts, and emergency management service representatives. The use of maps of geological and hydrometeorological hazards was explained to the municipal representatives by representatives of the National Environment Agency.

Walter Amani, an international expert on avalanches for the United Nations Development Program, focused on the causes of avalanches and the importance of using hazard maps at the meeting.

The program "Reducing the risk of climate-driven disasters in Georgia" is financed by the Government of Georgia, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Government of Switzerland, and Sweden, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).