Mass gatherings, including sporting events, religious occasions, festivals, concerts, and alike bring people together worldwide.

As such, mass gathering events carry a risk of public health emergencies. With transport options becoming more affordable and accessible and businesses operating on a global scale, it is expected that more mass gatherings will take place, greater numbers of nations will be hosting them, and participants will be traveling from an increasingly large and distant number of countries. All these factors introduce new challenges to national and international health security. 

To respond to these challenges, the European Union’s (EU) Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Centres of Excellence (CoE) Initiative has funded Project 87 “Preparedness and Response for Mass Gatherings and Other Health Threats in Central Asia (PRECA)”. The project has been underway since the start of 2021:

• Training of the ‘Master Trainer’ course for over 100 participants from all participating countries took place in Tashkent in April 2022.
• A network of these Master Trainers now meets regularly in Regional Working Groups for each work package:
  • Food Safety
  • Water Safety
  • Chemical Safety and Poison Information Centres
  • Public Health Command Control and Communications (C3)
  • Exercises & Testing.
• PRECA is working with the World Health Organization to establish Poison Information Centres across the region.
• The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) Food Safety Advisory Program is sharing resources.
• The international TOXBASE (Poison Information Centres’ chemical database) has granted access to and trained Public Health Professionals in partner countries.
• Local Master Trainers have run National Training Courses in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.

This week, all work packages Regional Working Groups gathered in Almaty for their third face-to-face meeting. The primary aim was to assess the progress achieved within the project, identify and address challenges encountered, and share lessons learned from national training courses. The participants engaged in strategic planning for forthcoming initiatives in 2024, including training in risk and media communication and a series of national table-top exercises. Additionally, the groups worked on finalizing regional guidance documents, which are expected to enhance countries’ preparedness and response capabilities for mass gatherings. 

In the frames of the collaboration between the PRECA Project and the Center for Emergency Situations and Disaster Risk Reduction (CESDRR), an opening session of the PRECA Regional Working Group Meeting was organized at the CESDRR office in Almaty on October 17, 2023.

During the opening session, the participants were greeted by Mr. Bakhtiyor Gulyamov, Head of the EU CBRN CoE Regional Secretariat for Central Asia, who emphasized the importance of the role of the PRECA Regional Working Groups. Mr. Serik Aubakirov, Director of the CESDRR, welcomed meeting participants and shared a video explaining the CESDRR activities.   

The primary objectives of the CESDRR are to establish effective mechanisms for reducing the risk of emergencies, mitigating their consequences, coordinating joint responses through agreed-upon measures by all parties involved, and fostering regional and international cooperation.

PRECA is a regional project to strengthen response and preparedness to potential Mass Gathering health threats in partner countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan. PRECA project is funded by the European Union through its CBRN Risk Mitigation Centres of Excellence and implemented by the International Science and Technology Center in close cooperation with Partner Countries’ national experts, CoE National Focal Points in Central Asia, UNICRI, CoE Regional Secretariat and EU Delegations in the Participating Countries. 

The EU CBRN CoE Initiative is a global Initiative funded and implemented by the European Union as part of its goal to promote peace, stability, and conflict prevention.

The Initiative aims to mitigate risks and strengthen all-hazards security governance in Partner Countries of the EU following a voluntary and demand-driven approach. The EU support is provided to implement a wide range of CBRN risk mitigation activities, including needs and risk assessments, national and regional action plans, capacity building activities, legal framework reviews, table top and real-time (including cross-border) field exercises, inter-regional exchange of best practices and lessons learnt.

Funded and implemented through the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) – Global Europe, the Initiative is led by the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), in close coordination with the European External Action Service (EEAS). The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) provides technical support to Partner Countries. At the same time, the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) ensures coherent and effective national, regional, and international cooperation. Other relevant International and/or Regional Organisations and experts also contribute to the Initiative, representing the EU’s largest civilian external security program.

Otabek KASIMOV, 

National Coordinator of the Republic of Uzbekistan,

CBRN CoE Regional Secretariat of Central Asia

UzA