Disaster Management Training Programme
The Disaster Management Training Programme (DMTP) plays a key role in strengthening disaster risk management capacities across DPPI SEE member states. It supports the professional development of civil protection personnel through thematic workshops, seminars, conferences, simulation exercises, and expert exchanges. The DMTP addresses priority areas in disaster preparedness and prevention, while promoting alignment with EU, UN, and other international standards and practices. Developed in close cooperation with member states, the programme fosters knowledge sharing, regional coordination, and improved interoperability in emergency situations.
This week UNDRR office in Bonn is organizing training workshop on Sendai Framework Monitoring and Disaster Loss Databases. This is the 2nd time since last year that UNDRR is organizing such events aimed to build capacities of partners for the process of Sendai Monitoring. On both occasions, last year and this week, DPPI SEE has supported the workshops with sending representatives from the member states. This time experts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia are present in Bonn to learn and liaise with their colleagues across the globe and contribute to the debate of Sendai Monitoring.
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This week 16 firefighters representing 9 DPPI SEE member states are in Ig, Slovenia for the Basic Hot Fire training as part of the annual contribution of the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief of Republic of Slovenia to this year DPPI SEE training program. This training is aimed to improve the participants’ basic knowledge and techniques of fire-fighting and basic operational procedures for indoor fires. The course was also designed to raise awareness on procedures and practices of fire development and behavior in different scenarios.During the week the participants were exposed to theoretical lessons and various practical exercises supervised by licensed trainers and instructors.
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The training course was the second in the cycle of courses organised by the Croatian National Protection and Rescue Directorate for fire-fighting commanders from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia.
The main objective of the course was to provide an insight into the technical rescue operations in fire-fighting interventions related to road accidents, both through theoretical lectures and practical exercises.
At the end of the course, the participants (twenty-eight in total) received certificates for having been trained in “Operational Activities in Road Accidents”
The participants were made familiar with the equipment used in interventions in road accidents; with security measures, application of various rescue methods, ensuring working conditions in special conditions (by night), tactical activities in accidents involving dangerous goods, and generating safety and protection guidelines.
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The Risk Assessment Workshop that happen in Belgrade this week, was the first event for 2022 under the Disaster Management Training Program. It was a contribution of the Ministry of Interior of Republic of Serbia – Sector for Emergency Management to the program itself with a goal to exchange updates and novelties on the topic. Despite the host country, disaster risk assessment experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey had the possibility to present key elements of their national risk assessments and future plans. At the workshop, we also had representatives from UNDRR who presented the results from the Risk INFORM Index for SEE and the Make My City Resilient 2030. At the end of the workshop, the experts agreed that a permanent working group within DPPI SEE should be established that will meet regularly and on annual basis to discuss and share information on disaster risk assessment processes and challenges.
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In 2020 Sphere Association and DPPI SEE initiated specific collaboration aimed at promoting the Sphere Handbook in the region of SEE by designing a suitable training program. After several basic courses on Sphere Handbook, delivered online due to COVID-19, finally we succeed to organize the first face to face Train of Trainers training in Tirana, Albania. By the end of the training 16 participants were produced as Sphere Handbook trainers. For the training we had balanced training audience with representatives from both the national civil protection authorities and the Red Cross societies, something that we are very proud for. At the end of the training each participant prepared a personal action plan describing actions that will follow and will be conducted by them promoting the Sphere Handbook as trainers. DPPI SEE will remain dedicated to their personal development growth in the future as well as building more trainers in the years to follow.
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The 2nd event under the DPPI SEE annual training program for 2022 was dedicated to the topic of local disaster risk reduction plans/strategies and Make My City Resilient 2030. The event in Antalya was co-organized with AFAD and UNDRR office for Europe and Central Asia. During the event DPPI SEE member states had the opportunity to hear about the recent developments on the topic in Turkey and to present their own lessons from the process of designing local DRR strategies. During the second day we had the opportunity to learn more about MCR 2030 and hear real case studies from cities in the region who are already involved in the campaign. Under the Croatian chairmanship for 2022 with DPPI SEE, the topic of our annual training program is DRR. Our last event in the program for this year will happen in October in Dubrovnik, Croatia when we will discuss DRR financing.
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DPPI SEE/UNDP Train of Trainers on Post Disaster Needs Assessment, 20-22 June 2022, Belgrade, Serbia
The training held in Belgrade was a continuation of the basic training on PDNA that was conducted in Sarajevo in February 2020. This time and thanks to the collaboration with the UNDP regional office in Istanbul, the training focused on building future trainers on PDNA in the region of SEE. A three-day training program included presentations as per the PDNA training modules, as well as interactive lectures, case studies, group exercises and practical analysis. The training informed designated civil protection representatives from the DPPI SEE member states about the advantages of applying standardized approach and methodology to conduct post disaster needs assessments and formulate recovery strategy. This year DPPI SEE and UNDP are collaborating on another activity as well and that is the preparation of the recovery capacity assessment for the DPPI member states, aiming to support disaster management and recovery planning process more effectively.
