Locations
Strengthening Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery in Ukraine
Project background
Disasters caused by extreme weather events can create serious challenges for countries trying to achieve and consolidate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. These events can increase the vulnerability of communities and bring about social, environmental and economic losses – not to mention untold human suffering. When happening during times of war or conflict, weather extremes can push a fragile situation past the tipping point and into a spiral of compounded crises. As climate change exacerbates the frequency and severity of disasters, the challenges are further aggravated.
Ukraine is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its economic structure, anthropogenic impacts, and geographical features. Moreover, the destructive effect of disasters is growing: according to the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) losses from disasters increased by more than six times in 2020 compared to 2019 (from ca. UAH 1.6 billion to ca. UAH 9.9 billion). The lion’s share of this increase was attributed to drought in the south, wildfires in the north and the east, and flash floods in the country's western regions. The disasters thus included both sudden and slow-onset phenomena, and affected vast swathes of the nation's diverse geography.
To support communities in mitigating the effects of extreme weather events, UNDP Ukraine launched a project on disaster risk reduction (DRR) that aims to assess risks and offer solutions for improving resilience and recovering from disasters in a way that prevents them being repeated in the future.
Project summary
The DRR project aims to make communities in Ukraine less vulnerable to disasters and extreme weather events, and to reduce losses from disasters. Project activities are focused on ensuring that the necessary capacities and institutional mechanisms are in place at the national and sub-national levels, while prioritizing impact at the community level, and incorporating gender and human rights perspectives as cross-cutting themes alongside climate change adaptation. The DRR project works with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, as the national disaster management authority, and with the country's Carpathian region communities in developing strategies and plans for flood risk management and strengthening local early warning systems to achieve better preparedness. Support is also provided to Ukraine in developing legislation on climate risk financing, and in preventing open burning practices – which often cause wildfires.
Disaster risk reduction for infrastructure and waste management
Expected project results:
Output 1. National government has improved policy frameworks and plans for Disaster Risk Management, coherent with Climate Change Adaptation policies that respond to the needs of women and men from diverse groups – especially the most vulnerable.
Output 2. National and local authorities have the capacity to integrate and implement gender-responsive DRR measures
Output 3. Target communities, including the most vulnerable, have the necessary capacity, knowledge, and financing mechanisms to build resilience, and to prevent natural disasters or recover from them better, based on the principle of leaving no one behind