SWEDISH CIVIL CONTINGENCIES AGENCY
2020 will see a new project implemented by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency or MSB known as LACER – or Leveraging ASEAN Capacities for Emergency Response through Support from EU Member States Civil Protection Agencies.
LACER’s specific objectives are to (1) strengthen the capacity and sustainability of the AHA Centre towards achieving operational excellence in disaster monitoring, preparedness and emergency response, and; (2) enhance mechanisms for ASEAN leadership to respond as one, through excellence and innovation in disaster management.
This EU funded project will be implemented through a consortium led by the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), alongside the Estonian Rescue Board (ERB). For Volume 58 we take a look into the first of these new partners, the MSB, with the next volume to provide us an in-depth look into the ERB.
THE SWEDISH CIVIL CONTINGENCIES AGENCY (MSB)
The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency – or Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap in Swedish – is a government authority mandated to enhance and support societal capacities for preparedness, prevention and response to emergencies and crises. MSB’s Resilience Building Section ultimately aims to contribute to strengthened resilience in disaster prone countries. It represents more than 30 years of experience in disaster risk management and international operations. MSB has experience in humanitarian and development aid across countries with severe records of disasters, thus enabling it to use the knowledge acquired from overseas humanitarian work in national response, preparedness and mitigation. MSB holds experience across the entire risk spectrum, ranging from everyday hazards to major disasters in Sweden and internationally , as well as also throughout the whole disaster risk management process. MSB ultimately aims to contribute to strengthened resilience in disaster prone countries – ensuring it is particularly qualified to support other disaster risk management actors such as the AHA Centre.
MSB has a total staff of approximately 900, and an international response roster of over 1,500 experts for international operations. Furthermore, MSB can draw upon its vast pool of domestic experts for long-term capacity development projects. Trainings on risk and vulnerability analysis, contingency planning, early warning systems and overall disaster management are examples of activities that MSB has carried out. Within the area of response, MSB continuously engages in and supports operational responses, while at the same time being involved in the development of methods and approaches aiming to enhance preparation and risk reduction.
Internationally, MSB recently led a consortium on Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) in the Programme for Disaster Risk Assessment and Mapping (IPA DRAM), as well as participating in IPA Floods, the IPA Civil Protection Cooperation project, and supported the Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative (DPPI) with capacity development initiatives. Furthermore, MSB is one of the founders of the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP), a network of NDMOs in Europe who mobilise personnel and material to emergencies across the globe. Previously, MSB has gained experience on disaster preparedness in the ASEAN region through an ongoing International Training Programme in disaster management, working with countries including Cambodia and the Philippines, as well as currently cooperating with the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre on a programme building resilience through inclusive and climate-adaptive disaster risk reduction in Asia-Pacific. This has ensured that MSB holds a network of experts exposed to and with experience from the ASEAN region to support the LACER project activities.
Written by : Ina Rachmawati | Photo : AHA Centre
