The European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction presented the Finnish Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) team with the Damir Čemerin Award for its efforts in the field of disaster risk reduction at its meeting in Helsinki on 3 October. GHSA strengthens both the global capacity and nations’ capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious diseases threats. It also seeks to strengthen global health security. During its presidency of the GHSA last year, Finland developed an assessment tool that can be used to measure the level of health security in different countries. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already used the tool in 11 country assessments, and almost 60 countries have requested an assessment.
Finland’s GHSA efforts have always been a collaborative project of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and agencies operating under these ministries. The award was presented by Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Kai Mykkänen and the UN’s Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Disaster Risk Reduction Robert Glasser, and it was accepted by Permanent Secretary Päivi Sillanaukee from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
The theme for the 2016 award was the reduction of the number of people killed in disasters and especially the development of crisis resistance across the health care system in a manner that helps to reduce mortality on a local level.
The award, which was presented for the first time in 2012, is named after Damir Čemerin, a Croatian hard-line pioneer in European disaster risk management and one of the founders of the European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction. The award is presented in the form of a certificate of honour.
European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
The European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction, which is convening in Helsinki on 3–5 October, coordinates the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (so-called Sendai Framework) in Europe. The Sendai Framework acts as a foundation for UN members’ national action plans. The Finnish action plan is coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior. Finland held the Forum’s presidency in 2016.
Further information
Project Manager Taito Vainio, tel. +358 29 548 8423, firstname.lastname@intermin.fi
Permanent Secretary Päivi Sillanaukee, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 29 516 3356 (GHSA)
