ASHGABAT, December 1, 2021 - The European Union (EU)-funded workshop "Towards a regionally-consistent exposure database for Central Asia: characterizing buildings, infrastructure and croplands in Turkmenistan" will take place online on December 1-3, 2021. The event focuses on methods and challenges to achieve data harmonization between Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries, and targets policy makers, experts, and practitioners from ministries of Turkmenistan, as well as national and regional research and academic institutions, and representative from the EU Delegation and other development partners.

Turkmenistan is prone to different types of natural hazards which have the potential for causing significant human and economic losses. Earthquakes, floods, extreme heat, water scarcity, and wildfires are the predominant risks[1]. In 2000, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the Western part of Turkmenistan affecting up to 68,000 people. The worst flood in the country occurred in 1993 and caused about $200 million damage (inflated to 2015 US dollars)[2]. According to the World Bank’s Disaster Risk Profile for Turkmenistan, the annual average population affected by earthquakes and floods is about 170,000 and the annual average affected Gross Domestic Product about $2.7 billion. The frequency of disastrous events highlights the need for continued efforts in mitigating disaster impacts and developing transboundary solutions.

This workshop on Turkmenistan is the fifth in a series of five country-based workshops and provides participants with the details of exposure characterization and, most importantly, with the tools needed to develop such exposure datasets. The main objective is to prepare the ground for the development of a harmonized database of structures, infrastructure, and crops assets exposed to devasting natural events, such as earthquakes, floods, and landslides, which are common occurrences across Central Asia. This workshop builds capacities of local experts, institutions, and research groups with emergency planning on exposure mapping and empiric knowledge of disaster risk information and its components. It will enable attendees from Turkmenistan to actively contribute with their expertise to disaster risk reduction in Central Asia.

The workshop series is a contribution to the implementation of the “Strengthening Financial Resilience and Accelerating Risk Reduction in Central Asia” (SFRARR) Program which is funded by the EU, managed by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), and implemented by the World Bank in close collaboration with the Center for Emergency Situations and Disaster Risk Reduction (CESDRR). It supports Central Asian countries in building disaster resilience and strengthening capacities for financial protection.

For additional information, please contact:

Ms Chyi-Yun Huang for the World Bank in Central Asiaat chuang@worldbank.org;

Ms Nazik Avlyakulova, Press and Information Officer, EU Delegation to Turkmenistanat nazik.avlyakulova@eeas.europa.eu

[1] GFDRR, 2021. ThinkHazard! Turkmenistan [online]. Available at: https://thinkhazard.org/en/report/250-turkmenistan

[2] World Bank & GFDRR, 2017. Disaster Risk Profile – Turkmenistan. Available at: https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/disaster-risk-profiles-turkmenistan