Armenia moves to establish unified disaster risk management information system

The Armenian Interior Ministry has proposed legislation to establish a unified procedure for the collection, processing, and exchange of information related to disaster risk management and public protection.

The draft has been published online for public discussion.

Currently, there is no unified procedure in place for the collection, transmission, and processing of information related to disaster risk management and public protection.

The new procedure will apply to state administration bodies, territorial administration and local self-government bodies, organizations, and officials involved in the system for preventing emergencies and responding to their consequences.

Information will be collected around the clock through dispatch services, monitoring systems, and automated management systems. The data will be classified according to the level of threat — national, regional, municipal, or local — as well as by urgency: operational, current, and analytical.

In cases involving a threat to human life and operational information, data must be transmitted immediately, within no more than 10 minutes. Information about the occurrence or threat of an emergency must be provided within 30 minutes, while situational analytical data must be submitted within 24 hours.

If there is a sudden change in the situation, updated or additional information must be communicated immediately. During periods of rapidly developing events, information must be provided at least once every two hours.

In the event of an emergency threat, information must be immediately transmitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ 112 Emergency Management Center. State bodies will provide the center with free, permanent access to information systems containing the necessary data, while ensuring compliance with information security and personal data protection requirements.

The 112 Emergency Management Center will operate around the clock to receive, register, and process reports, conduct initial assessments, and, when necessary, promptly forward them to relevant bodies and organizations.

The Rescue Service will coordinate the collection and exchange of information, maintain records of emergencies, and submit an annual report to the government by March 15 each year on the state of protection of the population and territories.

Public awareness, including among vulnerable groups, is planned to be carried out through alert systems, official government websites, mobile applications, SMS and Cell Broadcast messages, as well as television and radio broadcast interruption systems.