Civil protection is the front-line arm of the national emergency response in the immediate aftermath of a disaster to its own citizens and sometimes as a sign of humanitarian solidarity beyond its border to other affected countries.

This emergency relief can take the form of in-kind assistance, deployment of specially-equipped teams or assessment and coordination by experts sent to the field.

We work on emergency response and preparedness in close collaboration with a number of EU Member States Civil Protection and the Emergency Response Coordination Centre of the EU (in DG ECHO), the EU-wide crisis response structure. Our collaboration comprises exchange of information, cooperation on consular assistance, joint capacity building of experts, among others.

IOM activates the EU Civil Protection Mechanism on the surge of the crisis, as we did in 2017 to rapidly respond to the growing humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh.