About this document
The achievements that have been accomplished in the
civil defense, and that have been mentioned through the
Disaster reduction promotes better health and education by
annual report , and the most accurate choice for the
protecting important infrastructures such as schools,
measurement indicators that were included in the
hospitals, poverty reduction by protecting economy
General strategy of the Palestinian security forces was
activities and assets, and gender equality by empowering
one of the most important principles underpinning the
women in disaster recovery and reduction initiatives.
updates and the developments in the General strategy.
United Nations
Through the Central analysis, the reliance on the
A study to reduce the risk of catastrophe in
principles of scientific analysis and the link between these
Palestine 2007
indicators that have been adopted, we identified the
weaknesses and the gaps faced by the civil defense, which
have been managed and planned to be controlled through
the creation of appropriate work programs and activities
associated with these programs at various stages include
all levels.
Disaster risks need to be effectively managed as an integral part of development. This entails understanding and identifying the risk factors that cause
disasters such as the exposure and vulnerabilities of society to natural hazards. High-risk countries need the capacity to put in place effective measures
to reduce these risks, such as early warning systems, building codes or disaster sensitive local development plans. The rush for growth can trigger
haphazard urban development that increases the risk of large-scale fatalities during an earthquake. Trends such as increasing human settlement and
investment in high-risk coastal areas are placing greater numbers of people and economic assets in danger of being affected by cyclones, storm surges
and flooding especially given the prospect of climate change.
United Nations: a study of reducing the risk of disaster in Palestine 2007
Methodology of the study:
The Work on this document has begun at the early of January after the preparation of the annual report related to the public
achievements, where the work on this document was completed in march 2010 by the Planning Group in the Civil Defense and
the participation of many actors and internal parties and a number of friends as it relied on the following methodology :
1. Mandate a planning team for the civil defense to complete this document.
2. Analyze the current situation of the civil defense
3. Analysis of the annual report and public achievements and compare them with the strategic plan.
4. Identify the gaps faced by the civil defense.
5. Rely on studies done in this area, such as the UN study.
6. The formulation of appropriate programs to narrow the gaps.
Based on the methodology adopted ,this document will present a general introduction to civil defense, its message, its vision,
as well as analyze the current situation and present the purposes of civil defense coupled with programs that have been
formulated and activities associated with these programs.
At the end of this document, the indicators will be discussed in order to measure the implementation of the strategy and
related programs.
Introduction
Historical Overview
The concept of Civil Defense
Prior to the establishment of the Palestinian Civil
Defense, the services provided were delivered by the
municipalities, where the services were managed by
offices located in each municipality. There were 14
offices located within various municipalities in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip. The focus remains at a local
level for the management and delivery of key
emergency services.
The decision by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
regarding the establishment of the Civil Defense
service was made in 1994. The Palestinian Civil
Defense service began at that time to perform its duties,
and began to offer its services to protect the citizens
and safeguarding public and private property.
The General Law for Civil Defense was included in the
meetings of the Council of Ministers in 1998, where the
Civil Defense service was approved as the Palestinian
Authority’s representative in the field of providing
public protection services against both natural and
man-made disasters. Cooperation and coordination is
the responsibility of the higher council of civil defense,
formed from many Ministries and national institutions
working in relative fields. The role of each partner is
defined within the plans and projects that have been
approved in the meetings with them to integrate the
tasks and roles of each partner. The Ministry of Interior
provides financial, strategic and resource management
guidance to the management of the Civil Defense.
Civil Defense is the service provided to protect civilians and their
property, ensure the safety of transportation, and ensure that work is
being conducted safely at public facilities. This necessary service also
includes input to the design and protection of buildings, including
public and private institutions from acts of war, natural and man-made
disasters including fire.
