At the last 44.DPPI SEE Regional meeting held in Dubrovnik, Croatia member states have agreed to work together in organizing a simulation exercise within the DPPI SEE training program for 2023. This decision had two preconditions: 1. To identify the host country for the exercise and 2.To have a draft concept for the exercise itself. Ministry of Security of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Sector for rescue and protection took the initiative and accepted the challenging task to host the first ever field simulation exercise organized in the framework of DPPI SEE.

The last event under Disaster Management Training Program for 2022 was held in Podgorica, Montenegro on the topic of civil protection training centers. The workshop was held in the newly established civil protection training center and this was the first international event held there.

The objective of the seminar was to share practical examples on business continuity planning and critical infrastructure protection in context of disaster management. During the days of the seminar member states had valuable exchange on industrial accidents prevention and discussed options for future collaboration. Each country contributed by making a presentation to the seminar attended by representatives of 9 DPPI member  countries, including Türkiye.

 In close collaboration with the Civil Protection Directorate of Republic of Croatia and the UNDRR office for Europe and Central Asia, DPPI SEE hosted the Round table on DRR financing and the workshop on the same topic. The Round table on DRR financing gathered around high officials from the member states as well as from UNDRR, UNDP, DG ECHO, World Bank, IFRC, Regional Cooperation Council and EuropaRE.

Upon the invitation of the Ministry for climate crisis and civil protection of the Hellenic Republic, Head of Secretariat participated at the EFDRR Action oriented dialogue in Athens (21 October 2022). The entire event was organized as a combination of working laboratories and a ministerial round table. During the working laboratories the topics of heat waves as major threats to our resilience was discussed in combination with the increased frequency of forest fires.

Sector for Emergency Management of Republic of Serbia hosted the Host Nation Support workshop in Belgrade. The workshop was part of our DMTP program and was used to exchange on various elements that are part of sending and receiving assistance. In the last 10 years there were over 48 activations of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism only in this part of Europe.

Upon the invitation of the Protection and Rescue Directorate of Montenegro, Head of Secretariat at DPPI SEE participated at the EU BALANCE field exercise as lead trainer. Together with the Head of Secretariat the exercise was also supported by the Finance/Admin assistant and the two interns from Lund University – Masters program of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation, Spilios Iliopoulos and Tjorben Niklas Zenker.

DPPI SEE member states and DPPI SEE Secretariat were present at the EU Civil Protection Forum in Brussels, Belgium. During the warm up session held on the 27 June special attention was given to the Western Balkans by recognizing the efforts of Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina to become future members of UCPM. By the words of EU commissionaire Janez Lenarcic, the expansion of the UCPM with Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina is his top priority.

As associated partner to the EU funded project LINKS, DPPI SEE member states participated at the workshop in Split, Croatia on the 24 June. The workshop had the following objectives:

DPPI SEE supported the participation of its member states at the biggest expo on firefighting and civil protection in Europe – INTERSCHUTZ 2022 in Hannover, Germany.