Russian Emergency Situations Ministry to help developing countries create disaster response services
NEW YORK. Dec 8 (Interfax) - The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry proposes helping developing countries form firefighting and rescue forces and civil-defense services, Russian Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov said a UN General Assembly plenary session on humanitarian aid issues.
"Instead of trying to provide for millions of refugees in Europe, we need to create possibilities for them to live in their home countries, or at least in the same region, in the habitual cultural environment, [under the same] social and climatic conditions. What is particularly important here is for developing countries to realize their role and to be not passive consumers of international aid but active participants in these processes," the minister said.
It is necessary not only to develop disaster-response capabilities but to also improve disaster-prevention mechanisms, he said.
"Implementation of risk-insurance programs appears to be quite promising. We need to train the population, while paying particular attention to children, women and people working at potentially hazardous facilities and to teach them safe behavioral skills in emergencies and during fires, develop the culture of public emergency preparedness," he said.