Let’s Be Prepared

On 1 December2019, FORS Montenegro started with the implementation of a new project “Let’s Be Prepared” with the aims to strengthen capacities of institutions and services from Montenegro and the Republic of Serbia dealing with protection and rescue for prevention and mitigation of floods and fires, and to raise the awareness of the local population in the cross-border area on disaster risk reduction.

The project is funded by the European Union within the IPA Cross-border Cooperation Programme Serbia – Montenegro 2014-2020 and in Montenegro it is co-funded by the Ministry of Public Administration. The Contracting Authority for the project is the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia – Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programmes.

This eighteen-month project is implemented in Montenegro and Serbia, and its main activities include procurement of equipment for protection and rescue in case of fires and floods and the procurement of equipment for weather forecasting. In addition to that, the project includes trainings for representatives of institutions and services dealing with protection and rescue, cross-border field exercises, seminars on good practice models in protection from floods and fires, trainings for representatives of hydro meteorological services, international conference on disaster risk reduction, awareness raising campaign on the risks of disasters, preventive measures and protection and rescue activities, etc. The target area of the project includes the municipalities of Berane, Bijelo Polje, Žabljak, Nikšić, Petnjica, Pljevlja and Šavnik in Montenegro and the municipalities of Novi Pazar, Raška, Sjenica and Tutin in Serbia.

The project is implemented in partnership with the Sector for Emergency Management of the Ministry of Interior of Serbia and in cooperation with the Directorate for Emergency Management of Montenegro and municipal protection and rescue units.