The Civil Defense, through its facilities and departments, which include
the local volunteer disaster rescue teams (both gender), firefighters,
ambulances, prevention and public safety divisions, is considered to be
the legitimate body that is responsible for the practical interpretation of
safety procedures. The Volunteer element of the Civil Defense is a core
and critical element, without which the Palestinian Civil Defense would
be less efficient. In a disaster the needs are such that the volunteer
numbers and local knowledge are critical to an effective and rapid
response. The Civil Defense protects the community from hazards and
disasters that threaten its security and stability. All this is done in order
to protect lives, properties and the society’s capabilities with the aim of
achieving security, stability and social and economic prosperity.
To achieve all this, the Civil Defense performs various operations of a
service nature pertaining to the Civil Defense concept such as rescue,
firefighting, evacuation, managing alarm systems, preparing shelters,
identifying and marking danger zones, combating epidemics and
offering shelter and supplies during emergencies, in addition to the
publication and distribution of security and public safety information.
The Palestinian Civil Defense is at present 634 personnel strong, which
is not enough to deliver an effective service to the Palestinian people.
The strategy and plans to evolve and develop the Civil Defense will
require strength of 1800 personnel.
A key element to successful delivery is the partnerships which the Civil
Defense has, with eg Red Crescent, NGOs and ICRC. The detailed list
of Partners is at the annexes.
Palestinian Civil Defense
The Palestinian Civil Defense is carrying out significant change, striving to develop new capabilities in order to achieve its
evolving role. The Civil Defense seeks to deliver a more comprehensive safety service to the Palestinian public, to protect
lives, public and private property, and deal with both natural and man-made disaster, as a key element of the services which
comprise the Ministry of Interior.
Civil Defense Services Functions
The services and tasks delivered by the Civil Defense are in accordance with the law
and include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
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16.
Managing alarm systems.
Supervising the coordination of cooperation between cities and villages in the
work of the Civil Defense, and creating emergency civilian teams to rescue
disaster-stricken areas.
Organizing means for extinguishing fires.
Setting up and preparing the Civil Defense operations room.
Organizing operations for the detection and removal of bombs and unexploded
mines.
Restricting the use of lights and turning the lights off to prevent possible damage
caused by air raids.
Storing equipment, medicines and disinfectants necessary for the work of the
Civil Defense.
Creating teams to detect atomic radiations, toxic gases and germs.
Contributing towards preparing places to evacuate people affected by air raids
and natural disasters.
Preparing rescue teams, debris removal teams and air raid and fire monitoring
teams.
Educating and training civilians in civil defense methods using various means.
Organizing and defining terms and conditions for transferring and storing
hazardous chemicals along Palestinian National Authority roads.
Representing Palestine at international conferences related to civil protection.
Collecting evidences when fires break out, and taking appropriate actions.
Rescuing injured individuals and searching for victims trapped under the
rubble.
Managing safety and security regulations and monitoring their implementation
inside industrial and commercial establishments as well as public facilities. In
addition to monitoring the implementation of fire prevention measures inside
public and private establishments, and controlling the spread of fire
Our Values
The values of the Civil Defense are based on
the fact that Palestinian patriotism is the true
value on establishing and instilling into the
minds and hearts of generations to come.
Based on this the Civil Defense Values
describes how we will work.
The Civil Defense is placing the public
interest at the core of our work, and include
the Civil Defense commitment to greater
national partnership based upon mutual
respect and professionalism.
Civil Defense Values
Strength, Voluntarism, Sacrifice, Service and
Efficiency
Serve the country and its citizens, and respect social,
national and human values.
Respect the privacy of the citizen.
Demonstrate the highest level of respect for all
citizens.
Our vision
TOGETHER, to deliver a Palestinian Civil Defense,
respected internationally and by the Palestinian
People, with transparency and delivering the highest
degree of efficiency and specialization to
international standards in providing civil defense
services
Our mission
Palestinian civil defense is a Palestinian government institution which was formed upon a presidential decree in
1994, and its function has been defined based on a law no.3/1996. We seek to protect lives, public and private
properties, and deal with both natural and man-made disasters, in addition to preserving the Palestinian
environment from these disasters, through measures of civil protection and general safety based on the Civil
Defense values
(Strength, Voluntarism, Sacrifices, Service and Efficiency)
We work in all economic and social sectors targeting all segments of the Palestinian society, including tourists to
the Palestinian National Authority territories to reach a maximum Degree of safety and reduce as much as effects
of natural disasters and man-made.
