According to the invitation of the Senate of the Parliament of Kazakhstan the Center’s Director spoke at parliamentary hearing on improving the civil protection system of Kazakhstan

On December 8, 2023, Parliamentary hearing on improving the civil protection system were held, organized by the Committee on International Relations, Defense and Security of the Senate of the Parliament. The meeting participants discussed amendments to the relevant law and made their proposals.

Opening parliamentary hearing, the Speaker of the Senate noted that improving the civil protection system is of strategic importance for the country. The increasing frequency of fires of a natural and man-made nature, according to Maulen Ashimbaev, indicates the need to revise legislative acts relating to emergency situations.

According to the Speaker of the Senate, when organizing work on prevention and emergency response, Kazakh specialists need to research and adopt international best practices and introduce new approaches, making wide use of scientific potential.

Seismically hazardous zones also require increased attention, given the geographical location of the country. At the same time, as noted at the meeting, it is necessary not only to strengthen preventive work, but also to introduce appropriate changes to national legislation and systemic interaction between the Government and local authorities.

During the meeting, reports were made by the Minister for Emergency Situations Syrym Shariphanov, the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Yerlan Nysanbaev, the mayor of the West Kazakhstan region Nariman Turegaliev in an online format, the representative of the International Academy of Engineering and the director of the Center for Emergency Situations and Disaster Risk Reduction Serik Aubakirov.

Director of the Center Serik Aubakirov spoke about the research conducted by the Center for the purpose of harmonizing national legislation in civil protection, through the convergence of national standards, including the UN glossary. Thus, the director announced the key terms “disaster”, “disaster risk”, “disaster risk profile” “resilience” “risk reduction”, “climate change”, “risk management”, used in the current edition of the Law on Civil Protection, but due to their absence in the conceptual apparatus of the current law and in the draft, during the hearing the director proposed to expand the glossary of the draft law.

During the parliamentary hearing, a number of recommendations were also made, which is aimed at improving and increasing the efficiency of the system for protecting the population, facilities and the environment from emergencies. Along with equipping the units with special equipment and technology, the senators called on the Ministry for Emergency Situations to work with local authorities and public organizations on issues of proper operation of housing for socially vulnerable population, orphans, children from large families, and persons with disabilities.

The result of the parliamentary hearing was a draft Recommendations on improving the civil protection system of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which included the proposals of the Director of the Center.