The set of documents for arranging the evacuation processes as needed covers the scope of documents that municipalities are required to have at their disposal, especially in wartime.
This was the main message of the info session “Arranging Evacuation Measures in Municipalities”. The event was held for municipalities from the eastern oblasts of the country, organised by the team of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Luhansk oblast.
According to Ihor Ahibalov, Head of the Regional Office and a member of the U-LEAD Working Group on Civil Protection and Public Safety, local self-government bodies should be aware of their role and the scope of necessary actions when preparing to evacuate and evacuating residents of the municipality.
“It is important for municipalities to know the types of resources for evacuation, as well as alerting and communication tools during an evacuation, to understand the procedure for financing evacuation.”.
What is the legal basis for the organisation of the evacuation process and the role of local self-government in it?
Read Mr Ahibalov’s comments below.
The requirements of the legislation regarding the evacuation process apply to all legal entities without exception, regardless of their functional purpose, size, scale of activities or form of ownership.
Evacuation processes are regulated by Law of Ukraine No. 280/97 “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine”; the Civil Protection Code of Ukraine; Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers No. 841 “On Approval of the Procedure for Evacuation in Case of the Threat of Occurrence or Occurrence of Emergencies”; Order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs No. 579 “On Approval of the Methodology for Planning Evacuation Measures”.
To organise evacuation processes, each municipality has a mobilisation specialist responsible for this, as required by the Civil Code.
Municipalities with a population of 10,000 or more should have a special department responsible for this direction. Employees of these departments must pass a special check as established by the legislation. The integrity of these employees should be checked first, because such specialists are often targeted by the enemy’s intelligence. The physical fitness of the employees is also important.
Municipalities are required to have a clear step-by-step procedure in case of danger. You can start by dividing responsibilities: who informs the population in case of a threat (assign the departments and employees), what are the ways and means of evacuating the population.
When it comes to alerting and communicating with the population, the head of the local self-government plays a key role. They are responsible for quality communication between the authorities and the population during an evacuation and coordinate the process of alerting residents and providing reliable information about the situation. This responsibility is established by the legislation.
It is important for local self-government bodies to create an efficient alerting network and to involve all those who can promptly convey information to people. For example, street and neighbourhood committees can be useful. In this case, however, the municipality needs to provide them with reliable means of communication, purchasing these means additionally if necessary.
Sadly, there are always unfortunate cases of poor organisation of evacuation measures by local authorities and their communication to the population. We saw such cases in 2014, and we see them now. In order to avoid life-threatening situations, the list of public information tools should be developed and approved in advance.
If we take the experience of municipalities that have already faced the need to organise measures like that, volunteers, local entrepreneurs, NGOs, religious institutions and voluntary associations of citizens can help out with transport. Therefore, it is important for municipalities to determine the list of those who are ready to join the evacuation process and pre-arrange with them what to do and where to gather people as needed.
Gathering places for evacuation is a separate topic. The first issue is the safety of people, which brings us back to the topic of informing the population and the integrity of those who inform. Alternative means of communication are also important: radio, door-to-door visits, etc. Local self-government should identify as many location options as possible for these purposes.
The locations absolutely must be dispersed, because large crowds, as experience has shown, become targets for the enemy.
Local self-government bodies are obliged to provide resources for evacuation, and it is important to make appropriate decisions for this in advance. Funds from the local budget can be allocated or planned for these actions at the expense of the relevant regional programme.
The document developed by the local self-government body should include a step-by-step procedure and a cost estimate and should be aimed at targeted security measures. For example, the purchase of fuel, alternative means of communication and alerting the population.
As Ihor Ahibalov summed up, there is a legal framework for evacuation measures, and local self-government bodies should make decisions promptly based on the situation. Given that the war is ongoing, municipalities should not delay the actions aimed at preparing mobilisation activities and planning resources for these activities and start working on an action plan today.
“I would like to remind you that experts of the U-LEAD Programme are committed to providing municipalities with clarifications on urgent issues relevant to local self-government in wartime. Steps and decisions of local government regarding mobilisation actions are among these issues, so municipalities are welcome to request consultation and clarifications.”