Analyze the current situation
The development of Palestinian civil defense is
considered one of the most important priorities of
the Palestinian Authority which comes through the
activation and the improvement of the daily tasks
performed to provide services to citizens in all
walks of life in order to preserve the integrity of the
life and property especially after the repeated
warnings about the likelihood of natural disasters,
which is one of the most important challenges to the
Palestinian Civil Defense.
The annual Report of the civil defense achievements
is one of the most important studies adopted by the
Planning Group in analyzing the current status of
the civil defense, this was based on analyzing the
results attached to the analysis and relying on it
scientifically in order to identify the gaps that the
civil defense seeks to reduce or narrow, as much as
possible to reach the general objectives in the
protection of lives , public and private properties.
The Strategic Plan of the Civil Defense, which seeks
to narrow these gaps and reduce its presence is
seeking to reach the maximum level of effectiveness
and readiness of the events and incidents that may
occur, whether that of a man-made or natural
disasters and providing services effectively and
transparently to citizens and residents in the
territory of the Palestinian Authority.
The 23 Civil Defense Centers serve an area of 5800
km 2 throughout the West Bank, which means that
they serve about 2,484,000 people . In another
words, each center provide services to around
108000 citizens , which is contrary to all universal
constant in providing effective services to citizens
where the service is provided to 30000 citizens per
Centre.
In terms of geography, each Center serves
approximately 2500-km 2 while the Center serves
around 100 km 2 according to international
standards.
The key to the work of civil defense is to control the
response time of the event, which depends on a
number of concepts, but the importance of this
indicator stems from the amount of control on the
incidents and the rapid access as soon as possible,
the response time has reached 25 minutes (per
incident) according to reports that were conducted
at the Civil Defense in the base year, and the time
has been decreased to 19 minutes. But these 19
minutes are a long time compared with what must
be to reduce the dangers of disasters, accidents and
control of loss over human and material resources.
On the other hand, the civil defense assets of
equipment and machinery are very old and do not
commensurate with the provided services
mentioned in the strategy , as this equipment
according to international standards must be out of
service, where the range of manufacturing years of
these vehicles is between 1976 and 1998.
.
The aim of the strategic plan for the security sector is to enable us to continue building on the achievements of the
security establishment in the area of imposing order, providing public safety and the rule of law. In addition to
building on the achievements in the field of enable and enhance the capacity of the security establishment and to
move forward and enable them to develop their capacities and behaviors, equipped them and create climates to
ensure favorable conditions of application of the development plan and organization of the security establishment
in a gradual and cumulative way.
Minister of Interior - sectoral strategy for the Palestinian security services..
Strengths
Gaps and weaknesses
1. The legal basis for the work of civil defense.
2. Reform plan for the security services and the role of
civil defense.
3. Establishment and activation of specialized services
in civil defense.
4. The annual report of the Civil Defense.
5. Analysis of the annual report based on scientific
grounds.
6. Security and administrative cooperation with the
relevant Palestinian institutions.
7. Work according to plans prepared and studied in
advance. .
8. Development of human capacities and cadres
specialized in the work of civil defense.
1. Acute shortage in the number of vehicles and
General staff in the Corporation.
2. Acute shortages of equipment working in the
civil defense.
3. High operational costs and maintenance costs
for such equipment.
4. The level of capacity does not rise to the level
required to work according to specifications and
standards adopted internationally.
5. The acute shortage in the number of civil
defense centers and stations, throughout the
West bank.
6. Lack of awareness of the concepts of
community safety, prevention and
preparedness.
