Report on resolution 6:
– Date: 26.07.2019
– Country: Switzerland
– Type of entity: State
– Has your government drafted, revised or adopted any laws, policies or procedures at the national or subnational level for the management of international disaster assistance? Please select the appropriate box below Law/policy/procedure adopted
Yes
– If yes, what type of law/policy/procedure was adopted?
• On April 28, 2017 Switzerland and the EU Commission/ECHO have signed an administrative arrangement (AA) that paves the way for closer cooperation in the field of disaster prevention, preparedness and response, both between Bern and Brussels and representations abroad. The AA establishes a 1st formal communication channel between Switzerland and the EU in the area of DRR/DRM. Thanks to the AA, systematic contacts could be established between Swiss and EU crisis centers in 2018 (i.e. wildfires in Greece and in Sweden; bridge collapse in Italy/Genova) and in 2019 (i.e. tropical storm Idai in Mozambique). The AA further allowed joint simulation exercises and trainings, exchange on DRR mainstreaming and on the revised Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). The current GHD Co-Chairmanship of SDC/HA and ECHO is a result of this closer cooperation under the AA.
• On February 2016 Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein signed a policy on the storage of microfilms of cultural heritage.
• On 15 February 2017 Switzerland and France signed an agreement about the exchange of information in case of a nuclear power plant accident.
– Has your government used the Checklist on Law and Disaster Risk Reduction to review or develop domestic legal frameworks at the national, provincial and / or local levels? Please select the appropriate box below
No, we have not undertaken any specific activities yet.
– What activities have your public authorities undertaken in collaboration with your National Society towards achieving the goals related to DRR, community resilience and climate change adaptation as set out in the Sendai Framework for DRR, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and outcomes of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (‘Paris Agreement’)? Please select the appropriate box:
• Mainstream DRR across contexts and sectors
• Engagement and contribution in National/local DRR platforms
• Support the development and/or Implementation of national DRR plan/strategy
• Public awareness and public education
• Assessment of risk and vulnerability
• Community early warning systems
• Training & simulation drills
Please explain your activities below:
• Switzerland has continued its efforts to strengthen the resilience of its society. The national DRR platform in Switzerland consists of experts from across sectors and administrative levels and advised the Federal Council in revising the Swiss Strategy ‘Management of Risks form Natural Hazards’ which was published in 2018. Its implementation is now accompanied by the platform.
• Switzerland also revised its strategy for the protection of critical infrastructures and has published a national disaster risk report covering 33 risks related to natural, technical and societal hazards, and recently established a natural hazard portal that provides user-oriented early warnings. Warning authorities and people against natural and other hazards through mobile devices has been a success in reaching affected communities.
• The Federal Office for Civil Protection organizes every year a conference regarding disaster response and preparedness.
• In November 2019 the second nationwide simulation will take place in Switzerland to review the organization, procedures and collaborations among all partners at the national, subnational and community level.
• Switzerland in its international cooperation has continued to support partner countries in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR and a coherent approach to DRR, climate action and sustainable development. In May 2019 Switzerland hosted the 6th session of the Global Platform for DRR in Geneva. A multi-stakeholder conference, with more than 3’800 participants from 182 countries that came to take stock of the implementation of the Sendai Framework, analyzed the progress and challenges and discussed the way forward to accelerate the implementation of the shared commitments. The outcome document of the Global Platform, the Co-Chair’s Summary, was handed over to the ECOSOC President in order to inform upcoming multilateral processes such as the High Level Political Forum or the UN Climate Action Forum in New York.
• In 2018, Switzerland together with the Netherlands, Fiji, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), IFRC, and CAN organized the first “Climate Science and Humanitarian Dialogue” in Geneva to unpack the findings of the new report of the IPCC and the policy implications for the UN Climate Conference in Katowice (COP24).
• SDC continued to actively apply and promote its online tool CEDRIG – the Climate Environment and DRR Integration Guidance. CEDRIG supports development cooperation and humanitarian aid practitioners to integrate risks related to climate change, environmental degradation and natural hazards into their projects, programmes and strategies. The tool is freely available at www.cedrig.org.
• SDC continues to support the Swiss NGO DRR Platform which does valuable advocacy work at national and international level.
