WASHINGTON – On the sidelines of the 2024 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit, FEMA hosted The Resilience Dialogue: Strengthening our Communities to Meet the Future. This event, which occurred on July 9, highlighted FEMA’s role in supporting the U.S. Mission to NATO and the importance of national civil preparedness and resilience efforts aligned with the Alliance’s collective resilience and security.
Rooted in Article 3 of the North Atlantic Treaty is the responsibility of Allies to build national resilience, enhancing their individual ability to prepare for, resist, respond to and quickly recover from shocks and disruptions. The NATO Resilience Committee is charged with, among other things, ensuring resilience is factored, where appropriate, into NATO defense planning, operations and activities. FEMA directly supports this effort by serving as the U.S. Representative on the Committee, as well as its Civil Protection Working Group.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell opened the event stating, “For 75 years, NATO has been a foundation of international partnership. A place where likeminded nations can come together to take on the biggest challenges facing our world. And I want to take a moment to specifically acknowledge the work NATO has done to underscore the importance of societal resilience.” Administrator Criswell continued, “2024 is FEMA’s Year of Resilience. We’re spending this year uplifting our resilience work, communicating about our programs and working to stop the cycle of response, recovery—rinse and repeat. As a global community, we have a responsibility to build lasting societal resilience by facing these big, disruptive problems together.”
FEMA’s domestic efforts to enhance civil preparedness and resilience were highlighted during this event, in support of the collective resilience and defense of the Alliance. Panelists also discussed resources, guidance and tools FEMA offers to assist stakeholders in developing a better understanding of disaster shocks and stressors, while factoring resilience considerations into their planning in the face of short-term and long-term risks.