Good Governance: to create a system of democratic governance which is characterized
by respect for the rule of law , separation of powers and the ability to manage natural
resources and provide services to citizens efficiently and effectively, supported by a
stable legal framework and a process of effective legislative and institutions with
transparency, accountability and integrity, works to protect the rights of all citizens.
The Palestinian reform and development plan
Safety and security: the community's respect for the
law and the system provides an environment of
safety and security, in which the Palestinian people
can live and work safely away from the chaos,
violence, attacks and military incursions.
The Palestinian reform and development plan
Raising the capacity of the Palestinian Society to face the disasters and reduce its effects
Overall goals and objectives
The Policies - Sectoral strategy for the Palestinian security sectors.
Objectives
Goals
Indicators
Protecting people, National
Enhance the safety of the community and the sense of security in the face of
1. Response Time Indicator.
economics, private and public
natural and industrial disasters.
2. Number of fire incidents.
prosperities and the sources of the
3. Number of rescue incidents.
national wealth.
4. The number of casualties.
5. The number of deaths.
Taking the
General Services Index
Necessary action with the related committees in disasters and emergencies In the
1. Number of the beneficiary population.
cases determined by the President of the Palestinian National Authority.
2. Measurement on the basis of public space.
The application of the public safety conditions on high-rise buildings public and
1. License facilities
private institutions.
2. Field visits.
Indicator of the rescue and firefighting incidents.
 Accomplishing the public
safety conditions in all the
3. Fiscal revenue of safety procedures.
community
activities.
Circulating guidance and awareness in matters of public safety among the public,
1. Number of courses.
establishing and training of volunteer groups to the work of civil defense and
2. Number of beneficiaries of courses.
the distribution of news releases and announcements relating to their work in
3. The number of fire and rescue incidents and injuries.
the time of war and peace.
Preparation of projects and action plans and oversee the implementation ,
1. Services provided to the population:
provide the necessary tools, equipment and study the latest
a. Services based on the number of people.
techniques and methods of civil defense education and how to
b. Services based on space.
disseminate them among the public
2. The number of staff working in the civil defense.
3. The number of people who have been trained.
Programs and developmental activities:
Program
Activity
Related projects
Brief description
1- Support Units
Establishing three supporting units
The establishment of support units in the northern, central and southern part of the West
Capacity Development Program
Bank.
2 - Construction
1- Create and equipping centers and stations
Constructing and equipping with full equipment and tools to work in different areas of the
and equipment
of the Civil Defense (new)
West Bank.
2- Building and equipping the training
Constructing and equipping of Phase II and III of the training school for civil defense in
school
Jericho.
3- Directorate General of Civil Defense
Establishing the General Directorate of the Civil Defense, according to the standards and
specifications.
Renewal of
1- Renewal of existing centers in the West
Construction of new civil defense headquarters and renovation of the existing ones and
existing centers
Bank.
develop them according to international standards.
2- Linking the provinces
Linking the provinces electronically and the computerization of administrative work.
3- Draft of the Central Operations Room
Establishing and equipping a world-class central operation room.
1- Develop the capacity of employees
A variety of Training courses in the administrative sciences and workshops for different
Capacity
Development
Development
administrative staff working in the civil defense.
2- Fundamental training
Training courses on the basic science of the Civil Defense
3- Advanced Training
Training courses on specialized topics in the work of civil defense.
1- Development plan of the Civil Defense
Practical case studies and research concerning the development and preparation of projects
plan
and activities for the development of civil defense.
2- National disaster plan
Preparation of studies and the database on the national plan for disaster reduction in
cooperation and coordination with the Higher Council of the Civil Defense and national,
public and private institutions.
3- System of evaluation , follow-up and
Preparation of a special process of evaluation and follow-up to manage the activities relating
management of the infrastructure
to the work and the projects of the civil defense and how to set the correct paths to work.
