Risk Management and the Unified State Civil Protection System: What Needs to be Improved?

We continue the series of long reads related to the search for applicable solutions for implementing a risk-oriented approach in the routine daily practice of all government authorities. This approach is based on the need to raise awareness that the main objectives of civil protection measures are identifying the risks of emergencies, preventing emergencies, reducing the likelihood of their occurrence, minimizing their consequences and strengthening the readiness of a unified state civil protection system to such consequences.

By analyzing the Civil Protection Code of Ukraine we can draw the conclusion that the legal norms of civil protection regulate relations associated with the protection of population, territories, environment and property from emergencies. The also regulate response to these emergencies, the functioning of a Unified State Civil Protection System (hereinafter - USCPS), and determines the powers of the governmental authorities, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, local governments, the rights and responsibilities of the citizens of Ukraine, foreigners and stateless persons, enterprises, establishments and organizations regardless of the ownership form.

Thus, it can be assumed that the USCPS should facilitate protection of population, territories, environment and property from emergencies and respond to them. It consists of a set of governing bodies and forces of central and local executive bodies, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, executive bodies of councils, enterprises, establishments and organizations that ensure the implementation of the state policy in the field of civil protection. It is necessary to point out that this system, by definition, does not include local governments.

The unified state system of civil protection consists of functional and territorial subsystems and their links.

Regulations on the unified state system of civil protection, standard provisions on the functional and territorial subsystems are approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

1) ensuring the readiness of ministries and other central and local executive bodies, local governments, their subordinate forces and means to take actions aimed at preventing and responding to emergencies;

4) implementation of the state targeted programs aimed at preventing emergencies, ensuring the sustainable operation of enterprises, establishments and organizations, reducing possible material losses;

5) processing of information on emergencies, publication of information materials on the protection of population and territories from the consequences of emergencies;

6) forecasting and assessment of social and economic consequences of emergencies, determination based on the forecast of the need for forces, means, material and financial resources;

7) creation, rational preservation and use of the reserve of material and financial resources necessary for prevention and response to emergencies;

8) informing population about the threat and occurrence of emergencies, timely and reliable informing about the actual situation and measures taken;

10) carrying out rescue and other urgent works on liquidation of consequences of emergency situations, life support of affected population;

11) mitigation of possible consequences of emergencies in case of their occurrence;

13) realization of the rights defined by the law in the field of protection of population from consequences of emergency situations, including the persons (or their families) who directly took part in liquidation of these situations;

Functional subsystems of the unified state civil protection system (hereinafter - functional subsystems) are created by the central executive bodies in the relevant sphere of public life. According to the Law of Ukraine “On Central Governmental Authorities” ^[1], the central executive body is a body of executive power that participates in the formation and ensures implementation of state policy in the relevant spheres of public and state life.

The Central Executive Body (hereinafter - CEB) is responsible to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, accountable and controlled by it. The system of central executive bodies consists of: 1) ministries; 2) other central executive bodies: state committees and other bodies whose status is equated to a state committee (hereinafter - state committees); central executive bodies with special status.

Therefore, taking into consideration the system of central governmental bodies, the USCPS should cover all ministries, other CEBs, including state committees and CEBs with special status.

Territorial subsystems of the unified state civil protection system (hereinafter - territorial subsystems) operate in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblasts, Kyiv and Sevastopol cities. There are no territorial USCPS subsystems at the level lower than the regional and district cities, therefore, they do not exist at the level of territorial communities (local self-government bodies).

The unified state system, depending on the rank and features of the emergency, either forecasted or the one that is already occurred, operates in the following regimes: day-to-day operation; increased readiness; emergency situation; state of emergency. The analysis of the regimes allows to conclude that they are not aimed at identifying the risks of emergencies.

The regime of daily functioning of the unified state civil protection system is established under normal industrial, radiation, chemical, seismic, hydrogeological, hydrometeorological, man-made and fire conditions and in the absence of epidemics, epizootics, epiphytotic.

In case of emergency risk, by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regional, Kyiv or Sevastopol city state administrations high alert regimes are temporarily established for the unified state civil protection system in full or in part for some of its territorial subsystems.

In case of emergency, by decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Council of Ministers of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, regional, Kyiv or Sevastopol city state administrations emergency situation regime is temporarily established for the unified state civil protection system in full or in part for some of its territorial subsystems.

