DUSHANBE, October 14, 2011, Asia-Plus — A ceremony of an official opening of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at the Committee for Emergency Situations (CES) took place in Dushanbe on October 14.
Speaking at the center-opening ceremony, the CES chairman Khaybullo Latipov noted that opening of the Center was an important event for the CES. According to him, the project to strengthen the CES disaster response capacities has been implemented due to assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Mission in Tajikistan and financial support from the Government of Japan.
Mr. Zeinal Hajiyev, Chief of Mission, IOM Tajikistan, that idea of establishing the emergency operations center had occurred not accidentally. “The idea has resulted from Tajik government’s desire to improve the disaster response system.”
Sultonnazar Kholiqnazarov, the deputy chief of the CES staff, noted that the Emergency Operations Center was the precursor for establishment of an Emergency Management Center, a new emergency management infrastructure under the Committee for Emergency Situations.
A single emergency telephone number – “111” – has been launched on the basis of the emergency operations service that works round-the-clock.
Tajikistan is rugged mountainous country prone to frequent natural disaster, such as earthquakes of varying degrees, severe winter conditions, heavy snow and rain falls resulting mudslides, floods and avalanches.
The lack of national capacity in hazard identification, mitigation and preparedness mean that disasters continue to have a devastating impact on communities, taking lives, destroying infrastructure and preventing further economic development and slowing overall developmental efforts in the country.
In response to this situation, IOM through the support of the Government of Japan has implemented the project designed to support the Government of Tajikistan setup a robust disaster response coordination mechanism by establishing an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) under the Committee on Emergency Situations and strengthen capacities for education and training of the concerned state structures.