Amount
Community security and public safety in terms of dealing effectively with fire and confirm the actions of public
safety in all institutions
Sector strategy - Ministry of Interior
Civil Protection and Public Safety Program
Program
Activity
Related projects
Brief description
2- replacement
Replacement of old and out of service equipment,
Replace the old and non-functional mechanisms, which impose high cost
or those that are not suitable for the use of civil
in maintenance, taking into account the non-availability of spare parts for
defense.
them.
Raise the level of safety and prevention to reduce
Studies and research, equipment and machines relating to the daily use of
the size of the disaster
the public safety to reduce the size of natural or man-made disasters.
3- Safety and prevention
Implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, which provides the
rules that should be followed in safety and prevention procedures.
4- mobile Rescue units and rapid
Rescue units and intervention on the roads
intervention
Working on to provide a quick rescue vehicles which will do its duty due
to the lack of rescue vehicles in the civil defense, especially in confined
and rugged areas .
5- Mobile lighting project
Mobile Lighting (tower).
Equipping 3 mobile lighting towers that are fully prepared to provide a
24-hour service .
6- Public administrative vehicles
Equipping of new centers with new vehicles,
Provision of the public administrative vehicles in all centers, to facilitate
which would facilitate the work of administrative
the work of staff competent in the transport and Administrative Affairs.
staff.
7- Rescue equipments
8- Control room ( vehicles)
equipping all the centers and the civil defense
Fully prepared to answer the call and provide the service efficiently and
training school with the necessary rescue
effectively according to international standards and norms that would
equipment .
reduce the proportion of human and material losses.
Facilitate the work of the specialized crews by
Facilitate the work of specialized personnel in the identification of the
acknowledging them to the most direct route to
shortest ways in order to reduce the response time and transfer the image
reduce the response time and transfer the real
live and direct from the site of the event and to ask for the necessary
image from the scene of the event to the central
support.
operations room.
Amount
program
Activity
Related projects
Brief description
Raising the community
Raise the community
Training workshops and training
awareness
awareness on the concepts
community including all sectors
of safety and prevention
(Feminist, youth, children and
schools) in the Palestinian society to
Public Awareness
be prepared for natural or man-made
disasters .
Media Activity
Civil Defense Journal ,
Community information activities
indicative signs, radio,
and a special television production
brochures and television
about the civil defense operations ,
production
leaflets of the general concepts about
how to act before, during and after
the disaster or the event.
Volunteer groups
Construction and
The establishment of 45 volunteer
equipment of the volunteer
units and teams distributed in all
groups .
areas and fully equipped with
communication tools, including their
own ones.
Amount
Civil Defense partners
Emphasize the importance of community and institutional
training and building partnerships with local, regional and
The civil defense is in the process of attempting to
reach a higher degree of readiness through
available tools and resources, and proper training
with the ambition to acquire adequate resources in
the aspect of professionalism and development,
through some international and non-governmental
institutions. The civil defense is cooperating with
some international and local partners to develop its
capabilities, with the objective to upgrade its
functions provided for the people in professional
and effective manner, through plans and programs
being prepared to face accidents and disasters.
Cooperation and coordination is the responsibility
of the higher council of civil defense, formed from
many Ministries and national institutions working in
similar tasks. The role of each partner is defined
within the plans and projects that have been
approved in the meetings with them to integrate
the tasks and roles of each partner. The cooperation
with international agencies is considered one of the
most important factors in the development of the
Civil Defense in order to achieve the general
objective through providing their expertise and
provide the necessary training, and the assistance
when needed.
international communities , whether in the volunteer
program for disaster reduction or through partnership and
cooperation with the Council of Arab Interior Ministers ,
the emerged Committees or through working in
international conferences and forums that are interested in
the security sector
Sector Strategy - Achievements
Higher Council of Civil Defense represents the key
institutions of the Palestinian government, which was
formed based on a decision of the Council of Ministers,
where the presidency of the Council is by the Palestinian
interior minister
United Nations: a study of reducing the risk
of disaster in Palestine 2007