Closing Ceremony and Achievement Sharing Conference of EU - China Disaster Risk Management Project (DRM Project)
Chinese and European civil protection authorities and experts are meeting to participate in the Closing Ceremony and Achievement Sharing Conference of EU - China Disaster Risk Management Project (DRM Project). The meeting is hosted by the Chinese Academy of Governance with high level participants from the Chinese Academy of Governance, the National Institute of Emergency Management, the Emergency Management Office of State Council, the EU Delegation to China, the European Union Humanitarian Aid Operations Office (ECHO) and The French Ministry of Interior.
The European Union decided in 2008 to launch the DRM Project in support to this sector in China. A Financing Agreement was therefore signed in December 2010 between the Delegation of the European Union to China and the People's Republic of China for an amount of EUR 6 million and an operational duration of 60 months. In 2012 a Grant contract was signed with a consortium led by the French General Civil Protection and Crisis Management Directorate (French Ministry of Interior) for the overall project management and implementation of activities.
Since then the project has been working jointly with the National Institute for Emergency Management (NIEM) and the Emergency Management Office (EMO) to raise their institutional capacities and to establish a EU-China platform, facilitating cooperation and coordination of actors in the management of disaster risks at national and international level. The project had three components: Capacity Development, Institutional Strengthening, and Policy Development and Dialogue.
The target group of the project were officials and senior staff of EMO involved in policy, strategy and coordination at both central and provincial levels; experts and academic staff of NIEM; government officials from line ministries and government administrations, managers of relevant professional bodies and representatives of communities and non-state actors (e.g. the Chinese Red Cross). However, it is necessary to underline that this project was ultimately aimed at benefiting the Chinese population and communities, particularly those living in disaster prone areas, who thanks to these initiatives are better equipped to take appropriate and timely action to protect themselves and their assets.
Responding to the increasing interest in disaster risk reduction and emergency management tools among Chinese officials, the project developed formal education programmes which benefited more than 200 students who completed MPA specialisation studies. A good number of Short Term Programmes on risk assessment and crisis management and study trips to the EU were also completed by more than 500 participants.
The use of real case scenarios and development of simulation exercises were also part of the project activities. For example, the full-scale simulation exercise that took place in May 2016 at the Shanghai Chemical Park involved more than 300 participants and was one of the most valued activities of the project in this area.
On institutional strengthening the project supported local governments of 15 different provinces trough initiatives offering a high potential for replication. For example, in Chengdu the project focused on strengthening community participation and district and provincial capacities as well as the cross cutting issue of gender. Significant progress was also made on the promotion of the volunteer network on DRM capacity and the development of regulations for volunteers.
On Policy Dialogue, the yearly International Conference on Emergency Management was occasion for mutual sharing and learning on how to enhance collective knowledge on disasters so as to better understand the long-term effects of old risks and new, and how to develop risk awareness and adequate response strategies.
Background
The EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation adopted at the 16th EU - China Summit in November 2013 provides that both sides will promote policy exchange and facilitate cooperation and exchange of expertise in disaster prevention, preparedness and response to natural and technological disasters.
Beyond this, EU-China cooperation in disaster risk management aims at facilitating and enhancing disaster response through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The Mechanism was set up to enable coordinated assistance from the participating states to victims of natural and man-made disasters in Europe and elsewhere.
For more information, please see
http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/china/documents/projects/overview/14drmp_fact_sheet_may2015.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/echo/what/civil-protection/mechanism_en
