On 13 August, in the HQ of ARCS, in the frame of "DRR in Urban Communities" project a working meeting on the theme of vulnerability and capacity assessment with the leadership of the Ajapnyak Community was held.
The working group was comprised of ARNAP National Platform Foundation Deputy Director Ara Baghdasaryan, MES Emergency Management State Academy Head Hamlet Matevosyan, Head of Ajapnyak Community Artavazd Sargsyan and the leadership of Community Administration.
Head of ARCS Disaster Management and Population Movement department Edmon Azaryan welcomed participants and thanked for giving such an importance to the meeting. He expressed hope, that the cooperation between the parties would be constructive. Presenting "DRR in Urban Communities" project, E. Azaryan mentioned.
The number of natural and man-made disasters around the world has risen. Today humanity faces a new challenge, which is “Urbanization”. Urban population is increasing, resulting overcrowding, irregular construction in large cities, air pollution and other problems such as Climate Change.
Taking into consideration the issue, UNISDR initiated "My City is Getting Ready" campaign, in the frame of which 10 primary conditions for resilient city were developed.
For the implementation of this pilot project, setting a goal to have a resilient urban community also, IFRC selected five cities from different regions of the World, and Yerevan is in this list. We will present our experience during Global Conference, and after that it will be applied to the other countries.
In the frame of "DRR in Urban Communities" project a survey was conducted, which, revealed differences between urban and rural communities in the context of DRR. In close collaboration with the Rescue Department Yerevan, the hazard threatening Yerevan were studied, an Ajapnyak Administrative District was selected as a target for the implementation of pilot assessment of hazards, vulnerability and capacity as designed in the project.
Head of Ajapnyak Community Artavazd Sargsyan welcomed such initiative and said.
I am always ready to support such programs and I think we will have a very productive partnership in this area.
Then ARNAP National Platform Foundation Deputy Director Ara Baghdasaryan presented the activities of the organization by giving DRR portable library to the Ajapnyak Community as a gift.
MES Emergency Management State Academy Head Hamlet Matevosyan, who conducted "DRR in Urban Communities" research as an expert, presented today`s disaster risk management issues in Armenia, as well as the results of the research.
The speeches were followed by the DRR evaluation of Ajapnyak Community. The capacity of the community, preparedness, evacuation, response plans, staff awareness and other DRR-related issues were assessed in 5-point scale.
In the end of the meeting, they agreed to continue the evaluation process at the local level.
"DRR in Urban Communities" project is implemented with the finance of the Iranian Red Crescent Society and the support of IFRC.
