KEY INFORMATION

Title: Project for Increasing Resilience to Natural Disasters and Enhancing Preparedness Strategy (PREPS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia
Countries of implementation:  Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia
Donor: United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
Implementing partner: Catholic Relief Services (CRS)
Sub‑recipients: Caritas Serbia and Philanthropy
Area of work: Disaster risk reduction (DRR) Duration October 2020 – September 2022
Location 14 municipalities in BiH and Serbia:
BiH: Doboj, Domaljevac‑Šamac, Jablanica,
Šamac, Zavidovići and Žepče.
Serbia: Aleksandrovac, Čačak, Ivanjica, Trstenik (Caritas Serbia)
Krupanj, Lučani, Mionica, Kraljevo (Philanthropy)
Participants:
Direct: 3,110 people
Indirect: 552,148 people
Partners in BiH: Federal and Cantonal Civil Protection Administration, Republika Srpska Civil Protection Administration, Municipal Civil Protection Units, and the Red Cross.
Partners in Serbia: Ministry of Interior’s Sector for Emergency Management, the Republic Hydrometeorological Service of Serbia
(RHMZ)

OBJECTIVES

The Project for Increasing Resilience to Natural Disasters and Enhancing Preparedness Strategy (PREPS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Serbia will be implemented in 14 municipalities to strengthen disaster preparedness and mitigation capacities, and to reduce vulnerability to natural disasters. PREPS will target municipalities that are at risk of disaster but have low disaster risk reduction (DRR) capacities.

PROJECT SUMMARY
BiH and Serbia are at high risk of multiple natural hazards, the frequency and intensity of which have increased in recent years due to climate change. These disasters come at great cost to both countries, impacting hundreds of thousands of people annually and harming the economy. Through PREPS, communities in BiH and Serbia will engage with constituents to better prepare for and mitigate their disaster risks. CRS, in partnership with Philanthropy and Caritas Serbia, will work with towns and institutions through DRR working groups composed of municipal representatives and local government officials. These groups will prioritize community engagement and facilitate community‑level assessments, simulations, DRR awareness campaigns, and small‑scale mitigation projects.  They will also support the revision of municipal DRR plans and upgrade early warning systems. PREPS will also contribute to better collaboration between municipalities and community constituents in order to build lasting and sustainable DRR systems and structures. The project will also support revision of municipal DRR plans and will upgrade early warning systems. Through this project, local communities will have opportunities to improve their ability to mitigate potential disaster risks through small‑scale projects. The project will also contribute to better collaboration between municipalities and community constituents in order to build lasting and sustainable DRR systems and structures. PREPS will coordinate activities and work with a significant number of organizations and institutions in both counties to increase community resilience.