Cooperation in case of civil emergencies

The main role in this work is played by the NATO Emergency Planning Committee (NACC), the highest advisory body to the North Atlantic Council, which operates mainly in the EAPC format. The CPSU is responsible for taking measures to increase the readiness of EAPC member states to eliminate the consequences of man-made disasters and natural disasters. Representatives of national authorities in the areas of civil protection, disaster response, civil transport, communications, industrial safety, health and civilian life resources are actively involved.

Subordinate to the CPSU are 4 working bodies - the so-called. planning groups in 8 areas of activity in the field of emergency planning:

Civil Defense Group:

Transport Group, which includes 3 subgroups of planning by areas:

Joint Group on Health, Agriculture and Food Resource Planning, which includes 2 subgroups by areas:

Industrial and Communication Emergency Planning Group:

1. Civil protection and disaster response.
2. civil aviation;
3. shipping;
4. domestic land transport.
5. Health;
6. Food and agriculture planning.
7. industrial resources;
8. civil communication.

Working at the level of representatives of national ministries and agencies, as well as experts from leading institutions and non-governmental organizations, these groups and subgroups provide advisory assistance to the CIS in accordance with their competence.

Ukraine is represented in the CPNS by the leadership of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES), as well as - at the working level - an employee of the Mission of Ukraine to NATO who also coordinates the work of Ukrainian specialists SES, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Agrarian Policy, Ministry of Industrial Policy in meetings of planning groups and subgroups of the CPSU.

In 1998, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center (EACRC) was established within the CPNS, the main tasks of which are the exchange of information and coordination of cooperation between EAPC member states in disaster response. A network of EACRC contact points has been set up in the EAPC States to respond more quickly. Specialists in the field of emergency response work in the EACRC both in full-time positions and on the basis of voluntary contributions from member states (referral and retention of specialists by the sending country). EACRC coordinates with relevant UN agencies, including the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and other international organizations. Periodically, the EACRC organizes international trainings, during which the practical skills of the staff in responding to emergencies are practiced. In the event of an emergency in one of the EAPC Member States, EACRC shall promptly disseminate relevant information to other Member States with a list of urgent needs and take other measures to assist the affected country. A separate solution to South Africa and the EAPC (for example, in the case of the earthquake in Pakistan in autumn 2005) is needed to provide assistance to the non-EAPC affected country.

A new element of the Alliance's disaster relief assistance has been certain air transport operations to implement relevant decisions of the North Atlantic Council. These operations were conducted by the Alliance in 2005-2006 in response to Hurricane Katrina in the United States and the earthquake in Pakistan using, inter alia, NATO Air Force transport aircraft. A special feature of Pakistan's assistance has been the deployment of the NATO Response Force's engineering and medical units in agreement with the national government. EACRC liaison officers were sent to the disaster zones, and experts from planning groups and subgroups subordinated to the CPSU were actively involved in the operations. Ukraine has also made a significant contribution to international efforts to deal with Hurricane Katrina in the United States and the earthquake in Pakistan. The Ukrainian side provided assistance in transporting engineering equipment, medicines, food, and tents to natural disasters (An-225 Mriya and An-124 Ruslan aircraft); a rescue squad and a mobile hospital of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine were deployed in Pakistan.

Ukraine was assisted by EAPC member states through EACRC and other Alliance structures in connection with the accidents caused by the floods of the Uda and Donets rivers in eastern Ukraine, floods in Transcarpathia and the western regions of Ukraine in 1998, 2001, 2010, the crash of a Ukrainian military plane in 2002, the H1N1 flu pandemic in Ukraine in 2009.

In order to improve Ukraine's and NATO's disaster preparedness capabilities, a Memorandum of Understanding on Emergency Planning and Disaster Preparedness was concluded in 1997, identifying key areas of mutual interest for further cooperation. Such areas include risk assessment, planning, impact analysis, precautionary measures, interoperability of disaster management units; transport support of operations; response to nuclear and radiation accidents, search and rescue operations, protection of critical infrastructure, etc. Considerable attention is also paid to research on the experience of dealing with the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

In pursuance of the provisions of the Memorandum, a NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group (JWG) on Civil Emergency Planning has been established, the main tasks of which are to plan and coordinate joint activities in areas of mutual interest. The activities of the AWG are considered to be an integral part of the work of the CPSU and its subordinate units in the EAPC format. The AWG meets annually, alternately at NATO Headquarters in Brussels and Kyiv. The last meeting took place in November 2015.

Ukraine is actively involved in NATO's international disaster response exercises. Thus, in 2000, Ukraine, together with the Alliance, conducted international flood relief exercises on its territory, Trans-Carpathia 2000; in 2005 - together with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and NATO - international exercises to combat and eliminate the consequences of terrorist use of hazardous chemicals "Joint Assistance 2005" (Yavoriv).

In addition, in May 2007, during the Idassa 2007 Critical Infrastructure Protection Exercise (Croatia), Ukraine was represented by the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine and worked with the Kazakh team in the Chemical and Radio Bacteriological Detection and Decontamination Team. 

