Civil defense by country
Many countries around the world have civil defense organizations dedicated to protecting civilians from military attacks and providing rescue services after widespread disasters.
Towards the end of the Cold War, a number of civil defense organizations have been disbanded or mothballed (as in the case of the Royal Observer Corps in the United Kingdom and the United States civil defense), while others have changed their focuses into providing rescue services after natural disasters (as for the State Emergency Service in Australia).
[4] The first post-WWII civil defence co-ordinator was appointed in October 1948 "to supervise the work of federal, provincial and municipal authorities in planning for public air-raid shelters, emergency food and medical supplies, and the evacuation of likely target areas".
[5] In 1959, the Government of Canada, under John Diefenbaker handed authority for civilian defense to the Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO).
[5] Large fallout shelters, known as "Diefenbunkers" were built at rural locations outside major cities across Canada at the height of the Cold War during the infancy of the ICBM threat.
Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are also members of the Regional Security System, which may also provide assistance during national emergencies.
The Panama Civil Defense Seismic Network has the capability of informing and warning citizens of hazardous conditions such as earthquakes, volcanoes, or tsunami.
The ironic completion date of late 2012 has been dismissed as coincidence, with the true intent claimed to be a response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquakes, "as a precaution against possible natural disasters".
The Israeli Home Front Command was created in February 1992 to cope with the variety of military and terrorist threats to the centers of civilian population in Israel.
The paramilitary National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was established by the State Great Khural in June 2003.
[9] Similarly to the Post-Soviet Ministry of Emergency Situations, it broadly develops environmental legislation and implements activities on disaster prevention and search and rescue work.
In addition to providing funding to humanitarian aid, the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO) is in charge of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism [24] to coordinate the response to disasters in Europe and beyond and contributes to at least 75% of the transport and/or operational costs of deployments.
The Mechanism was set up to enable coordinated assistance from the participating states to victims of natural and man-made disasters in Europe and elsewhere.
Its main tasks revolve around CBRN incidents, search and rescue operations and heavy technical assistance.
The Cyprus Civil Defense Force was established in 1964 in response to the Turkish bombings of Tilliria in order to protect the civilian population and to help it recover from the immediate effects of hostilities or disasters.
The Civil Protection deals at national level with the forecast, prevention, management and overcoming of human and natural disasters and in emergency situations.
The concept of centralized civil defence was established by law in 1933, through the Royal Decree 433, to which Col. Gheorghe Pohrib made essential contributions.
During the Soviet era, specialized civil defence subunits were maintained in order to provide assistance to the population after bombing raids and nuclear, biological or chemical attacks.
Thus they are charged with the organisation and coordination of Russian military forces for the purpose of civil defence not only during natural and manmade disasters, but also during wartime.
Swedish civil defense "consists of a diverse range of activities conducted by society to strengthen the ability to cope with a state of heightened alert and war.
"[28] Sweden's objectives of civil defence are to: protect the civilian population; contribute to peace and security; and strengthen societies ability to prevent and manage severe peacetime emergencies.
[29] Switzerland built an extensive network of fallout shelters during the cold war, including the Sonnenberg Tunnel.
The reference Nuclear War Survival Skills declared that, as of 1986, "Switzerland has the best civil defense system, one that already includes blast shelters for over 85 percent of all its citizens.
Formerly a munisterial level agency, today the State Emergency Service of Ukraine is part of Ministry of Internal Affairs.
