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.
Humanitarian aid provided abroad can be financed from this budget in particular: material, financial, advisory or combined.
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 2018, the sum of 180 million CZK was originally allocated to humanitarian assistance; during the year the budget was increased by another 27 million CZK for assistance to Syria and for the realization of the MEDEVAC programme at the Czech Embassy abroad. During 2018, 44 humanitarian activities in 23 countries were supported in the total amount of 181,3 million CZK; other 7 activities in total 31,45 million CZK was indicated for recovery of Syria.
Almost 88% of the budget was allocated to the needs of displaced persons, (internally and in third countries) as a result of conflicts, including support for host communities; the remaining 12% was allocated for disaster relief, including reconstruction and resilience.
The Czech Republic provided humanitarian assistance to following countries in 2018: Burma/Myanmar, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Yemen, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mexico, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Mali, South Sudan, Indonesia, Palestine, Philippines, Pakistan, and Morocco.
During 2018, the expert assistance to Thailand was provided, assistance was offered to Sweden during forest fires, and the material assistance to Greece was agreed to be implemented in the following year.
The allocated budget for humanitarian assistance to foreign countries is 218 million CZK for the year 2019.
The Czech Republic has actively participated in the rescue mission in the Tham Luang Cave in northern Thailand, where twelve boys and their football coach were trapped by torrential rains. The Minister of Interior in agreement with the Directorate-General of the FRS CR decided to deploy two members of the FRS CR who flew to Thailand on Friday 6 July. Reconnaissance expert group was composed of col. David Kareš and Petr Vodička. They were assessing the situation in Thailand from 6 to 11 July. The Czech Republic suggested assistance in the form of high capacity pumps in the initial stage. The possibility of their deployment was refused by Czech experts because of the difficult terrain profile and successful water pumping. Subsequently, smaller type of high-performance sludge pumps and the necessary electrical and hoses lines were offered to the Thai side. Thailand eventually did not accept the Czech offer to help for successful evacuation of all persons from the cave.
In the summer 2018, Sweden was affected by extensive forest fires. In July, Sweden requested international assistance through the European Emergency Rescue Coordination Centre. The Czech Republic itself faced fires in the natural environment and was limited in the number of usable aircraft. Even though, the assistance was offered to Sweden in the form of a helicopter with bucker with the crew. The Swedish party did not accept the offer of the Czech Republic.
Based on the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in September 2018, the MoI-DG FRS CR prepared material for humanitarian assistance to Greece, which was in the summer months also affected by fires. Assistance will be provided in particular to Megara Fire Brigade. The MoI-DG FRS ensures the purchase of material (equipment for fire protection, such as special firefighting vehicles, firefighting boots, portable pumps, etc.) and its transport to Megara in southern Greece in the first half of 2019.
Based on the previous cooperation between Civil Protection and Emergency Situation Service of Moldova and FRS CR, development cooperation was agreed with Czech Development Agency, and the project “The Improvement of Operational Competence and Proficiency of Moldovan Firefighters II“ was realized. The project implementation was focused on flood protection in 2018. Moldovan firefighters were given flood barriers. These barriers were purchased by the Czech Development Agency on the basis of the technical specification prepared by the experts of the FRS CR. In July, 10 Moldovan firefighters arrived in the Czech Republic to be acquainted with the barrier system. A one-week training focused on both flood protection and barrier construction took place in Zbiroh. In autumn, Czech firefighters went to Moldova, where a similar training was held in local conditions and for a larger group of Moldovan firefighters. The project was completed at the end of 2018 and it was funded by the Czech Development Agency. The total project budget was 18,120,400 CZK.