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Sphere and DPPI-SEE initiated a Train of Trainer programme in January 2020.This was followed by three online Sphere courses held between June and November 2020. These workshops were led by listed Sphere trainers Zeynep Sanduvac (Turkey) and Dijana Muzicka (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and co-facilitated by Tristan Hale and Aninia Nadig (Sphere secretariat). In November and December 2021, sixteen of the graduates attended a 24h online course in online facilitation techniques, facilitated by Red-R UK. This training was a follow up to the previous one and was meant for those who have prior experience of at least 4-5 years in conducting trainings in humanitarian setting, basic understanding of the contents of the Sphere Handbook with discrete role in their current job responsibilities. Overall, fifteen (15) participants (6 female, 9 male) attended and successfully completed the course. Participants came from nine (9) countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, N.Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey). They represented civil protection organizations, Red Cross/Red Crescent societies and the Sphere office.
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The seminar was hosted by the Sector for Emergency Management of the Serbian Ministry of Interior and was the last of the activities organised within the DMTP 2015 annual plan.
Views and country experiences on the seminar topic were exchanged on two consecutive days among forty-one (41) participants (25 Serbian representatives, in addition to 15 in total from Albania, B&H, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Turkey). The seminar target audience were experts of 112 system/ ministries/ agencies involved in early warning system management and information-gathering and experts in hydrology and meteorology.
Presenting at the seminar, next to the DPPI SEE member countries official delegations, were the guest speakers from the Republic Hydro-meteorological Service of Serbia, Serbian National Water Management Directorate, the Public Water Management Company “Serbia Waters”, Serbian Institute for the Development of Water Resources “Jaroslav Černi” and others. Topics addressed included the following: Set up of Early Warning System (Devetra system development - presented by a guest speaker from CIMA Research Foundation, Early Warning - hydrological and meteorological phenomena, Early Warning for wildfires (cross-border cooperation), Early warning for hazardous hydrological risks at local level, etc. Sessions reflecting on the seminar presentations were an integral part of the seminar agenda.
All major emergencies that happened in the context of South Eastern Europe in the last 10 years (Serbia/Bosnia and Herzegovina Floods, Refugee and Migrant Crisis, Earthquakes in Albania, Croatia and Turkey, COVID-19) have showed the importance of the logistics aspects in response operations. In 2021 DPPI SEE, the Global Logistics Cluster and the IFRC initiated discussions on the modalities how to better identify needs and gaps in knowledge in the member states on the topic of logistic preparedness. The result of that consultation process was designing LOGEX 2021 as a discussion based simulation exercise on the topic of logistics in emergencies. During the exercise the participating states will have the opportunity to work on a fictitious scenario happening in a fictitious country affected by a massive earthquake. Their focus will be only logistics aspects of the response like preparing the response plan, transportation and warehousing aspects. The assumption is that by doings we will identify lessons which will be the basis for identification and design of a comprehensive training program to be implemented by DPPI SEE in the years to follow. LOGEX 2021 starts on 22.11 simultaneously in all 10 DPPI SEE member states in an online format.
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Disaster Risk Reduction for School Principals Course was the Croatian contribution to prevention/disaster risk reduction courses organized within the DPPI SEE Disaster Management Training (DMTP) Program for 2016. The course was hosted and led by the National Protection and Rescue Directorate (NPRD).
The course was attended by 16 participants from 8 DPPI SEE member states (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey) and with facilitation from Croatia (4 facilitators from NPRD and UNICEF) and guest facilitators, last year’s attendee, principal Biljana Ćulafić from Montenegro. All together 21 participants participated in the course (List of participants is annexed to this report).
The 4 and half day focus on inclusion of reducing risks in 
school activities with basics of responding to and recovering from disasters specific to the region of South-Eastern Europe. The course provided basics on disaster risk reduction concepts and guidance, including the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), as well as understanding the key aspects and activities of response and recovery. The course builds upon participants’ newly acquired knowledge of disaster risk reduction issues in practical terms to their day-to-day work with children and teaching staff. The course also allowed participants to apply practice to a project, case study or a simulation exercise culminating in a lecture or a presentation of the project at the end of the course.
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PREP training course was hosted by the Macedonian Protection and Rescue Directorate as part of the DPPI SEE DMTP 2016 and was co-organised/ managed by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Emergency Services Branch (ESB). The course came a result of discussions between UN OCHA and DPPI SEE over the course of 2015 and 1st quarter of 2016, following the proposal of UN OCHA for a PREP course tailor-made to SEE. This was only the 2nd in the row of PREP courses designed and conducted by the OCHA Emergency Service Branch.
The aim of the course was to reach out to emergency management practitioners from different organisations of the DPPI region and present key concept and tools used and promoted by OCHA Emergency Services Branch in responding to humanitarian crisis.
