Locations
UNDP Albania
STRENGTHENING CAPACITIES OF ALBANIA’S FIRE PROTECTION AND RESCUE SERVICE
Summary
The Project “Strengthening Capacities of Albanian Fire Protection and Rescue Service” (SCAFPRS) contribute to modernizing, increasing the standards, and strengthening the operational and response capacities of the Albanian Fire Protection and Rescue Service through support to 10 municipal fire protection and rescue services.
In March 2020, in the framework of post-earthquake assessment and response, UNDP contacted the General Directorate of FPRS and discussed about sector priorities identified by this national authority. There were two sets of priorities that have quasi equal importance for an effective function of the FPRS:
- basic and regular training of the firefighters for increasing and unifying knowledge and skills,
- improved infrastructure for acceptable working conditions,
- adequate and more equipment for providing the service with efficiency and effectiveness.
The project activities can be summarized as below:
- Conduct the reconstruction technical design and finalize BoQ for each individual intervention and then Conduct the reconstruction and refurbishment of selected fire station facilities
- Procurement of firefighting equipment
- Enhance firefighting response and urban search and rescue (USAR) capacities within the firefighting structures of the target municipalities
SCAFPRS project officially started its implementation on 5 May 2021.
The project partners with the General Directorate of Albanian FPRS as well as the beneficiary municipalities.
Background
Albania is exposed to a wide array of natural and man-made hazards and risks which include floods, fires, earthquakes, droughts, and industrial accidents. The Albanian Fire Protection & Rescue Service (AFPRS) is the primary operational search and rescue workforce in standby and ready-for-deployment, both in single small-scale incidents and in larger-scale disaster events, and a service delegated to local governments in the framework of the reform changes brought by the Territorial and Administrative Reform.
The earthquake event of 26 November 2019 was the most recent major disaster for Albania. Besides the damage it caused, the November 2019 earthquake provided Albania a unique opportunity to reflect on how to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience at all levels in the future. The events that followed the earthquake, including the conclusion of the Post-disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report, showed that there is an urgent need to strengthen disaster preparedness, adopt adequate rescue and response systems and procedures, and improve the capacity of firefighting services. Such capacities must become functional across the government to save lives, livelihoods, and sustain development gains.
The proposed intervention, made possible by the contribution of the Government of Poland and developed in partnership with UNDP, is fully in line with sectoral priorities and needs and in the spirit of the national action for enhancing the effectiveness and performance of the decentralized firefighting service. Support to strengthening the AFPRS is in line with the National Cross-cutting Decentralization and Local Government Strategy, the application of the Law 152/2015 “On Fire Protection and Rescue Service” as well as with Law 45/2019 ‘On Civil Protection”.
The proposed intervention is two-fold: standard capacity building for the firefighting teams of 10 selected municipalities, encompassing 45% of the total population of Albania, and material and equipment support benefiting eight municipalities providing services to 25% of the total population. The selection of municipalities has taken into consideration the priorities of the AFPRS and the intensity of impact caused by the November 2019 earthquake. As a result, the proposed benefitting municipal firefighting services include those of Durres, Fier, Kamza, Kavaja, Kruja, Kurbin, Lezha, Pogradec, Shijak, and Tirana.
Major achievements
- Modernizing, increasing the standards, and strengthening the operational and response capacities of the Albanian Fire Protection and Rescue Service through support to targeted municipal fire protection and rescue services.
- Construction of three fire stations in the municipalities of Lezha, Fier and Pogradec in accordance with sector and construction standards.
- Provision of firefighting and search and rescue equipment to municipal firefighting stations as below:
- Three 4x4 fire trucks to be donated to the municipalities of Lezha, Fier, and Pogradec,
- Three USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) containers that will to be donated to the municipalities of Lezha, Fier, and Durres
- 169 PPEs (Personal Protection Equipment’s) for the firefighting staff of the municipalities of Kamza, Kavaja, Kruja, Kurbin, Shijak, Lezha, Fier, and Pogradec - Enhance firefighting response and urban search and rescue (USAR) capacities within the firefighting structures of the target municipalities.
- Training on standardize basic and specific knowledge on firefighting as well as the operational capability to assist with surface search and rescue in the immediate aftermath of the disaster for 356 firefighters.
- Support the existing firefighting municipalities teams with tools and technologies to effectively pursue their mandate in Civil Protection and Disasters Risk Reduction (DRR).
- Enhance the functionality of the firefighter teams of eight municipalities, covering a population of 701,178 residents or 25% of the total population.
- Increase the response capacities of these units by standardize basic and specific knowledge on firefighting as well as introduce training modules in line with the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) as “the operational capability to assist with surface search and rescue in the immediate aftermath of the disaster”.
Project outcome
- Outcome 1: Construction of three fire stations in the municipalities of Lezha, Fier and Pogradec in accordance with sector and construction standards.
- Outcome 2: Provision of firefighting equipment to municipal firefighting stations.
- Outcome 3: Enhance firefighting response and search and rescue skills and capacities.
Impact
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