The state of emergency for the unified state civil protection system, in full or in part for some of its territorial subsystems, is temporarily established within the territory where the legal regime of emergency state was introduced in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On the legal regime of emergency state” ^[2].

By analysing the Regulation on the Unified State Civil Protection System approved by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine as of January 9, 2014 No 11 ^{^[3]} we can draw the conclusion that the existing USCPD does not meet the requirements and powers imposed on it by the Civil Protection Code, as at the present time it does not cover all spheres of public life.

The Unified State Civil Protection System is governed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The Unified State Civil Protection System is directly governed by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU).

It should be noted that according to official data on the list of existing governmental authorities there are 20 ministries, 25 services, 16 agencies, 5 inspections, 8 CEBs with special status, 3 collegial bodies, 5 other CEBs (including the National Police) in Ukraine - 82 fields of public life and 27 local authorities ^[4] in total.

However, according to the Regulation on the USCPS, the existence of functional subsystems is provided only in 11 ministries, 2 services, 4 agencies, 2 inspections, 1 special status body and two committees. The analysis of the approved provisions on subsystems also indicates that these subsystems exist in 20 fields of public life, which is 62 less than the existing ones.

In the context of environmental security - the Ministry of Environment has not created a subsystem for environmental monitoring since 2014. SESU has planned to organise four subsystems before 2022. For the full operation of the USCPS, the existing subsystems should be significantly expanded.

They should be orginised in the field of natural resources and environmental security, as well as in other fields. Criteria for the approach and definition of functional subsystems can be the Article 2 of the Law of Ukraine “On Strategic Environmental Assessment”, which defines the fields of implementation for state planning documents that require assessment of the consequences of their implementation, which requires finding and identifying risks.

It is also advisable to organize the functional systems of the USCPS at the level of communities, local governments, in order to give them the opportunity to participate in relations in the field of civil protection.

In addition to functional systems, there are also civil protection forces, which in particular provide specialized civil protection services. Specialized civil protection services have the right to:

1) receiving the information necessary for civil protection works from local state administrations, local governments and business entities;

2) unimpeded access to the objects of business entities and their territory for the implementation of rescue and other urgent works, elimination the consequences of emergencies;

3) establishing requirements for compliance with security measures for all persons in the emergency zone.

Regulations on specialized civil protection services and the procedure for their creation are determined by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers No 469 ^[5].

Taking into consideration the importance of environmental security in organization of civil security, which was described in the article (available at: https://archive.r2p.org.ua/en/risk-reduction-vs-civil-protection-long/), we propose some changes and additions to the current Unified State Civil Protection System, approved by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers as of January 9, 2014 No 11.

These changes are based on the need for including local governments in the USCPS, which will allow them to become active parties in civil protection relations and develop the type and strategy of prevention of various kinds of emergencies. The need for changes in the detailed prescribing of functional systems in the field of environmental safety and use of resources is based on the relationship between natural and man-made causes of emergencies.

As the result, risk assessment is possible in close collaboration and providing resources of such public life spheres as subsoil use, forest use, water use, land use and environmental protection, protection of biodiversity, protection of natural ecosystems, as well as the drawing up of urban planning documents which according to the article 45 of the Civil Protection Code should be subject to examination, and hence to risk assessment and taking measures to prepare for their adoption.

The Annex 1 of the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers
as of January 9, 2014 No 11 should be amended
and supplemented with the following information:

The Annex 2 of the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers
as of January 9, 2014 No 11 should be ameneded
and supplemented with the following information:

Conclusion

Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, as well as ensuring a safe and healthy for life environment, is possible in case of systematic efforts and changes in order to improve coordination, cooperation and communication between all participants of the Unified State Civil Protection System.

^[2] State of emergency is the special legal regime that may be temporarily imposed in Ukraine or its certain territories in the case of man-made or natural emergencies with the level which is not lower than the national level, and in case these emergencies have led or may lead to human and material losses, pose a threat to life and health of citizen. Also it can be imposed in case of attempt to seize the state power or change the constitutional order in Ukraine by force. The state of emergency provides the relevant state authorities, military command and local governments with powers necessary to prevent threats and ensure the securement of citizens, normal functioning of the national economy, governmental authorities and local governments, protection of the constitutional order, as well as allows temporary restrictions (in case of threat) in realization of constitutional human and civil rights and freedoms, the rights and legitimate interests of legal entities, with the indication of time in force for all the restrictions.

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Risk Management and the Unified State Civil Protection System: What Needs to be Improved?

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