Greece National Platform

History

The Hellenic National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is set up as an open network as well as a forum of government agencies and other stakeholders, with a focus on reducing the risk of natural and/or human-induced hazards occurring with major frequency and having a big social and economic impact on the country. 

In the past years, the idea of a coherent policy for DRR, as determined by its United Nations definition, has been diffused to a number of government policies and sectoral plans, under the responsibility of the relevant ministries. The multisectoral coordination of public authorities in disaster prevention and mitigation measures, as part of the wider DRR management, has been one of the main responsibilities of the General Secretariat for Civil Protection/Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection (previously under the Ministry of Public Order and Citizen Protection) from the beginning. Coordination activities engage a number of actors, including those in the forces and means of civil protection, such as: 

• Specialized executives for civil protection at national, regional and local levels who are assigned to supervise the development and application of plans, programmes and measures of civil protection as well as coordination of all necessary actions
• All government, regional and local agencies and public companies that are in charge at operational level for concrete actions of preparedness and response to disasters
• Volunteer organizations as well as specialized volunteers at national, regional or local level included in the planning done by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection and assigned to support plans and actions of prevention, preparedness and response 

Concerning multisectoral coordination and collaboration in DRR, the General Secretariat for Civil Protection is responsible for elaborating, planning and monitoring national civil protection policies under the government guidelines. For this purpose, it collaborates with the competent ministries and relevant institutions for drafting regulations and specifications to prevent natural, human-induced and other disasters, while being responsible for approving all regional and local plans of civil protection, per category of risk. General information and public awareness regarding prevention issues and specific directives provided by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection in case of imminent or present disasters are issues of great importance. Identifying risks and developing early warning systems also forms part of a basic field of its expertise. In this context, the General Secretariat for Civil Protection has been issuing, for example, during the fire season, a Daily Fire Risk Map for the country, which specifies the probability of a fire occurring over time and space. 

The entry into force of the Hellenic National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (31 May 2012) reflects the idea of addressing DRR issues in the most coherent way, as well as recognizing the importance of DRR for the promotion of national sustainable economic growth and progress.

Structure

The Hellenic National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction is coordinated by the General Secretariat for Civil Protection/Ministry for Climate Crisis and Civil Protection. It builds on existing DRR capabilities. 

Within the structure of the national platform, the following bodies and their political subdivisions are represented at present: 

• Ministry of the Interior; Ministry of the Environment and Energy; Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport; Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports; Ministry of National Defence; Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy; and Ministry of Culture and Sports
• National Health Operations Centre and Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Observatory of Athens; Institute of Geodynamics; Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing; Institute of Environmental Research and Sustainable Development; National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos"; Greek Atomic Energy Commission; and Hellenic National Meteorological Service
• Hellenic Red Cross 

The Hellenic National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction shall be constantly open to new stakeholders.

Mandate

The aim of the platform is to facilitate the integration of DRR into decision-making processes, mainly at the national administration level (national policies, planning and programmes), but also at the level of local administration with the participation of the private sector and research institutions. 

The national platform serves as a coordination mechanism for the support of multi-stakeholder coordination in implementing DRR activities within the framework of the national legislation and in line with the implementation of the Sendai Framework.

The overarching goal is to establish a "culture of prevention" with activities that will enable the society to reduce human, social and economic losses caused by natural disasters. Special focus will be placed on reducing the risk and impact of natural disasters occurring with major frequency and having a big social and economic impact on the country. Forest fires, earthquakes, severe weather, floods and landslides are primarily included in these.

Budget

All common initiatives undertaken by the platform are co-financed by the participating parties, and individual activities are financed by members of the platform in accordance with the policy field. At the moment, the national platform has no specific budget. 

The members of the national platform will seek additional and differentiated financial resources, giving priority to absorbing funds within the frameworks of other financing instruments. 

At local level, the annual national budget dedicated to prevention actions and distributed to municipalities by the Ministry of the Interior after a proposal from the General Secretariat for Civil Protection, will continue to also serve for DRR purposes.