Workshop on managing risks in industrialised environments where there are conflicts

13/02/2020

A new training course was carried out in Ukraine, as part of the 3P project (Prevention, Preparation, Protection), funded by DG ECHO and facilitated by Groupe URD with support from a specialist in Nuclear, Radiological, Biological and Chemical risks.

Disaster management, and particularly its ‘preparation’ component, essentially focuses on natural events. As such, the management of technological and ecological risks in conflict contexts is often overlooked. A training course on this issue was therefore conducted in Ukraine on 29-31 January 2020, near the contact zone (Sloviansk), to raise awareness among the participants (members of NGOs involved in the 3P project, from the Red Cross Movement, and from civil society organisations, representatives of ECHO and other agencies involved in DRR activities).

The workshop helped to:

improve general knowledge about disaster preparedness (standards, principles, methods), for example, in relation to the Hyogo and Sendai frameworks, with a specific focus on industrial risks;
develop specific analysis and action plans for the local context (DRR in the areas affected by conflict in an industrialised country where there are numerous installations containing highly toxic and explosive substances);
support the 3P project in its efforts to develop DRR in eastern Ukraine.

It also aimed to take a step back from DIPECHO’s current activities in this type of situation and prepare the ground for future projects in similar contexts.

Tackling both the specific characteristics of risks and threats in conflict zones, and of NRBC risks and incidents, the workshop followed on from work that Groupe URD had done more than 10 years ago. It was carried out as part of the INSPIRE Consortium’s activities with DG ECHO.