Strengthening Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems and Risk Assessment in the Western Balkans and Turkey

Strengthening Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems and Risk Assessment in the Western Balkans and Turkey: assessment of capacities, gaps and needs

This document reports on a project which aim was to reduce the vulnerability of South Eastern European Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) beneficiaries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244/99), and Turkey) to natural hazards such as drought, flood and forest fires. It focuses on the meteorological, hydrological and climate services capacities to support disaster risk reduction (DRR) and early warning systems in the IPA beneficiaries of South East Europe.

The report includes: (i) a description of the roles and responsibilities of the NMHS in DRR, the background of this project and the methodological approach of this analysis in the background section (chapter one); (ii) an assessment of the DRR institutional framework and the technical capacity of the NMHS to support DRR and MHEWS in the IPA beneficiaries with technical recommendations to strengthen these capacities (chapters two to eight); and (iii) a roadmap for the strengthening of regional cooperation in meteorology, hydrology and climate in South East Europe to support DRR and MHEWS (chapter nine).

This work was conducted under the IPA/2009/199-922 project “Regional Cooperation in South Eastern Europe for meteorological, hydrological and climate data management and exchange to support Disaster Risk Reduction” within the framework of the WMO Disaster Risk Reduction Programme.