Civil defence during armed conflict and its protection under IHL
During armed conflicts, services and organisations that help civilians cope with the consequences of hostilities play an extremely important role. In international humanitarian law (IHL), such activities are referred to as “civil defence”, while Ukrainian legislation uses the term “civil protection”.
According to the Civil Protection Code of Ukraine, civil protection is a system of measures aimed at protecting the population, territories, and property from emergencies and other dangerous events, preventing such situations, and responding to their consequences.
Under IHL, the tasks of civil defence are defined in Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva Conventions. These include, among others:
- warning and informing the population;
- evacuation;
- provision of shelters;
- rescue operations;
- medical assistance;
- firefighting;
- detection and marking of dangerous areas;
- emergency restoration of public utilities;
- assistance in ensuring conditions necessary for the survival of the civilian population.
IHL provides that civil defence (civil protection) organisations and personnel must be respected and protected. This means that they must not be attacked if they are carrying out exclusively humanitarian functions. Protection also extends to buildings, transport, and equipment used for such tasks.
The international distinctive sign of civil defence is an equilateral blue triangle on an orange background.
Today, Ukraine’s civil protection system performs critically important tasks in wartime, including evacuations, emergency rescue operations, response to the consequences of attacks, support to critical infrastructure, and assistance to affected people. This is why understanding the rules of international humanitarian law in this area is important not only for professionals but for society as a whole.
The Ukrainian Red Cross is officially integrated into the Unified State System of Civil Protection and cooperates with the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in responding to emergencies and assisting affected people.