Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RA Rescue Service https://rescue.mia.gov.am/
In 1988, the earthquake of Spitak revealed many issues related to civil protection (CP) system in Armenia and became the main impetus of radical reorganization of that system and creating of Emergency Management Administration of Government of Armenia.
In 1991 the Emergency Management Administration was set up, and Stepan Badalyan was appointed the Head of EMA. The CP headquarter with its all units, which was acting in Armenia from 1961, in the end of 1991 has been put under the Emergency Management Administration. The Administration, in contrast to the narrow frame of the civil protection activities in the past, accepted a new, wide approach to the organization of the whole system from a conceptual, professional, and legal point of view, based on the possible occurrence of large-scale disasters and accidents, their classification, and risk assessment.
Projections suggest Armenia could experience warming at levels significantly above the global average, with potential warming of 4.7°C by the 2090s, above the 1986–2005 baseline, under the highest emissions pathway (RCP8)
DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN ARMENIA
The main aim of Disaster Management (DM) direction is to reduce the vulnerability and increase the resilience of the population towards natural and man-made disasters through disaster risk reduction on a community level and strengthen Disaster Preparedness and Response structure of the Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS).
Located on the Alps-Himalaya seismic zone, Armenia has historically been prone to earthquakes. The last devastating earthquake in 1988 rocked Spitak, killing 25,000 people and injuring 19,000, severely damaging 517,000 homes and causing an estimated economic loss of US$ 15-20 billion in Northern parts of the country. Floods in the country also pose serious danger. For instance, flooding in 2010 caused an estimated US$ 10 million in damage. However, this list of natural disasters is not complete; Armenia also faces other hazards such as droughts, hail storms and landslides. The Government of Armenia has recognized the importance of disaster risk management, highlighting that natural hazards threaten the country’s development. In this regard, the World Bank Group is offering support to further advance disaster resilience in the country by launching the Armenia National Disaster Risk Management Program. PROGRAM OVERVIEW: Funding: US$1.75 million Duration: 2.5 years, starting from 2015 Key counterparts: Ministry of Territorial Administration and Emergency Situations, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Finance, other relevant government agencies, Yerevan Municipality and other relevant Marz and communities in Armenia. The National Disaster Risk Management Program is aimed at supporting the Government of Armenia to further advance disaster resilience by: (1) improving disaster risk information; (2) enhancing disaster risk reduction; (3) strengthening disaster preparedness; and (4) improving understanding of fiscal disaster risks and risk financing options.