A seminar was held in Turkmenabat in honor of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction

On October 13, 2021 representatives of government agencies and civil society organizations had meeting on “Capacity building and institutional development of civil servants and CSO’s representatives from the relevant organizations in responding to natural and other types of disaster” in Turkmenabat city. The meeting was organized by the CSO “Nature Preserving Society of Turkmenistan” (NPST) along with the USAID/Governance Support Program in Turkmenistan (GSP).

Opening the seminar, Chairman of the Nature Preserving Society of Turkmenistan Mr. Serdar Allekov, greeted all those present and noted that the date of the seminar was chosen not without a reason. On this day the world community celebrates the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction that was held under the “Only together … We can save the planet” slogan. S. Allekov told the participants about the vision, mission, goals, membership and the benefits that can be derived from becoming a member of the Society. Also, he noted that the work of NPST has become more multifaceted and covers more and more problems and topics related to the environment. NPST, as a member of the Global Network of Civil Society Organizations for Disaster Reduction (GNDR), which they joined in October 2019, have carried out many activities to reduce disaster risks. At one of them, at the end of 2020, was developed a Roadmap for the activities of public organizations in disaster risk reduction in Turkmenistan for 2021. Following the Roadmap, the NPST have already held two seminars in July in Mary and in August in Dashoguz. And this regular seminar in Turkmenabat became another step in increasing the potential of civil servants, strengthening interaction between state and public organizations on capacity building and institutional development.

Speaking about the disasters, such phenomena as the global food crisis, and pandemic cannot be ruled out. For almost two years now, the world has been experiencing a coronavirus pandemic. And this issue could not be ignored at the seminar. Addressing this issue, Ms. Aknabat Veliyeva, specialist of the Lebap velayat department of the National Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan made a presentation on the Covid-19 pandemic countermeasures, on the personal responsibility of each person of society. “Despite the fact that not even a single case of coronavirus infection has been registered in Turkmenistan, nevertheless, it is not recommended to neglect preventive measures, it is necessary to follow the recommendations of doctors and get vaccinated on time,” A. Veliyeva noted.

Mr. K.Atdayev, an employee of the Civil Defense and Rescue Operations Directorate of Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan (CDROD) of the Lebap velayat, spoke about the implementation of the The State Program of implementation of the main directions of the government policy in civil defense for 2019 – 2030. CDROD is the responsible body for the implementation of the commitments signed by Turkmenistan to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. K.Atdayev added that at present, a national platform on DRR has been formed, which includes specialized and relevant ministries, departments, and public organizations. This platform will effectively resolve all issues of DRR, including with the involvement of specialists from public associations.

Further, the speech at the seminar was continued by Ms. Jemal Jorayeva, the biology teacher of the specialized secondary school № 30 of the city of Turkmenabat of the main education department of the Lebap velayat. In her report on the factors affecting the environment, she spoke about educational programs for children, how they react to the measures taken to reduce the pressure on nature, what conclusions they draw, etc.

In the afternoon, the speech of Ms. Sabina Khajiyeva, a specialist of the Lebap Forestry Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan, was especially interesting. She noted that the Lebap velayat has excellent vegetation compared to other velayats in the country. These are tugai and riparian forests, this is a diverse flora along the coast of the Amu Darya river, large areas of fragrant green mountain landscapes of natural, sown and pasture fields, which, with the onset of hot summer days, are replaced by a yellow fire hazardous mass consisting of dried grasses.

“Fires in nature are mainly caused by the negligence of people with fire that causes fires. Many people, visiting natural places, do not comply with fire safety requirements, making fires in fire-hazardous places, and moreover, leaving them untouched, throwing matches or cigarettes, glass containers, etc. All of this is becoming a potential source of forest fires. In rare cases, the cause of forest fires can be natural phenomena, that is, thunderstorms, as well as man-made, like a short circuit on power lines,” S. Khajiyeva concluded.

Among the speakers were: Rakhmet Khajiyev, an employee of the Fire Safety Service of the Lebap velayat; Batyrjan Egemberdiyev, representative of the Sanitary Epidemiological Service of the Lebap velayat; Nyazik Akmuradova, representative of the Lebapvelayatagyzsuv (drinking water of Lebap velayat) association; Aziza Furkatjanova, Junior Researcher of the Repetek State Reserve; Maksat Khajiyev, director of the Lebap branch of the NPST; Bagtyyar Derkarov, head of the committee for organizational and political work of the Agrarian Party of Turkmenistan for the Lebap velayat, and deputy of the National Council of the Mejlis.

The seminar was held in a lively atmosphere. Speakers provided examples of how to prevent possible disasters, how the population should respond to them, informed about preventive measures and further steps to adapt the occurrence of natural disasters and mitigate the consequences. The seminar was also highlighted on the page of the local newspaper “Türkmen gündogary”.

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