The 4th Consortium Meeting of the EU-China Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Project took place in Athens today (14.1.2014) at the headquarters of the General Secretariat for Civil Protection of Greece (the Greek National CP Authority) with the participation of high level representatives from the Project Partners. The General Secretary for Civil Protection of the Greek Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection Patroklos Georgiadis chaired the meeting.

 

In his opening address the Secretary General underlined that “Greece, both as a European Union member state involved in the EU-CHINA Disaster Risk Management project, and as the country holding the EU Presidency, will continue to support the activities of this project”, which is regarded of high priority at a social, political and practical level. It will bring China and the European Union together to collaborate on disaster risk management, strengthening bilateral cooperation in a sector that is crucial to social development and coherence, a priority for both Europe and modern China, he said. 

 

According to the General Secretary, the aim of the project is to help decision-makers in China deal with the challenges of disaster preparedness, disaster risk reduction and post-disaster management.  “In Civil Protection, it is our mission to ensure that societies become resilient to the consequences of natural and man-made disasters. Prevention of environmental and technological disasters, preparedness for the impact of natural hazards, as well as education and training in order to raise public awareness regarding disaster reduction is on the agenda of contemporary Civil Protection. So is international solidarity and awareness” he underlined.

 

The objective of the EU-CHINA Disaster Risk Management Project is to support the Government of China, through regular and real-time exchange of knowhow in capacity-building, science and technology, including early warning and forecast tools. The project partners come from seven EU member states – Greece being one of them, represented by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection (GSCP).