Baltic News Service
December 29, 2006 Friday 11:57 PM EET

ESTONIA ALLOCATES FUNDS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF RESCUE SYSTEM IN ARMENIA

The Estonian Foreign Ministry has earmarked 1,623,740 kroons (EUR
103,700) for the development of a population protection center in
Azerbaijan.

The money over Finance Minister Urmas Paet’s signature was allocated
from funds of the Foreign Ministry’s development and humanitarian aid
budget.

Paet said an effectively operating rescue system was one of the bases
of ensuring safety of the population. "Successful functioning of a
qualified rescue service is of great importance for the minimization
of loss of human lives in case of disasters and catastrophes," Paet
said.

The aim of the Rescue Board project is to develop a more effectively
functioning rescue service system in Armenia. The duration of the
project is three years and in its framework specialists of rescue
service systems will share their experience with different
institutions and organizations in Armenia.

The project will be carried out in cooperation between the Estonian
Rescue Board, the Armenian and the Swedish rescue services.

The Estonian contribution to the project will be to share knowhow and
work out strategic plans for anticipation and communication systems
together with the cooperation partners.

The Rescue Board will also organize awareness-raising youth camps for
Armenian children in rescue issues.

Cooperation between the Estonian Rescue Board and the Armenian rescue
service started in 2003 when Estonia decided to finance Armenia with
rescue anticipation information and communication systems in the
framework of a development aid project.

The sum total of development and humanitarian aid resources totaled
15 million kroons in the Foreign Ministry Budget this year.