Over the course of 5 days, the participants were lectured on fundamentals of humanitarian action and humanitarian coordination, humanitarian Civil-Military coordination (UN-CMCoood), including on OCHA’s emergency response tools and services. The course was structured in a way as to ensure constant balance of theory, follow-up group discussions, presentations, team-building, all culminating in practical application through task solving in an exercise simulating a sudden-onset emergency.
The course was attended by twenty-six (26) participants, out of which sixteen (16) participants represented the DPPI SEE (Albania, BiH, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey) with another ten (10) participants having been selected by UN OCHA Emergency Service Branch network (European Commission (DG ECHO), Belgium, Italy, Germany and Sweden). In order to prepare ahead for the course, all the participants had to complete the pre-course training, comprising 4 on-line exercises, over 1 month before the course.
More detailed information about PREP 2016 can be found on the course website:
https://sites.google.com/a/dialoguing.org/prep/home/highlights/struga2016
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The training was hosted by the Macedonian Protection and Rescue Directorate within the DPPI SEE DMTP 2016 and co-organised/ managed by the Macedonian Scout Federation.
Specific objective of the event was to connect civil protection administrations and civil society organizations while demonstrating ways to build mutual understanding, support and cooperation in the area of search and rescue operations in the nature. Through a set of interactive workshops participants had an opportunity to learn and further develop various survival techniques and to participate in a simulated crisis situation in the nature.
Targeted audience were representatives of the civil sector/ scout organizations and the SEE national disaster management authorities/ Red Cross/ Mountain rescue services respectively.
Eighteen (18) participants from nine (9) countries (Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Bulgaria Albania, Montenegro and Turkey) participated in the training.
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In the period between 24-31.08 rescuers from 9 DPPI SEE member states had the opportunity to train rope rescue techniques in urban areas. The event was organized by the Administration of Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief and supported by DPPI SEE.
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The course was hosted, organized and facilitated by ACPDR (Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief) in cooperation with NPRD (National Protection and Rescue Directorate of the Republic of Croatia).
The course provides in depth orientation on disaster risk reduction concepts and guidance, including the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, as well as understanding of the key aspects and activities of response and recovery. The course also guides and enables participants to prepare a DRR related group project proposal during the course to be presented at the end of the course.
Other course objectives are:
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Establish a common understanding of the tenets on which lie the foundations of disaster risk reduction
(DRR). - Develop a better understanding of preparedness, response and recovery as integral to disaster risk reduction.
- Illustrate the role of different stakeholders in DRR, the integrated nature between the sectors in DRR and the importance of coordination between stakeholders.
- Introduce and discuss the already put in place mechanisms for reducing disaster losses and risk management, focused on the region of South-Eastern Europe.
- Present and discuss the concepts and guidance of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction as well as the implementation and follow-up to the strategic goals and priorities for action 2015-2030.
- Build a network among the participants by sharing the experience, existing know-how and team building.
The DRR course 2016 was attended by 16 participants from nine (9) DPPI SEE member countries (Albania, BiH, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey).
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This training was hosted by the Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief (ACPDR) within the DPPI SEE Disaster Management Training Programme 2016, and was co-organised/managed by the Slovenian Canine Associations (SCA) and the Association of Rescue Dog Handlers of Slovenia (ARDHS). The training is certified by the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia.
The target audience were dog handlers with rescue dogs, who are assigned to units for the search of missing and tapped persons, or who, after such training, will qualify for such units in the future, as well as representatives of civil protection and other organisations associated with search and rescue. Prior knowledge was not required.
- Training objectives, among others, included:
- Understanding the basics of socialisation, education and training of rescue dogs.
- Understanding the stages of education of rescue dogs.
- Understanding the types and procedures of searching injured persons trapped under rubble.
- To understand the method and procedures of searching missing persons on terrain.
- To understand the basics of first aid and first veterinary aid.
- To understand communication methods.
- To understand international guidance, their application and to understand the work procedures in missions.
The training was attended by fifteen (15) participants from eight (8) DPPI SEE member countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.
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Civil Protection Days are the largest event in Slovenia aimed at presenting the national civil protection system to the wider population and raising awareness about its importance and capabilities. These events are organized every two years by the Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief of Republic of Slovenia and always in different city in the country. This time it was in the oldest Slovenian city, Ptuj. The program dedicated for foreign guests where all DPPI SEE member states participated included a round table discussion on the topic of the necessary requirements for a national civil protection center and visit of the locations in the city where different segments of the civil protection system were presented. Once again great organization and excellent opportunity to network!
This week DPPI SEE Head of Secretariat is joining over 3500 delegates from 150 countries at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva, Switzerland.
The aim of the meeting is to assess the progress on Sendai Framework implementation. During the meeting the Global Assessment Report for 2019 was launched describing the state of risk across the globe highlighting what's new, spotting emerging trends, reveling disturbing patterns, examining behavior and presenting progress in reducing risks. All DPPI SEE member states are participating at the
event showing their grate commitment to the cause.