The Fund’s activities in civil defence were a response to the need to reform this area. In Ukraine, there are a number of problems in the field of civil defence, including an inappropriate ratio of the number of rescuers to the number of residents: one per 1000 inhabitants. For comparison, in Poland, this figure is seven times higher! This is achieved through the volunteer movement. Another challenge is the insufficient number of local offices to respond quickly to rural emergencies.
According to established international standards, the travel time from a call to arrival to the place of accident in rural areas should be 20 minutes. Back in 2017, this standard was established in the National Strategy for the Reform of Security Services of Ukraine. But in fact, in the vast majority of cases, it is not observed, and as a result, about 2 thousand people annually die in fires, while material losses are estimated at about 160 million euro.
In addition, the applicable Ukrainian laws on civil defence needs to be improved, both at the national and local self-government levels.
CIVIL Protection PROJECTS:
The project is aimed at supporting the civil defence system in the communities of Ukraine through the creation of voluntary fire brigades, assistance to communities in the development of emergency response plans and training visits of representatives of communities, Main Departments of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the relevant regions of the communities participating in the project to Poland to study Polish experience in this area.
The aim of the project is to improve the civil defence system in the partner communities of the USAID Hoverla project in Volyn, Lviv and Poltava Oblasts through the development of regulations of local self-government bodies, training and support in the creation of voluntary fire brigades.
