A peer review of disaster risk management and civil protection systems provides a country or a region with a unique opportunity to reflect on its readiness to cope with natural hazards and human-induced disasters and to identify ways of strengthening its prevention and preparedness policy and practices. It also facilitates the exchange of good practices.

The Peer Review programme is a tool made available to civil protection authorities of Member States, participating states, enlargement and neighbourhood countries under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) legislation. It is managed by the Commission's Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid department.

The Peer Review programme is carried out in close partnership between the Commission, the team of peers (civil protection experts and practitioners selected for the specific review), and the relevant authorities of the country/region under review. The Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change (CMCC), based in Italy, is currently supporting this programme until 2024.

The peers prepare a report, including an overview of the situation, and identified good practices and recommendations for improvement, based on desk research and in-country discussions.

The civil protection authorities of the country under review have an opportunity to review and comment the report during its drafting. The review is completed when the final report including recommendations and good practices is released. 

Depending on the administrative organisation and responsibilities at various levels across the Member States and the UCPM Participating States, a peer review may be undertaken at national and/or regional level.

The Peer Review Assessment Framework (PRAF) describes the disaster risk management thematic areas that are to be reviewed. The seven thematic areas are: disaster risk reduction governance, risk assessment, risk management planning, risk prevention, risk preparedness, emergency response, recovery and lessons learned.

The host country or region can choose all or a subset of the thematic areas to define the scope of their respective peer review.

The document also assists the structuring and drafting of the peer review report. 

Building on the general PRAF, the Wildfire Peer Review Assessment Framework (Wildfire PRAF) is a tool designed to facilitate thematic reviews of wildfire risk management systems, within the framework of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism. Its focus is on the risk associated with large-scale unplanned or uncontrolled wildfire fires affecting natural, cultural, industrial, and residential landscapes.

The framework also serves as a self-assessment tool for countries and regions to analyse their own systems for wildfire risk management.

This document provides the essentials for an effective peer review, clarifying the principles that drive the process, the roles and responsibilities of the different actors involved, the workflow to be followed and the tools available.

Republic of Moldova 

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Moldova requested a peer review of its disaster risk management capabilities in October 2022. The General Inspectorate for Emergency situations (GIES) of Moldova was the focal point for this peer review. The mission took place in April 2023 and the report was published in October 2023. The report identified areas for improvements and highlight good practices within the disaster risk management and civil protection system in Moldova.