World Civil Defense Day (01/03)

Every year on March 1, World Civil Defense Day is celebrated.

In 1931, on the initiative of several states, the «Association of Geneva Zones» — «security zones» was founded in Paris to create local security zones in all countries through bilateral and multilateral agreements. The founder was the French general of the medical service, Georges Saint-Paul.

Subsequently, the Association was transformed into the International Civil Defense Organization (ICDO; Russian — MOGO). In 1972, ICDO received the status of an intergovernmental organization. Currently, 60 countries are member states of ICDO, 16 states have observer status. The work of ICDO is organized by the General Assembly, the Executive Council and the Secretariat.

World Civil Defense Day, established in 1990, is celebrated in the — member countries of ICDO — with the aim of drawing world attention to the importance of Civil Protection and increasing the readiness of the population for self-defense in the event of disasters or accidents, as well as paying tribute to the efforts and self-sacrifice of personnel national civil protection services in their fight against disasters.

The day of March 1 was not chosen by chance. It was on this day that the ICDO Charter came into force, which was approved by 18 states. And every year the celebration of World Civil Defense Day is dedicated to a specific topic.

Among the activities of ICDO, the following should be highlighted: training national personnel in the field of management during emergency situations; providing technical assistance to states in creating and improving emergency prevention and protection systems; promoting experience and knowledge on civil defense and management issues during emergency situations.

Specialist training is carried out at the Civil Defense Training Center in Switzerland.

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations joined the International Civil Defense Organization in 1993, has representatives in the permanent secretariat of ICDO and participates in all major events held by this organization. Civil Defense Day of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations is celebrated on October 4.

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