An online workshop was held in early August to mark the start of an EU-funded project dedicated to strengthening loss data collection in five countries of Central Asia
The first online meeting of the “National Disaster Loss Databases Implementation in Central Asia” project, dedicated to the strengthening of damage data collection capacity in five Central Asian countries, was held on August 7th.
“The countries involved in the project, funded by the European Union and developed by the United Nation Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, are Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan”, explains Tatiana Bedrina, researcher of the Risk Assessment and Loss Data Department of CIMA Research Foundation. “All these countries are committed to meeting the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030 and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction”.
The project has committed to improve systems for the damage and loss data accounting in an evidence-based way, so as to help to the development of uniform accounting of disaster loss data at national and regional levels, to bring in line to the Sendai Framework Targets, in order to facilitate yearly reporting, and also including to achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.
“During the workshop, which brought together representatives of emergency management authorities, civil protection, and statistical committees, the objectives we want to achieve in the next two years of work were first presented”, continues Bedrina. “In addition, during the meeting was presented the platform DesInventar-Sendai, a software for the systematic accounting and analysis of disaster loss data.” Finally, the workshop was an opportunity to present the Assessment Framework for Disaster Loss Data as first activity planned in the framework of the first year- a structure for the assessment of the current status of the process of disaster loss data collection and correspondence of national loss indicators to the Sendai Framework Targets A, B, C and D.
“This meeting was an important starting point for the further work and close cooperation in the coming years of the project”, concludes the researcher. “The work awaiting us is still a lot, but of crucial importance for disaster risk reduction in the international field. The uniform accounting of damage and loss data in accordance to the Sendai Framework and Sustainable Achievement Goals agenda is in fact a crucial aspect for participant Central Asia countries. Thus, this project offers a concrete opportunity to share experiences among countries and current international practice and to facilitate the national and international reflection on the critical points in short- and long-term perspective that are beyond the construction of a national disaster loss data accounting system.”