Over the years, Azerbaijan has steadily been increasing its Civil Emergency Planning (CEP) cooperation with NATO by actively contributing to CEP Committee and Planning Groups meetings in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) format. The meetings provide a platform for exchange of views, building mutual understanding and developing tools and guidelines on civil protection, transport, public health, food and water, industrial resources and communications. 2010 NATO CEP Committee plenary meeting and Transport Group 2014 Inland Surface Transport seminar were hosted by Azerbaijan.
In 1998, EAPC established the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) as one of the basic elements of the EAPC policy on cooperation in the field of international disaster relief and a partnership tool of NATO’s civil emergency planning.
The EADRCC is NATO’s principal civil emergency response mechanism in the Euro-Atlantic area and involves all NATO Allies and partner countries. The EADRCC plays a facilitating role in coordinating offers of support and requests for assistance between NATO member and partner countries.
In cooperation with EADRCC, Azerbaijan is developing its national civil emergency and disaster management capabilities. Following EADRCC urgent requests for assistance, Azerbaijan has offered its disaster response capabilities such as a fire-fighting aircraft and helicopters to Allied and partner nations. Furthermore, the country is developing two units Urban Search and Rescue, and CBRN to be on high readiness for disaster relief operations.
In order to strengthen the activities of EADRCC, Azerbaijan has been contributing to the Center by Voluntary National Contribution. The representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan (MES) have been serving in the Centre since 2009. For the first time, among the partner countries, Azerbaijan's voluntary national contribution to the EADRCC was appointed as the deputy training coordinator of NATO.
Along with this, Azerbaijan continues to support Allies and Partners within its activities in the EADRCC by providing necessary humanitarian assistance. Azerbaijan has offered assistance to Türkiye with 420 Personnel (rescuers, firefighters, dog experts, construction engineers and management staff) and 8 specialized dogs as part of its relief effort for the earthquake that occurred on February 6, 2023.
A more practical dimension for Partners is an opportunity to participate in CEP-related exercises. In this context, Azerbaijan is interested in field exercises and “table-top” exercises conducted under the auspices of EADRCC. Azerbaijani teams participated in “UUSIMAA-2008”, “Jetisu-2009”, “CODRII-2011”, “Georgia-NATO 2012”, “Ukraine-2015”, “CRNA-GORA-2016”, “Bosnia-Herzegovina-2017” and “SRBIJA-2018” conducted respectively in Finland, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. These exercises enhance practical skills and provide opportunity for live exchange of experiences. Along with this, two employees of the MES were involved as specialists in the main planning team of the training "North Macedonia 2021".
At the same time, bilateral cooperation of Azerbaijan with NATO CEP is another important component to strengthen national civil emergency and disaster management capabilities. In November 2008, the NATO CEP Advisory Support Team (AST) visited Azerbaijan to advise on capacity development of the Ministry of Emergency Situation. Recommendations developed in their report served as important guidance among others for areas of expertise assistance, cooperation and concrete measures.
Additionally, NATO Advisory Support Team (AST) on communications and maritime visited Azerbaijan in 2010 and 2012 respectively and provided recommendations on capacity development as well as efficiency enhancement of the relevant state organizations of Azerbaijan.