The National Strategy for Protection and Rescue in Emergency Situation Approved by the Serbian Parliament; Development of Action Plan Already Began

The Parliament of the Republic of Serbia adopted The National Strategy for Protection and Rescue in Emergency Situations. The implementation of the National Strategy is key to addressing the increasingly frequent and more severe disasters. Disasters directly undermine the development of Serbia and cause loss of lives and property.

In October 2010, the Government of the Republic of Serbia, international partners, experts and other participants of the UNDP organized National Policy Dialogue on Disaster Risk Reduction in Serbia, adopted National Policy Dialogue recommendations providing the expert basis for the development of the National Strategy. With the active expert assistance of the UNDP, the National Strategy draft was subsequently developed in May 2011 and passed by Serbia’s Parliament on 17 November 2011. 

The National Strategy defines five \'Strategic Areas’ that form the framework for disaster management and disaster risk reduction in Serbia and are consistent with the five priorities of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015: Building the resilience of nations and communities to disaster. The Hyogo Framework for Action is a 10-year plan to make the world safer from natural hazards adopted by 168 Member States of the United Nations in 2005 at the World Disaster Reduction Conference.

The five Strategic Areas of the National Strategy are:

Strategic Area 1 
Ensure that Disaster Risk Reduction becomes a national and local priority with a strong institutional basis for implementation.

Strategic Area 2
 Identify, assess and monitor disaster risk and enhance early warning.

Strategic Area 3 
Use Knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience at all levels.

Strategic Area 4 
Reduce the underlying risk factors.

Strategic Area 5 
Strengthen disaster preparedness or disaster response at all levels.

National Strategy Action Plan
In anticipation of this development, from 31 October to 2 November, UNDP Office of Human Security organized a working meeting in Arandjelovac, where representatives of the Serbian Ministry of Interior - Sector for Emergency Management (SEM), Bureau for Strategic Planning, and UNDP experts gathered to begin defining the Action Plan for the implementation of the National Strategy.

The Action Plan, once completed, will delineate, in detail, the implementation of activities, as well as implementers, performance indicators, timeframe for implementation and the necessary financial resources.

Click here to download \"The National Strategy for Protection and Rescue in Emergency Situations\" in Serbian language.