Civil Protection: Euro-Mediterranean partners launch regional programme to prevent natural and man-made disasters

• The ‎“Prevention, Preparedness and Response to natural and ‎man-made Disasters”‎ (PPRD) Mediterranean programme was launched today in Rome, only a few weeks after fatal floods claimed more than a dozen lives, displaced over 20,000 people, and caused extensive damage to thousands of homes and acres of cropland in the Emilia-Romagna region.
• The programme aims to increase the resilience to natural and man-made disasters in the Southern Neighbourhood countries and the Mediterranean region by reinforcing cooperation and partnerships between the EU and Mediterranean countries under the umbrella of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).
• With a budget of 3M euros, this ambitious EU regional programme provides strong support to the UfM in civil protection and disaster risk management, given the increasing impact and scope of catastrophes across the Euro-Mediterranean region. The programme will involve Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia.
• The programme was launched in the framework of a series of meetings, including a high-level conference hosted by Italy in Rome, in the presence of the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, ‎Antonio Tajani.

Rome, 6 June 2023. In the framework of a series of events currently taking place at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Farnesina), the Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations of the European Commission (DG ECHO) launched the new “Prevention, Preparedness and Response to natural and man-made disasters in the EU Southern Neighbourhood countries – PPRD Mediterranean” programme.

PPRD-Med will focus on building sustainable capacities of Partner Countries’ civil protection institutions for disaster risk prevention, preparedness and response to disasters at sub-regional and regional level. It will strengthen interlinkages between all relevant governmental actors, civil society stakeholders, and the scientific community, promoting a national inclusive approach to disaster prevention, preparedness and response. The programme will enhance regional and sub-regional coordination, institutional cooperation and operational collaboration between the Southern Neighbourhood countries and with the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM).

Additionally, two other initiatives were launched: a multi-country study to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the disaster risk landscape and capacity to respond (2.4M euros), and an external technical on-site assistance (OSA) (2.2M euros). The multi-country study will analyze the disaster risk landscape and capabilities of the targeted regions, helping to define priorities for future actions, programmes, and partnerships. The OSA will provide civil protection technical assistance to address obstacles and difficulties encountered by national authorities, participants and stakeholders.

The launch of the programme followed a high-level conference on ‘Climate Change, Civil Protection and ‎Human Security – ‎Towards Efficient Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation’, held yesterday with the participation of the Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, DG ECHO Director-General, Maciej Popowski, UfM Secretary General, Nasser Kamel, and the Head of Italian Civil Protection Department, Fabrizio Curcio.

Based on a presentation by associate professor and member of the Mediterranean Expert on Climate and ‎Environmental Change (MEDECC) and Vice-Chair of WGI Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ‎Change (IPCC), Ms Fatima Driouech, high-level civil protection representatives from Italy, Albania, France, Jordan, Palestine and ‎Romania, shared their experiences, expertise and perspectives on climate change adaptation, proposing ways to enhance cooperation in the ‎Euro-Mediterranean region.‎

UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel stated: “In this moment of not only national but regional grief, as ‎Italy, Algeria, Spain and Jordan have experienced ‎deadly floods in the past weeks, we need more than ever ‎strong measures and mechanisms for reducing risks and ‎vulnerability and increasing natural and societal resilience ‎across the Euro-Mediterranean region. No country will be ‎able to counter singlehandedly the increasing weather ‎calamities. It is why the Union for the Mediterranean ‎strives relentlessly for effective and efficient ‎mutual assistance in the Euro-Mediterranean area ‎through the preparation of a multi-faceted regional instrument”.

In addition to these events, the UfM Secretariat signed two Memoranda of Understanding with the International Center for Environmental ‎Monitoring (CIMA) and the Euro-Mediterranean Center ‎on Climate Change (CMCC). These partnership agreements aim to reinforce UfM’s action in prevention, preparedness and response to disasters, as well as enhance science-driven adaptation and mitigation policies to tackle climate change.

Tomorrow the 2^nd meeting of the UfM Civil Protection Regional Dialogue Platform will take place. It will bring together UfM member states, international organizations and stakeholders from the whole Euro-Mediterranean region, specifically to discuss the development of an instrument of regional cooperation on civil protection covering the whole Mediterranean littoral, with a view to pave the way towards the meeting of UfM Directors-General on Civil Protection, which will convene in Valencia, next 18-19 October 2023, back to back with the EU Directors-General Meeting under the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Learn more about the UfM climate action and the first Scientific Report on Climate and Environmental Change in the Mediterranean.

Learn more about the UfM action on civil protection.