Last Friday, 16 February 2024, the 4th and for the time being last Flood Relief Conference was held at the Federal Academy for Civil Protection and Civil Defence in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler. The motto of the joint event organised by the DRK Landesverband Nordrhein e.V. and DRK Landesverband Rheinland-Pfalz e.V. as well as Caritas International and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe Rheinland-Westfalen-Lippe was “Strong together in disasters”. In addition to the organisers, other leaders and experts from aid organisations, charities, groups of independent helpers and federal, state and local authorities took part in the conference. The DKKV was represented by Benni Thiebes, who led one of the workshops, Lana Henzler and Yannick Braun.
The exciting keynote speeches in the morning were followed by a panel discussion in which the opportunities and challenges of cooperation within the framework of the “National Strategy for Strengthening Resilience to Disasters” were discussed in line with the motto of the event.
In the afternoon, attendees were able to take part in two of a total of four workshops on the following topics.
- Disaster prevention and preparedness
- Coordination in the acute and reconstruction phase
- Deployment of independent helpers
- Strengthening psychosocial resilience
The results were then presented by the leaders of the respective workshops. Finally, a positive conclusion was drawn for the four-part series of flood relief conferences. The representatives of the participating organisations were largely optimistic about better future cooperation in terms of disaster relief. The organisers were also satisfied with how the conference went.
The presentations and materials from the 4th Flood Relief Conference will be made available over the next few days. As soon as this happens, you will find a link here.