Humanitarian aid is governed by Act No. 151/2010 Coll. on international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance abroad. Humanitarian assistance abroad is the set of activities financed from the national budget in order to prevent loss of life and injury, to alleviate suffering and to restore basic living conditions after an emergency and to mitigate long-lasting consequences of emergencies and to prevent their occurrence and negative consequences.
Humanitarian aid includes both ad hoc response to natural or man-made disasters, and aid in long-term (complex) humanitarian crises and disaster prevention.
State humanitarian aid to foreign countries is financed from funds allocated in the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From this budget can be financed in particular the following forms of humanitarian assistance abroad:
a) providing the necessary material assistance in the form of a gift to the affected area after the incident,
c) financial contributions for public institutions and non-profit organizations abroad,
d) contributions to international organizations and integration groups,
e) subsidies to non-governmental non-profit organizations in the Czech Republic to provide humanitarian assistance to foreign countries outside the European Union and European Economic Area,
f) participation in international rescue operations and sending rescue experts with the necessary equipment in accordance with Act No. 239/2000 Coll. on Integrated Rescue System, as amended.
According to Article 9 of Act No. 151/2010 Coll., on international development cooperation and humanitarian assistance abroad, the Ministry of Interior provides humanitarian aid to EU member states and other states of the European Economic Area and decides on its scope and form.
In 2017, the sum of 130 million CZK was allocated for humanitarian assistance to foreign countries in the budget of Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The total amount was increased by another 27 million CZK for assistance to Syria and for realization of the MEDEVAC programme (1.2 million CZK from the budget of the Ministry of Interior).
During 2017, 48 humanitarian activities in 29 countries were supported in the total amount of 158.9 million CZK.
Almost 85% of the budget was allocated to the needs of displaced persons, particularly as a result of conflicts, including support for host communities; the remaining 15% was allocated for disaster relief, including reconstruction and resilience.
The Czech Republic provided humanitarian assistance to following countries in 2017: Horn of Africa, Philippines, Chile, Yemen, Cuba, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, USA, Burma/Myanmar, Central Africa Republic, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, and through international organizations to Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Libya, and Ukraine.
No rescue or material assistance was provided during 2017. Its provision, due to the nature of the emergencies and the distances of the affected areas, would not be effective.
Detailed information about humanitarian assistance not only in the year 2017 can be found on www.usar.cz.
The allocated budget for humanitarian assistance to foreign countries is 180 million CZK for the year 2018.
Based on the previous cooperation between Civil Protection and Emergency Situation Service of Moldova and Fire Rescue Service of the Czech Republic, the project “The Improvement of Operational Competence and Proficiency of Moldovan Firefighters II“ is being realized. This project is financed from the budget of the Czech Development Agency and primarily is focused on the training of Moldovan firefighters in interventions with HAZMAT. Main aim of this project is to establish functional training programme, to provide training for Moldovan firefighters for the interventions with HAZMAT and to purchase material for safe and proper conduct of the interventions. In 2017, the activities of the project were focused on operational centres - in particular the gathering of relevant information from callers and the deployment of forces and means in the event of an accident with HAZMAT. Other project activities were aimed at providing first aid. For the provision of first aid, additional automatic external defibrillators were purchased and training was provided for their use. One of the activities of the project was also focused on the principles of proper behaviour of citizens in the event of an accident involving HAZMAT, including combustion products. A set of recommendations was created for persons dealing with HAZMAT to eliminate the occurrence of an emergency and information support for intervening firefighters. Fire detectors and carbon monoxide detectors for preventive educational activities were purchased within this project activity. All material, purchased during 2017, was officially handed over by the General Director of the FRS CR genmjr. Ing. Drahoslav Ryba on his business trip to Chisinau in October 2017. Participation of the Czech CBRN module in the exercise MOLDEX 2017 was additionally included to the project. This exercise was organized in the frame of the European Union project PPRD East 2 (Prevention, Preparedness and Response to Natural and Man-made Disasters in the Eastern Partnership Countries 2) in Moldova in September 2017. Czech firefighters, during this exercise, co-operated with Moldovan colleagues in the emergencies related to the leakage of HAZMAT using the means purchased under this project.