The Minister of Justice and Security, the Safety Board, and the VNG Make Agreements on Investments in Local and Regional Resilience

Minister Van Oosten: “As a society, we must prepare for emergencies. That is why the ministry, the Safety Board, and the VNG jointly commit to gradually developing a national network of emergency support points. Municipalities and safety regions provide regional and local implementation.”

A resilient society contributes to the protection of safety, freedom, prosperity, and values. The scenario that society will be tested on its resilience is becoming more likely due to changing geopolitical threats, climate change, and recent disasters at home and abroad.

To achieve this, the available funds will mainly be invested at regional and local levels in crisis management, the measures and provisions the government takes for safety in the Netherlands. Municipalities play a crucial role in strengthening social resilience and robustness. As the first government layer, they are close to residents and entrepreneurs and have a unique position. Safety regions and municipalities work closely together to explore pilots with emergency support points and strengthen citizen assistance. Emergency support points are physical locations set up to provide information and support to the population in case of disasters and crises. Examples include prolonged outages of electricity and telecommunications. Through the pilots, it will be studied over the coming years how best to set up these emergency support points and what is needed for a phased approach to a national network in all 342 municipalities. It is important that the emergency support points are also supported by society and that there is sufficient room for local customization.

Ton Heerts, chairman of the Governance and Security committee and member of the VNG board: “A special moment that the national government, municipalities, and safety regions join forces. We will now work together with companies and residents and experience how we stand. Using the advice from the VNG Guide on resilience and robustness at the local level, I think we are already quite resilient when it counts. We think and act ahead!”

Hein van der Loo from the Safety Board: “With the pilot for emergency support points, we take an important next step. It means we prepare together for what may happen and its consequences. What is the impact on our society if important facilities fail, and how do we help each other then? Residents also have a clear role. It concerns emergency support points in and for their own environment.”

In an emergency, the government and emergency services are where they are needed most. They do this to quickly control the crisis and bring people to safety. They cannot be everywhere at once. Therefore, most people may be on their own for the first 72 hours. It is important that you can take care of yourself and your household during the first three days.

That is why the government starts a multi-year Think Ahead campaign on November 1 on TV, radio, and online. The campaign helps people prepare in three steps: make an emergency kit, make an emergency plan, talk to each other and help each other. Regional and local governments, businesses, and social partners support the campaign.