An important event in the context of strengthening practical cooperation between Ukraine and NATO in the field of emergency planning was the holding of joint command and staff field exercises in Lviv region to eliminate the consequences of civil emergencies "Ukraine-2015" (21-25.09.2015) .). About 1,100 representatives from 28 NATO member and partner countries took part in the exercise. Exercises "Ukraine-2015" were opened by the President of Ukraine P.O. Poroshenko and NATO Secretary General E. Stoltenberg. One of the main results of the exercises was a significant increase in the image of Ukraine among the Euro-Atlantic community. The Chairman of the NATO Emergency Planning Committee, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Operations F. Tardioli, noted that Ukraine had established itself as a reliable partner, ready to fulfill its commitments and contribute to the exercise. contribution to the development of the Euro-Atlantic civil defense system. One of the important components of cooperation with NATO is education and training. In recent years, SES representatives have been able to receive training (free of charge) in courses on civil emergency planning and military-civil cooperation, emergency response operations and humanitarian assistance, training courses for specialists in the field of CBRN protection, as well as language training courses, in particular: As part of the implementation of the NATO-Ukraine Annual Target Plans in the field of PNS, a number of measures are envisaged, in particular, related to the implementation of tasks to improve and develop the natural and man-made emergency response system, participation in Partnership for Peace Ukraine's Individual Partnership Program with NATO; planning, together with NATO committees and administrations, measures to improve interoperability in natural and man-made emergencies; improvement of the information and telecommunication system of the SES, etc.

In 2010, with the assistance of the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center, Ukraine received assistance from Slovakia (July) to address the effects of heavy rains in the Chernivtsi region, providing assistance in response to the floods in Poland and Tajikistan ( May), Hungary (June) and Moldova (September). In 2011-2012, among other things, Ukraine and NATO conducted a number of training events in preparation for Euro 2012. A number of security seminars were held during the preparation and holding of large-scale public events at the international level with the participation of civilian experts from NATO member states and relevant Ukrainian authorities.

The scope of contingency planning is, of course, specific. At the same time, it is not politicized and focuses mainly on practical areas of cooperation, including the organization of air, sea and inland transport, civil protection and civil communications, medical care for victims of natural disasters, industrial accidents, military conflicts, etc. 

During 2013 - the first half of 2014, work continued on the project to establish a NATO Trust Fund for the Safe Management of Radioactive Waste in Ukraine for the safe reburial of radioactive sources generated in Ukraine as a result of military programs during the Soviet era. . An Implementation Agreement was signed between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and NATO in 2013.

In 2014, against the background of the new security environment in Ukraine and the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation in the Crimea and in the south-eastern part of Ukraine, since March 2014, NATO + Ukraine CPSU meetings have been held on a regular basis. issues of civil cooperation in the context of countering Russian aggression, attracting humanitarian aid, NATO support in the field of civilian protection, man-made security, etc. are discussed. During the meetings of the CPSU, the Ukrainian side provides consolidated, supported by facts, information on the current situation in the problem regions of Ukraine. Ways to attract expert and technical assistance in civilian areas are discussed.

As a result of such cooperation, a new direction of cooperation with NATO in the field of critical infrastructure protection has been activated. In March 2014, at the request of the Government of Ukraine, a NATO Advisory Support Group was formed, which included civilian experts on the protection of nuclear critical infrastructure. As a result of the work of the NATO GCP in Ukraine, from 4 to 9 April 2014, NATO prepared a report and a collection of conclusions and recommendations on improving the physical protection of nuclear critical infrastructure, contingency plans, improving the protection of personnel and civilians in a modern security environment. situation in Ukraine. This was the first stage in a series of projects to establish a critical infrastructure protection system in Ukraine in accordance with the best world standards of facility security and protection of civilians. In addition, as part of cooperation with NATO to ensure the living conditions of internally displaced persons in eastern Ukraine, the work of the Interagency Coordination Headquarters and the coordination of humanitarian assistance and technical support by NATO, the Alliance's humanitarian support mechanism has been activated.

Following the 13th meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Joint Working Group on Emergency Planning in November 2015, in particular, it was agreed to continue active bilateral cooperation in the field of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine to ensure the livelihoods of internally displaced persons in our country. state, implementation of measures to restore critical infrastructure in the east of the state, providing treatment and medical rehabilitation of wounded in the ATO zone of Ukrainian servicemen, humanitarian demining, etc.

Ukraine has already received and is in the process of receiving humanitarian assistance for the needs of internally displaced civilians in eastern Ukraine, not only in cooperation with NATO and Allies, but also from other international organizations, including the European Commission, the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs. issues, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization, the International Committee of the Red Cross, etc. About 400 Ukrainian servicemen who were wounded during the anti-terrorist operation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions of our country have undergone and are being treated in special institutions of a number of NATO member countries. Work in this direction continues. The last years of Ukraine's cooperation with NATO show the high dynamics of involving Ukrainian experts in all NATO-organized events and the great potential for cooperation within the NATO Emergency Planning Committee. The Alliance provides comprehensive financial and expert support to the Ukrainian side, and NATO has repeatedly reaffirmed its readiness and desire to maintain the high dynamics of the development of relations in the field of emergency planning.