Training on Post-Disaster Needs Assessment and Recovery Process conducted for Central Asian and Western Balkan countries
From 11 to 13 June 2025, the Centre, together with the UNDP Regional Office in Istanbul, conducted a regional training on post-disaster needs assessment and development of recovery frameworks for Central Asia and Western Balkan countries. The event was attended by 37 representatives of emergency agencies, independent experts and UNDP country offices from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Serbia, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia and Montenegro. This training was organized within the framework of the global project “Capacity Building in Crisis Assessment, Recovery Planning and Peacekeeping”, this project is funded by the European Union and implemented by UNDP. The trainers were international experts representing UNDP and the European Union with practical experience in conducting damage and loss assessment using the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) methodology.
During the three-day training, the participants were familiarized with the goals, objectives and basic principles of the international PDNA methodology for post-disaster damage, loss and needs assessment. Special attention was paid to practical group exercises, in which participants practiced the application of the methodology on the example of a simulated large-scale disaster, as close as possible to real conditions, taking into account regional specifics. Also during the work the issues of improving existing national approaches to post-disaster recovery were actively discussed.
The next step after the training will be the creation of a regional pool of experts on recovery under the coordination of the Center, who, if necessary, can be quickly involved to support the countries of the region in crises. At the end of the training, the participants noted the high relevance of adapting and implementing the international PDNA methodology in the countries of Central Asia and the Western Balkans, and emphasized the need to improve the legal framework and approaches to assessing damage and losses caused by natural disasters, including the effects of climate change, and to develop effective recovery programs.