– What activities have your public authorities undertaken to strengthen existing legal frameworks related to first aid? This may include promoting the need for regularly updated first aid education in line with existing guidance such as the International Federation’s International First Aid and Resuscitation Guidelines; ensuring equal participation of women, girls, men and boys in first aid training and; mandatory training for school children and teachers and driver’s licence applicants Please explain:
Related to first aid, the undertaken activities from the responsible SWISS public authorities are different from the confederation, from canton to canton and from municipality to municipality, due to Switzerland’s federal system. One actor on national level is the Swiss Samaritan Federation (SSB). The Swiss Samaritan Federation (SSB) undertakes a variety of activities to raise public awareness about first aid, including training courses.
• In regard to existing federal provisions the SSB provides:
o Company courses: Specific courses for company first aid officers o Target group courses: Courses for particular job profiles e.g. in accordance with the Transport Driver Licensing Ordinance o First aid courses: The SSB provides first aid courses for prospective drivers in line with ASTRA standards.
• In the wider context i.e. where there are no or only few federal guidelines, the SSB is focusing its efforts on schools because learning about first aid at an early age is practical and useful:
o Pupil first-aiders: The SSB has a project to provide first-aid training to pupils who can then help or take on related tasks during school events or when the school’s first-aid officers are on a break. The SSB’s proposal to include first aid in the new single syllabus for Swiss schools known as ‘Lehrplan 21’ was rejected at the time. Establishing the first-aiders project in schools is also more complicated because of differences in cantonal provisions and responsibilities, or a lack thereof.
o The SSB has taken a variety of measures to raise public awareness about first aid and to provide training courses:
o A joint online training platform (redcross.edu) set up with the Red Cross to boost the market presence of the whole range of training courses on offer.
o Complete overhaul of training courses to make them more attractive: some shorter courses, new learning approaches, etc.
• The IFRC International first aid and resuscitation guidelines and specifications set by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Swiss Resuscitation Council (SRC) are incorporated in the courses and internal teaching materials.
• As a member of the Swiss Rescue Association (IVR-IAS), the SSB has a seat on both the organisation’s First Aid Commission and its Medical-Technical Commission.
• The SSB also has a service level agreement with the Coordinated Medical Services of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) and implements the DDPS’s measures and recommendations on disaster management.
Report on resolution 6– download
– Country: Switzerland
– Type of entity: State
– Has your government drafted, revised or adopted any laws, policies or procedures at the national or subnational level for the management of international disaster assistance? Please select the appropriate box below Law/policy/procedure adopted
Yes
– If yes, what type of law/policy/procedure was adopted?
• On April 28, 2017 Switzerland and the EU Commission/ECHO have signed an administrative arrangement (AA) that paves the way for closer cooperation in the field of disaster prevention, preparedness and response, both between Bern and Brussels and representations abroad. The AA establishes a 1st formal communication channel between Switzerland and the EU in the area of DRR/DRM. Thanks to the AA, systematic contacts could be established between Swiss and EU crisis centers in 2018 (i.e. wildfires in Greece and in Sweden; bridge collapse in Italy/Genova) and in 2019 (i.e. tropical storm Idai in Mozambique). The AA further allowed joint simulation exercises and trainings, exchange on DRR mainstreaming and on the revised Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). The current GHD Co-Chairmanship of SDC/HA and ECHO is a result of this closer cooperation under the AA.
• On February 2016 Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein signed a policy on the storage of microfilms of cultural heritage.
• On 15 February 2017 Switzerland and France signed an agreement about the exchange of information in case of a nuclear power plant accident.
– Has your government used the Checklist on Law and Disaster Risk Reduction to review or develop domestic legal frameworks at the national, provincial and / or local levels? Please select the appropriate box below
No, we have not undertaken any specific activities yet.
– What activities have your public authorities undertaken in collaboration with your National Society towards achieving the goals related to DRR, community resilience and climate change adaptation as set out in the Sendai Framework for DRR, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and outcomes of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (‘Paris Agreement’)? Please select the appropriate box:
• Mainstream DRR across contexts and sectors
• Engagement and contribution in National/local DRR platforms
• Support the development and/or Implementation of national DRR plan/strategy
• Public awareness and public education
• Assessment of risk and vulnerability
• Community early warning systems
• Training & simulation drills
Please explain your activities below:
• Switzerland has continued its efforts to strengthen the resilience of its society. The national DRR platform in Switzerland consists of experts from across sectors and administrative levels and advised the Federal Council in revising the Swiss Strategy ‘Management of Risks form Natural Hazards’ which was published in 2018. Its implementation is now accompanied by the platform.
