Countries: Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia Source: UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Please refer to the attached file. Executive Summary The project “Resilient Western Balkans: Strengthening Transboundary Collaboration and Capacities on Disaster Risk Reduction and Early Warning Systems in the Western Balkans” is funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and implemented by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) in Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia, with engagement of Kosovo* through a regional perspective. The project seeks to strengthen disaster and climate resilience through improved risk knowledge, enhanced governance, strengthened multi-hazard early warning systems, and reinforced regional cooperation. The initiative contributes directly to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, and national disaster risk reduction priorities of participating countries. The first year of implementation started with an inception phase, which laid the necessary foundations for successful project delivery. This phase encompassed institutional engagement of national authorities, scoping studies and detailed technical assessments, visits to all countries, launch events in two countries, recruitment of staff, partnership negotiations, the establishment of governance arrangements and the issuance of grant agreements with strategic partners. This groundwork will guide the implementation in years two and three. Project Governance During the reporting period, UNDRR established formal cooperation mechanisms with national authorities in Albania, North Macedonia and Serbia and secured commitment from national institutions responsible for disaster risk reduction and emergency management. National consultations enabled the identification of country priorities across all outcomes and informed the development of detailed implementation plans. As a result, Serbia established a Steering Committee that brings together national beneficiary institutions and the implementing agency to jointly oversee project implementation, as a good practice in project governance. By providing a structured mechanism for decision-making, approval of workplans, coordination of actions, and monitoring of results, the Steering Committee promotes national ownership, accountability, and effective stakeholder engagement, while ensuring that project activities remain aligned with priorities and achieve sustainable impact on the ground. In North Macedonia, the process for initiating the establishment of the Project Working Group as a coordination mechanism among relevant institutions was finalized in June 2026. The Project Working Group will serve as a platform to strengthen coordination, promote synergies and complementarities, and avoid overlaps with other ongoing initiatives in the country. In parallel, the Project Steering Committee is expected to hold its first meeting in July to discuss and confirm the project timelines, planned activities, coordination arrangements, and implementation priorities for the upcoming period. In Albania, UNDRR established cooperation mechanisms with national authorities through four designated focal points within the National Agency of Civil Protection (NACP), each supporting the respective project pillar components: risk knowledge (including the Disaster Loss Data Tracking System and Early Warning Systems), risk governance (including Disaster Loss Data Tracking System and DRR financing), and local-level resilience. While no formal project governance mechanism has been established during the reporting period, discussions with national stakeholders are ongoing to explore options for a more structured coordination arrangement, building on regional good practices such as Serbia’s Steering Committee model. As a result of these preliminary actions, the project has been formally and successfully endorsed in participating countries during launch events which also featured the donor country at ambassador level and attracted broad participation from national authorities, development partners, UN agencies and civil society representatives. Partnerships In parallel UNDRR established partnerships agreements with strategic actors in the region: CIMA Research Foundation, UNDP and UNICEF. Cooperation with UNDP takes place at the regional level through the Istanbul Regional Hub, covering Europe and Central Asia, and at the country level through the Country Offices in Serbia and North Macedonia. These partnerships provide the technical and regional cooperation architecture required for implementation of activities related to early warning systems, disaster loss data collection, risk-informed governance, local resilience, risk communication and youth engagement. UNDRR actively engaged key partners, including the European Commission’s DG ECHO, the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Initiative for Southeast Europe (DPPI SEE), civil society organizations, and think tanks, to strengthen the project’s inclusive and whole-of-society approach. Through these engagements, partners confirmed their interest in supporting project implementation, while discussions with civil society helped identify opportunities for meaningful participation. As a concrete support to beneficiary countries, UNDRR already collaborates with think tank European Policy Center on analyzing the project’s potential contribution to the EU accession process, further reinforcing the project’s strategic relevance and impact. At the regional level, the project positioned itself as a key platform for advancing cooperation on disaster risk reduction and Early Warning Systems in the Western Balkans. Initial engagement with the global Early Warnings for All Pillar Leads (WMO, IFRC and ITU) established a common framework for implementation and coordination. Upcoming focus Based on the scoping study conducted in the year I, the overarching objective is now to consolidate existing progress made in disaster risk governance, risk knowledge, and early warning systems by shifting the focus from policy development to effective implementation. Priority should be given to strengthening municipal capacities through the MCR2030 framework, resilience hubs, peer-to-peer learning, and targeted technical support, ensuring that risk information is translated into local planning, investment, and preparedness actions. Countries should further institutionalize inclusive and people-centered approaches by expanding community awareness programmers, strengthening early warning dissemination to groups at risk integrating gender and disability considerations into national systems, and promoting a stronger culture of prevention through education and public engagement. At the same time, the project will contribute to have disaster risk reduction more systematically embedded into broader development processes by aligning governance, climate adaptation, land-use planning, infrastructure investments, and EU accession reforms. Governments should be able to strengthen risk-informed decision-making through improved risk assessments, interoperable data systems, disaster loss databases, and the use of hazard and climate information in public investments and spatial planning. Sustainable and predictable financing for disaster risk reduction and disaster risk financing should be expanded, alongside stronger engagement of the private sector, particularly SMEs, enhanced resilience of critical infrastructure and use of AI to strengthen risk assessment and risk communication. Finally, countries will be supported to further leveraging regional cooperation mechanisms and transboundary platforms to share knowledge, strengthen early warning systems, and address shared risks, accelerating the transition from response-focused disaster management towards a preventive, resilient, and risk-informed development pathway across the Western Balkans. The achievements during the first year have created a strong foundation for delivery of substantive technical outputs during Years 2 and 3.
Serbia: Resilient Western Balkans: Strengthening transboundary collaboration and capacities on disaster risk reduction and Early Warning Systems in the Western Balkans – Year 1 Narrative Report (June 2025- June 2026)
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