Status of Civil Protection in Ukraine

Customer: Ukrainian Civil Protection Research Institute.

Implementation Period: March – May 2019

Project Manager: Chepurko Gulbarshyn

For the purpose of scientific analysis of the system of public administration of civil protection of Ukraine (hereinafter – CP), representatives of three groups (clusters) whose functional responsibilities (job descriptions) are directly related to the provision of CP measures, were interviewed: State Emergency Service of Ukraine units (hereinafter – SES), bodies of state regional and local administrations (hereinafter referred to as State Administration) and local self-government bodies (hereinafter referred to as SGB).

The survey was conducted on two questionnaires. The first questionnaire concerned the implementation of state policy in the field of CP. The second questionnaire presents questions aimed at elaborating and defining the main aspects of the project Strategy for Public Safety and Civil Protection of Ukraine. With the help to the first questionnaire 1076 respondents were interviewed, and with the second – 1210 respondents.

The main findings of the study:

• Based on the above, we can draw the following conclusions regarding the respondents’ assessment of the effectiveness of the CP and the Unified State System for Prevention and Response to Emergency Situations of Technogenic and Natural Character:
• The vast majority of respondents (96%) consider the existing CP system in Ukraine ineffective;
• Respondents in general and representatives of clusters of the State Administration and SGB named the detachment of the practice from the public inquiry and the unclear definition of the CP sphere;
• Respondents emphasize the values ??of human life and health, and the most important criterion for the effectiveness of the emergency response system is the responsiveness of response units;
• According to the majority of respondents, the greatest impact on the level of CP in the region has the responsiveness of the CP units and means in case of emergence and elimination of the consequences of the emergency;
• Respondents consider fire-fighting units as the most effective CP forces with a high level of readiness for action;
• Respondents refer to the main directions of improvement of the CP response system as an increase in efficiency both in the sense of reducing the time of signaling of the operation of the systems and in the sense of action of the response units themselves;
• Respondents consider ways of improvement of the system of prevention of CP by strengthening of measures on education of the population and preparation of officials and deregulation of the state system of supervision in the field of technogenic and fire safety;
• The Unified State System for Prevention and Response to Emergency Situations of Technogenic and Natural Character received an ambitious assessment by all respondents: on the one hand, the need and importance of this System was emphasized, on the other hand, the emphasis was only on the partial ability of the System to address the real challenges of the CP;
• The functioning of the System is not considered by the respondents to be an effective way of achieving optimal response to the emergencies;
• According to the respondents, one of the priorities for improving public administration in the field of CP is the regulatory and legal clarification of the existing sphere;
• The main focus of public policy in the field of CP, which, in the opinion of the respondents, should be focused on improving the methods and means of protecting the population and material values.

The practical significance of these research findings is that they can be used to improve normative-legal documents in the field of civil protection, in further theoretical and methodological and applied research of this issue, in particular, to improve the methods and means of civil protection of the population.