• Switzerland also revised its strategy for the protection of critical infrastructures and has published a national disaster risk report covering 33 risks related to natural, technical and societal hazards, and recently established a natural hazard portal that provides user-oriented early warnings. Warning authorities and people against natural and other hazards through mobile devices has been a success in reaching affected communities.
• The Federal Office for Civil Protection organizes every year a conference regarding disaster response and preparedness.
• In November 2019 the second nationwide simulation will take place in Switzerland to review the organization, procedures and collaborations among all partners at the national, subnational and community level.
• Switzerland in its international cooperation has continued to support partner countries in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR and a coherent approach to DRR, climate action and sustainable development. In May 2019 Switzerland hosted the 6th session of the Global Platform for DRR in Geneva. A multi-stakeholder conference, with more than 3’800 participants from 182 countries that came to take stock of the implementation of the Sendai Framework, analyzed the progress and challenges and discussed the way forward to accelerate the implementation of the shared commitments. The outcome document of the Global Platform, the Co-Chair’s Summary, was handed over to the ECOSOC President in order to inform upcoming multilateral processes such as the High Level Political Forum or the UN Climate Action Forum in New York.
• In 2018, Switzerland together with the Netherlands, Fiji, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), IFRC, and CAN organized the first “Climate Science and Humanitarian Dialogue” in Geneva to unpack the findings of the new report of the IPCC and the policy implications for the UN Climate Conference in Katowice (COP24).
• SDC continued to actively apply and promote its online tool CEDRIG – the Climate Environment and DRR Integration Guidance. CEDRIG supports development cooperation and humanitarian aid practitioners to integrate risks related to climate change, environmental degradation and natural hazards into their projects, programmes and strategies. The tool is freely available at www.cedrig.org.
• SDC continues to support the Swiss NGO DRR Platform which does valuable advocacy work at national and international level.
– What activities have your public authorities undertaken to strengthen existing legal frameworks related to first aid? This may include promoting the need for regularly updated first aid education in line with existing guidance such as the International Federation’s International First Aid and Resuscitation Guidelines; ensuring equal participation of women, girls, men and boys in first aid training and; mandatory training for school children and teachers and driver’s licence applicants Please explain:
Related to first aid, the undertaken activities from the responsible SWISS public authorities are different from the confederation, from canton to canton and from municipality to municipality, due to Switzerland’s federal system. One actor on national level is the Swiss Samaritan Federation (SSB). The Swiss Samaritan Federation (SSB) undertakes a variety of activities to raise public awareness about first aid, including training courses.
• In regard to existing federal provisions the SSB provides:
o Company courses: Specific courses for company first aid officers o Target group courses: Courses for particular job profiles e.g. in accordance with the Transport Driver Licensing Ordinance o First aid courses: The SSB provides first aid courses for prospective drivers in line with ASTRA standards.
• In the wider context i.e. where there are no or only few federal guidelines, the SSB is focusing its efforts on schools because learning about first aid at an early age is practical and useful:
o Pupil first-aiders: The SSB has a project to provide first-aid training to pupils who can then help or take on related tasks during school events or when the school’s first-aid officers are on a break. The SSB’s proposal to include first aid in the new single syllabus for Swiss schools known as ‘Lehrplan 21’ was rejected at the time. Establishing the first-aiders project in schools is also more complicated because of differences in cantonal provisions and responsibilities, or a lack thereof.
o The SSB has taken a variety of measures to raise public awareness about first aid and to provide training courses:
o A joint online training platform (redcross.edu) set up with the Red Cross to boost the market presence of the whole range of training courses on offer.
o Complete overhaul of training courses to make them more attractive: some shorter courses, new learning approaches, etc.
• The IFRC International first aid and resuscitation guidelines and specifications set by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Swiss Resuscitation Council (SRC) are incorporated in the courses and internal teaching materials.
• As a member of the Swiss Rescue Association (IVR-IAS), the SSB has a seat on both the organisation’s First Aid Commission and its Medical-Technical Commission.
• The SSB also has a service level agreement with the Coordinated Medical Services of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) and implements the DDPS’s measures and recommendations on disaster management.
Report on resolution 6– download
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