The main issue at stake now is the overall improvement of the existing Civil Protection System in Greece, through the transformation of the General Secretariat for Civil Protection, into a fully operational and functional service.
If similar disasters are to be avoided, there needs to be a radical change of behavior and attitude on the part of all stakeholders involved, so that forces are pooled together and a national agreement is reached. Sweden is a typical example of such an improvement in behavior and attitude. At some point, the Swedish Authorities took the decision to revise their national Civil Protection System. From the very beginning of the process, that lasted five years, a co-decision on the person that would be in charge of the revised national Civil Protection System was made, and the new Head and old Head worked hand in hand throughout the whole process aiming at the success of this national effort. As a result, from 2009 onwards, Sweden is considered to have a truly reliable Civil Protection structure.
The main problems of Greece’s national Civil Protection System can be summarized as follows:
- Existence of an outdated Institutional Framework and/or a refusal to implement the most recent Law 4249/2014.
- Confused & Overlapping competences.
- Isolated and Weak Structures. Lack of communication and coordination. Such a dispersion of structures and activities gives rise to a number of problems including the inability to absorb the Community funds.
- Lack of specialized Civil Protection personnel both at management level and at the level of elected representatives. At this point, attention should be drawn to the fact that the National School of Civil Protection which was established by Law 4249/2014, four years ago, and which could play a significant role in the training of voluntary groups and local authorities employees, by addressing existing knowledge deficits and by ensuring a common understanding of the rules by all stakeholders as far as management of natural and man-made disasters are concerned, has not yet become operational.
- The competences of the General Secretariat for Civil Protection seem to overlap with the competences of parallel structures and the Ministries concerned seem to hold competencies, which should have been transferred to it.
- Disasters — natural and man-made ones — are no longer rare phenomena. On the contrary, they keep occurring all too frequently.
- The Existing policy tools are considered obsolete: there is a serious deficit in relation to the evaluation of the progress made as far as the policy implementation is concerned. Coordination problems keep arising all the time.
Disaster management is not an easy process. Disaster response mechanisms need to go beyond merely managing natural and man-made disasters and move towards a more integrated approach to risk management, which not only includes management but also prevention of disasters. It should remain clear to everyone that even the best response mechanism can prove unable to handle large-scale disasters, unless it engages the whole of society in its operational planning through a collective and well-prepared effort.
Moreover, it should be taken into consideration that, so far, the “most advanced” projects concentrate primarily on the management of the after-effects of disasters, that is, on issues relating to the management and medical treatment of the victims, since it is taken for granted that all disasters eventually result into the massive loss of lives, and the collapse of organizations, systems and infrastructures.
It goes without saying that, where applicable and possible, early-warning systems should be put in place so that citizens are warned beforehand of an imminent disaster. At the same time, through training and exercises, citizens should become able to develop mechanisms that will allow them to automatically put in practice all the things learned at an earlier stage in theory, and occasionally put in practice during training and exercising.
The full use of modern technologies, that already exist or that are likely to emerge via available EU programs such as FP7, H2020 e.t.c. will contribute to a better and more effective addressing of emergencies.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the development of a modern disaster management plan that will remove any weaknesses and will establish an efficient framework for the effective management of disasters, is proposed. The new, upgraded General Secretariat for Civil Protection shall be supervised by the Prime Minister and shall be responsible for the strategic planning, the monitoring of its implementation and the correction of any deviations from the essential requirements. The design and implementation of specific civil protection measures shall be exercised by the local authorities.
It is obvious that the political and economic environment in Greece does not allow for radical changes to take place, since any given change in the existing status quo creates uncertainty, which, if combined with the lack of trust in the intentions of the country’s political leadership, could give rise to unexpected reactions and to the emergence of obstacles in the implementation of the required changes. A case in point is the abolition of the Municipal police in 2013, which was eventually re-established two years later, only to confirm that certain structures and services can serve as a tool for the implementation of policies that can have an influence on public opinion.
Despite any difficulties and problems that may arise, the re-establishment and operation of an upgraded Civil Protection structure, will allow, for the creation of a sense of safety and security among citizens. But in order for that to happen, an integrated information campaign is required to ensure that citizens become conscious of the existence of a new service, specialized in natural or technological disasters. Last but not least, it’s worth-mentioning that when operational action takes place, within the framework of a well-structured organization, it can definitely develop it’s sense of responsibility and security to the largest extent possible, allowing for the timely and immediate taking of action, should circumstances so require.
ΠΗΓΗ:
https://medium.com/@hellenicmediag/towards-a-new-emergency-management-system-for-greece-4d4861670f97
