On November 20, 2008, USAID’s Preparedness and Planning program will inaugurate ten new municipalities by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on disaster planning and emergency response. The new municipalities include: Bačka Topola, Čoka, Despotovac, Golubac, Kula, Novi Kneževac, Petrovac, Sombor, Subotica and Žagubica.
Michael Harvey, USAID Mission Director, will address the participants at the event and Michael Pillsbury, Program Director, will sign MoUs with the ten mayors. 

These municipalities face many natural and manmade hazards, such as floods, hail storms, and fires that have a potential to endanger public health and safety, as well as cause considerable damage to municipal and residential property. The signing of the MoU formalizes cooperation and demonstrates the joint commitment of USAID’s Preparedness and Planning program and the ten municipalities to improve the capacities of local actors to plan for and respond to crises.
 
To date, over 400 persons from 41 municipalities' Disaster Management teams have attended U.S. supported trainings in the areas of risk assessment, risk management, and planning methodology. The new municipalities will benefit from capacity building training, technical assistance and networking events promoting best practices in the field of disaster management in the years ahead.

USAID’s Preparedness and Planning program builds a sustainable and systematic approach to local-level disaster management and assists municipalities to meet domestic legal obligations and international standards in disaster management and response.  Municipalities meeting these standards are certified for demonstrating “enhanced disaster resilience.” Currently, 41 municipalities in Serbia are included in program activities.

• < Prev
• Next >