On 7 December, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the UN, Ambassador Mher Margaryan participated in a side-event “Strengthening Preparedness against Natural Disasters” at the United Nation Headquarters in New York.

The panel moderated by Ambassador Ion Jinga, Permanent Representative of Romania to the UN, included Romania’s Head of the Department for Emergency Situations, the Permanent Representative of Palau to the UN, the World Bank’s Regional Coordinator for Disaster Risk Management for the Europe and Central Asia Region, the Head of the IFRC Delegation, and the Deputy Director of Eastern and Southern Africa Operations and Advocacy Division of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Margaryan opened his remarks with commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Spitak earthquake, which occurred on 7 December, 1988. He reflected upon Armenia’s experience in undergoing and overcoming the devastating disaster and expressed gratitude to the international community for their immediate response and overwhelming support following the earthquake.

The devastating quake that struck the northern region of Armenia, an area vulnerable to destructive seismic activity, took the lives of more than 25,000 people, and left hundreds of thousands without shelter, and tens of thousands, injured. 

He spoke of Armenia’s efforts, with support from the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in implementing the National Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy and Action Plan, the Crisis Management Center, and the National Disaster Observatory.

Panelists shared their own experiences around addressing vulnerability to natural disasters, preparing accordingly to mitigate risk and responding appropriately in a coordinated and effective manner. They emphasized the importance of fostering public awareness about risk mitigation and preparedness in a sensitive and effective manner through education.

The representative of the World Bank Group, Ms. Alanna Simpson, (Sr. Disaster Risk Management Specialist, Europe and Central Asia) in her presentation referred to the to the competition to commemorate the Spitak earthquake which can be seen: http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/12/07/resilient-armenia---commemorating-30-years-since-the-spitak-earthquake .