DUSHANBE, 28.06.2018 /NIAT “Khovar”/. The regular meeting of the Rapid Emergency Assessment and Coordination Team /REACT/, chaired by Lieutenant-General Rustam Nazarzoda, Chief of the Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Tajikistan, was held on June 26 in Dushanbe. The meeting was also attended by the heads of international organizations, accredited in the Republic of Tajikistan,

According to the press service of the Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense /CESCD/ under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan, the participants were acquainted with the emergency situations that occurred on the territory of the country during the first half of the year, as well as the assessment of joint actions in the work on the elimination of natural disasters. Responsible employees of the CESCD, who attended the meeting, acquainted the heads of international organizations — members of the REACT group with the Development Program of the Committee for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense under the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan for 2018-2022, which was adopted and approved in May 2018.

Participants evaluated inter-agency exercises on responding to the influx of refugees, which were held with the support of UNHCR, as well as outlined the issues of development, strengthening and strategy of cooperation between the Republic of Tajikistan and the international community. They also discussed and adopted decisions on methodologies for assessing damage and needs, and defined the conditions for international humanitarian assistance in emergency situations in the Republic of Tajikistan by international organizations accredited in the republic.

The heads of the international organizations had common position to further strengthen cooperation in the field of emergency situations with the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan and to enhance the capacity of the CESCD as the coordinating body for protecting the population, economic objects and the territory of the Republic of Tajikistan from the consequences of natural disasters and man-made disasters.