Director of RA Rescue Service, Austrian Red Cross discuss development  of volunteer rescue movement in Armenia

ArmInfo. Kamo Tsutsulyan, Director of the Rescue Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Armenia, discussed issues related to the further development of the volunteer  rescue movement in the country at a meeting with a delegation led by  Eduard Trampush, Head of the International Programs Department of the  Austrian Red Cross.

As reported by the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs  of Armenia, in this regard, Tsutsulyan highly appreciated the  existing cooperation between the Austrian and Armenian Red Cross  Societies, noting the importance of the program for the  institutionalization of the volunteer first response service in  Armenia. Within the framework of this program, the parties discussed  specific steps aimed at strengthening the volunteer movement,  including issues of technical re-equipment of existing bases and the  creation of new points in remote communities.

As recalled by the Ministry, the program was launched in 2022 with  the aim of developing the volunteer rescue movement, the completion  of which is scheduled for 2026. Within the framework of this  initiative, 9 volunteer fire and rescue bases are already operating,  and work is underway to create three more.

In turn, Trampush highly appreciated the efforts of the Armenian  rescue service in developing the volunteer movement, noting that the  active promotion of volunteerism in the fight against natural  disasters allows for a quick, flexible and effective response to  emergency situations.

At the end of the meeting, the parties expressed their readiness to  continue cooperation in the direction of developing the volunteer  movement in Armenia.

In order to develop the voluntary rescue movement, volunteer fire and  rescue bases were created in 9 communities of Armenia. In addition,  the VOLFIRE project "Institutionalization of the Voluntary First  Response Service in the Republic of Armenia", funded by the Austrian  Development Agency and the Austrian Red Cross, is being implemented  jointly with the Armenian Red Cross Society with the aim of  developing the voluntary rescue movement. The project is based on  developing the capacities of 8 existing volunteer fire and rescue  bases, as well as on the creation of 4 new volunteer fire and rescue  units, reconstructing the bases, and re-equipping them with the  necessary equipment.