Improving the Disaster Risk Register for better health and safer investments

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior - Sector for Emergency Management (SEM), the Republic Geodetic Authority (RGA), and the Ministry of Health, is successfully continuing the process of upgrading the Disaster Risk Register with information of significance for a better understanding of public health risks. This entails the advancement of the information infrastructure and digitizing the data of importance to the public health system, as well as the -building capacities of state institutions, which are both the owners and beneficiaries of this data, to prepare, input, and later manage it appropriately.

From July to September 2023, UNDP provided technical support to government’s institutions to collect data of relevance to the Disaster Risk Register, and applying principles of interoperability and automating the process of data update. In order to have all the data in the appropriate format ready by the end of 2023, UNDP organized the Second workshop for the upgrade of the Disaster Risk Register to include public health risks , in Sopot on 9-10 October 2023. Representatives of the Sector for Emergency Management, Ministry of Health, Republic Geodetic Authority, Geological Survey of Serbia, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management, Public Water Management Companies ‘Srbijavode’ and ‘Vode Vojvodine’, Institute of Public Health of Serbia "Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut,", Ministry of Environmental Protection, Ministry of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Ministry of Mining and Energy and State joint-stock companies ‘Elektromreza Srbije’ and ‘Eletrodistribucija Srbije’ participated in the workshop. During these two days, their representatives worked in teams on more precise defining the datasets related to epidemics and pandemics, shortage of drinking water, technical and technological hazards, critical infrastructure, landslides, floods, animal and plant diseases, and assessing institutional capacities for data storage, and specifying methods and techniques for data exchange.

Common point emerged the Disaster Risk Register significance exists beyond the public service system extending it to academia, faculties and universities, and as well the private sector, especially banks and insurance offices giving them access to data enabling better and safer investment planning.

More details about the upgrade of the Disaster Risk Register can be found HERE. 

Health upgrade of the Disaster Risk Register is being developed within the initiative ‘EU for Healthcare System in Serbia’ in the Republic of Serbia implemented jointly by UNDP and WHO, with the financial support of the European Union.