The world's celebration of this day comes in appreciation of the great role played by the civil defense and civil protection agencies, to preserve human safety from the dangers of disasters of any kind, and to strengthen the means of prevention and the foundations of public safety.
On this occasion, Director General of the General Directorate of Civil Defense Brigadier General Hamad Othman Al Dehaimi said that the member states of the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO) have been celebrating the World Civil Defense Day on March 1 every year, in appreciation of the great efforts made by the civil defense agencies to maintain security and safety.
Al Dehaimi added that this year's celebration will be held under the slogan "Human Safety is Building and Development," to signify the importance of the work of civil defense and its close link to human safety and development.
The General Directorate of Civil Defense seeks to reach the highest meanings of this slogan and its goals by exerting more efforts in order to preserve lives and property through what it possesses of mechanisms and human, technical and material capabilities, so that these efforts will reflect positively on both families and individuals and contribute to the upbringing of future generations capable of bearing sufficient awareness of all risks and aware of how to avoid, prevent and deal with them if they occur, he noted.
The General Directorate of Civil Defense strives to reach the maximum efficiency to reduce accidents, through the strategy of the Ministry of Interior, and its specific objectives, which mainly revolve around protecting lives and property, providing the maximum degree of security for individuals and society, ensuring their safety from the risk of accidents and all risks and reducing the effects resulting from them, Al Dehaimi said.
The Ministry's continuous support to the Directorate encourage it to improve its performance and enhance its ability to deal with various accidents and apply the preventive requirements to achieve the objectives of civil protection, he pointed out.
In awareness-raising field, he stressed the keenness of the General Directorate of Civil Defense to instill a culture of security and safety among individuals, and to constantly urge the application of safety standards as a way to prevent accidents and their effects and reduce damage to lives and property.
Development of the society is necessarily linked to building awareness of individuals, which motivates them to be careful as much as they can to protect themselves and others from accidents, as prevention is definitely the foundation and source of this development, he added.
Protecting lives and property remains the highest thing that can be done by the Directorate and the rest of the other departments in the Ministry of Interior to maintain the safety of individuals and society, ensure comfort and tranquility in them and spread awareness among them, so that the elements of work, success, progress and advancement are available with all efforts to reach the highest levels of excellence, growth, advancement and construction, Director General of the General Directorate of Civil Defense said.
On Dec. 18, 1990, the 9th General Assembly of the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO) approved March 1 of each year a commemorative World Day of Civil Defence at the International Conference Centre Geneva (CICG).
