World Civil Defence Day 2020: Celebrating Global Efforts to Protect Citizens From Military Attacks & Natural Disasters; All Facts Here

The world is celebrating the international Civil Defence Day today to boost the ongoing global efforts to protect the citizens of a state from military attacks and natural disasters. Last year, the World Civil Defence Day's motto was "Children’s safety, our responsibility", while for 2020, the motto is "Civil Defence and a first aider in every home".

Following the growth of war (First World War) and aerial bombardment, several countries organised programs as early as the 1920s. However, with the threat of nuclear weapons grew, countries' heads began working in the field of emergency operations like prevention, mitigation, preparation, response, or emergency evacuation and recovery. After the Cold War, the focus shifted from military attack to emergencies and disasters in general. International Women’s Day 2020 Date: History, Significance and Theme to Mark IWD on March 8.

Looking at historical context, the British government had formed Air Raid Precautions Committee (ARP) in 1924 to investigate ways for ensuring the protection of civilians from the danger of air-raids. Later in 1935, a special government department, the Civil Defence Service, was established. Similar initiatives were taken by the United State and other countries to protect people.

With the Cold War in place after the World War 2, the importance for protection of the citizens of a state from military attacks grew. Be it incidences like 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident, or September 11 attacks, or similar ones, these corps played a vital role in the massive disaster relief operation.

In today's scenario, Civil Defence is an important aspect under which a number of organizations around the world dedicate to protecting civilians from military attacks. These days the protection of people is managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 01, 2020 08:00 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).