On March 10, 2009, USAID’s Preparedness and Planning program will sign Memoranda of Understanding with four municipalities to assist them with training on disaster planning and emergency response. The new municipalities include: Ljubovija, Mionica, Osečina and Ub.
Mr. Vladislav Krsmanović, Mayor of the Ub Municipality, will host the ceremony and Michael Pillsbury, Program Director, will address the participants at the event and sign MoUs with the mayors.
These municipalities face many natural and manmade hazards, such as floods, landslides, earthquakes, 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 four municipalities to improve the capacities of local actors to plan for and respond to crises.
To date, over 670 persons from 50 municipalities' Disaster Management teams throughout Serbia 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 legal obligations and international standards in disaster management and response. Municipalities meeting these standards are certified for demonstrating “enhanced disaster resilience”, and to date 11 cities and municipalities have been certified for achieving Level 1 status, which implies increased disaster management capacity at the local level. Currently, 50 municipalities in Serbia are included in program activities.
Journalists interested in attending the ceremony are kindly invited to be at Municipal building, Ub, on Tuesday, March 10, at 10:15 am.