Resilience Strengthening in Albania  (RESEAL) /UNDP Resilience Strengthening in Albania  (RESEAL) /UNDP The Resilience Strengthening in Albania Project (RESEAL) has been developed as a
comprehensive response to the needs for strengthening the Disaster Risk Management
(DRM) systems at all levels following the devastating effects of the Earthquake that hit the country in November 26th. 
The present project intends to support the efforts of the Government of Albania for
improving the disaster risk management (DRM) system in the country. The overall
objective of the project is to strengthen, Albania’s DRM system and support country’s
efforts in becoming a fully-fledged member of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. In light of the severe and acute public health emergency due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, measures related to risk preparedness and risk mitigation of biological hazards will be provided.
The above objective will be attained through supporting the enhancement of and
improvement of institutional coordination and cooperation in DRM system by further
developing the DRR framework, providing direct support to key DRM institutions with
a particular focus on the National Agency for Civil Protection, and delivering capacity
building for strengthening preparedness and response capacities of the national,
prefecture and municipal bodies.
The intervention contains a multi-level set of priorities around three areas: 1) strengthening the DRR framework and capacities at the central level, 2) building DRR local level knowledge, planning and organizational capacities for prevention and response to disasters, and 3) supporting critical needs for Disaster Risk Reduction infrastructure.

Due to its complexity, the intervention is structured in two major modules. The module I focuses on essential building blocks related to the overall DRR framework including policy, legal and institutional set-up and essential capacities in place, and is designed as a soft assistance. Module II allows for expansion and adoption by especially focusing on securing capital resources for improved monitoring, operation and response for several relevant public institutions ranging from the NACP, prefectural operation rooms and municipal firefighting professionals. 
Swedish contribution will be focused to Module 1 which is built around three components:
Component 1: Strengthening DRM institutional, policy and legal framework in Albania;
Component 2: Strengthening disaster preparedness capacities at all levels;
Component 3: Sustain Albania’s Regional & International Cooperation.
Sweden’s financial contribution, like that of the other donors, will be disbursed into the trust fund andadministered from UNDP with the GoA through the Ministry of Defense and the
national Civil Protection Agency Agency (NCPA), being in the lead for activity planning
and inter-institutional coordination. Projektet för stärkt motståndskraft i Albanien (“RESEAL”) har utvecklats som ett heltäckande svar på behoven av att stärka systemen för risk- och katastrofhantering (“DRM”) på alla nivåer efter de förödande effekterna av jordbävningen som drabbade landet den 26 november 2019. 
Det föreliggande projektet har till syfte att stödja Albaniens regering i dess insatser för att förbättra landets DRM-system. Projektets övergripande mål är att stärka Albaniens DRM-system och att stödja landets insatser för att kunna bli en fullvärdig medlem av EU:s civilskyddsmekanism. Mot bakgrund av den svåra och akuta folkhälsokris som uppkommit till följd av den globala covid-19 pandemin kommer åtgärder relaterade till riskberedskap och riskreducering för biologiska faror att tillhandahållas.
Det ovan angivna målet kommer att uppnås genom förbättrad institutionell samordning och samarbete inom DRM-system via vidareutveckling av ramverket för katastrofriskreducering (“DRR”), direktstöd till viktiga DRM-institutioner, med särskild fokus på den nationella myndigheten för civilskydd, samt leverans av kapacitetsuppbyggnad för att stärka nationella, regionala och kommunala institutioners beredskaps- och insatskapacitet.
Insatsen omfattar en uppsättning prioriteringar på flera nivåer inom tre områden: 1) förstärkning av DRR-ramverket och kapaciteten på central nivå, 2) uppbyggnad av lokal DRR-kunskap, planerings och organisatoriska kapacitet för förebyggande insatser och beredskap vid katastrofer, och 3) stöd för kritiska behov inom infrastrukturen för katastrofriskhantering. The present project intends to support the efforts of the Government of Albania for improving the disaster risk management (DRM) system in the country. The overall objective of the project is to strengthen, Albania’s DRM system and support country’s efforts in becoming a fully-fledged member of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. The project is also in line with promoting the implementation of Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) and is developed based on the Albania earthquake PDNA recommendations. Also, in light of the severe and acute public health emergency due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, measures related to risk preparedness and risk mitigation of biological hazards will be provided.
The above objective will be attained through supporting the enhancement of institutional coordination and cooperation in DRM system by further developing the DRR framework, providing direct support to key DRM institutions with a particular focus on the National Agency for Civil Protection, and delivering capacity building for strengthening preparedness and response capacities of the national, prefecture and municipal bodies.
The project will, in parallel, initiate the Capacity Development Process for the Disaster Risk Management System in Albania, which is indispensable for risk-informed development effectiveness and the achievement of nationally and internationally agreed development targets, and assist prefecture and municipal levels through supporting institutional building as per the legal requirements and the exercises of local risk assessment, local DRR strategies and Emergency Plans. One key ingredient of the DRR legal framework and essential element for building-back-better (BBB) during recovery is the update of the Building Codes, an area within the focus of the proposed intervention.
The project will support, during its entire duration, opportunities for capacity building and regional exchanges in order to complement national efforts for reducing risk and contributing to Albania’s aspiration to meet the criteria for joining the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
Due to its complexity, the intervention is  structured  in two major modules, in line with the PDNA priorities. The module I focuses on essential building blocks related to the overall DRR framework including policy, legal and institutional  set-up and essential capacities in place, and is designed as a soft assistance. Module II allows for expansion and adoption by especially focusing on securing capital resources for improved monitoring, operation and response for several relevant public institutions ranging from the NACP, prefectural operation rooms and municipal firefighting professionals. The second module is the most demanding in terms of resources and, therefore, it will largely depend on resource availability. However,  being mostly about procurement of goods, it will not require additional human resources and operational costs, but will rely on the project arrangements, resources and operational costs built within the first module.
 The intervention is built around three components:
Component 1: Strengthening DRM institutional, policy and legal framework in Albania;
Component 2: Strengthening disaster preparedness capacities at all levels;
Component 3: Sustain Albania’s Regional & International Cooperation.
In order to secure that the allocated funding is used for the most crucial and high priority actions, UNDP and GoA have developed a Work Plan for the project based only on resources to be provided by UNDP Albania and Sweden. All the activities and planned results belong to module 1 and the RESEAL Work Plan document will be the guiding tool for the implementation of the intervention.