DRR leaders and experts meet to discuss local resilience in Serbia

Organized by Chamber of Commerce and Industry Serbia, Republic of Serbia Government Public Investment Management Office, Republic of Serbia Ministry of Interior and UNDRR, and with the generous financial support of USAID, this online event brought together over 40 representatives from local self-governments (LSGs) and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Republic of Serbia, as well as the international community represented by the UN Resident Coordinator office for Serbia and UN agencies working on the resilience agenda.

The discussion underlined the need to engage further on disaster prevention, the instrumental role of local actors, and the need to work collectively in finding solutions to systemic crises such as COVID-19 and climate change, including through the various agencies of the UN family contributing to the resilience agenda in Serbia.

In collaboration with partners engaged in the implementation of local resilience activities, speakers introduced the work undertaken over the past months in support of cities engaged in disaster resilience through the "Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030)" initiative as well its work with the National Chamber of Commerce in engaging small and medium sized enterprises across Serbia in building resilience to disaster.  There was a consensus on the need to support municipalities in their engagement with the MCR2030 Initiative and the development of their DRR plans, as well as support for Kraljevo to become resilience hub in Serbia. Strengthening regional cooperation in Western Balkans and peer learning and cooperation was also noted as a priority.