Montenegro National Platform

History

With the adoption of the National Strategy for Emergency Situations and Law on Rescue and Protection, as well as by establishing the Emergency Management Coordination Team and Directorate for Emergency Management, as an organizational unit of the Ministry of Interior, conditions are created that on the territory of Montenegro there is a single place from which the following can be performed: risk management in emergency situations, management of rescue and protection in emergency situations and management of recovery of emergency situations consequences. With the establishment of state emergency management system all existing relevant institutions (ministries and other administrative bodies, local government bodies, operational units, police, military and civil sector) which are involved in monitoring process are functionally integrated.

With the aim to perform normative regulation of all relevant areas of government activities which are important for prevention of emergencies and recovery of consequences, several legislative acts which were harmonized with the European Union regulations were adopted such as: Law on Rescue and Protection; Law on Transport of Dangerous Goods; Law on Explosive Substances and Law on Flammable Liquids and Gases.

In the period from 24 to 26 November 2010 the Conference entitled "National Dialogue on Reducing Disaster Risk in Montenegro (National Policy Dialogue)" was held in Kolasin under the Regional Programme for Disaster Risk Reduction in South East Europe, organized by UNDP Montenegro. It was attended by representatives from Montenegrin state institutions such as: Ministry of Interior, Hydrometeorological Institute, Seismological Bureau, Ministry of Defence, Police Directorate, Association of Municipalities of Montenegro, Red Cross of Montenegro, Office for Emergency Medicine, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism and Sustainable Development as well as representatives of OSCE in Montenegro, the U.S. Embassy and other institutions.

Also, in the period from 18 to 20 April 2011 another conference entitled "National Dialogue on Reducing Disaster Risk in Montenegro (National Policy Dialogue)" was held in Milocer, organized by UNDP, which followed the development of this project in Montenegro.

In 2014 the Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction was formed by the Government of Montenegro, which consists of representatives from various ministries and agencies in Montenegro, with the task to establish the National Platform for DRR in Montenegro in 15 December 2014.

After establishing the National Platform for DRR 6 Conferences of the National Platform were organized on various topics up to now. The topics of these Platforms were: floods, wild fires, development of Strategy for DRR and earthquakes. This year Conference of the Platform was organized alongside a special event marking the 40th anniversary of major earthquake in Montenegro which occurred on April 15 1979 of devastating 7.0 magnitude

Structure

The following authorities make the structure of the Montenegrin National Platform for DRR:

• Ministry of Interior
• Ministry of Defence
• Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism
• Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development
• Ministry of Health
• Ministry of Science
• Institute for First Medical Aid
• Institute for Public Health
• Red Cross of Montenegro
• Hydrometeorology and Seismology Institute
• Agency for Environmental Protection
• Center for Ecotoxicological Research

Budget

At the moment the Platform has no specific budget and all activities are financed from the budget of governmental and international organisations through different projects.

Mandate

• Monitor, examine and determine the achievements that contribute to disaster risk reduction;
• Organize conferences to exchange views, present and coordinate opinions, suggestions, knowledge and experience to act on disaster risk reduction, as well as to assess risk and activities of all parties involved in the action in order to reduce risk and threats of disasters;
  Be informed about criteria, directives and initiatives of public administrations related to disaster risk reduction;
• Prepare technical basis for dialogue of all stakeholders in order to achieve the highest quality response to threats and risks of disasters;
• Encourage and connect academic institutions and all entities involved in the action concerning disaster risk reduction;
• Promote initiatives of different public administrations and private sector to implement actions which contribute to the improvement of disaster risk preventioli/li>and mitigation;
• Be informed about programmes, projects, reports and recommendations issued by institutions of the UN or UNDRR;
• Raise awareness of all citizens in area of disaster risk reduction.

Activities

• Contribute to need assessment studies for disaster risk reduction activities, policies and make proposals for national action plans on DRR,
• Strengthen legislation on issues related to disaster risk reduction,
• Contribute to programming, monitoring and evaluation of DRR studies and projects,
• Implement targeted and scientifically-technical programmes for prevention of emergencies,
• Prepare proceedings after each conference,
• Ensure more effective and multi-stakeholder studies and activities among various partner organizations working in the field of DRR,
• Develop strategies and policies in order to achieve DRR as well as to support the one already existing,
• Maintain the implementation and monitoring of Hyogo Framework for Action Strategy Plan in the country,
• Support activities so as to increase the awareness of public related to disaster risk reduction.