At the ninth European Civil Protection Forum, Commissioner Hadja Lahbib presented four medals recognising long-standing commitment and extraordinary contributions to the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM).
The ceremony took place on the evening of Tuesday 3 November, as part of the Mechanism’s 25th anniversary. An award board from DG ECHO selected the medallists from the nominations submitted by Member States and participating states. For the first time, two of the medals honour gender equality and disability inclusion. ‘Civil protection must protect everyone,’ the Commissioner said. ‘No one should be left behind.’
The medal for long-standing commitment went to Lieutenant General Vladimír Vlček, Director-General of the Fire Rescue Service of Czechia, for his dedication to the effective modernisation of Czechia’s civil protection system. He thanked the Commission and his colleagues for their trust, support and coordination over the years. ‘I truly believe that together we are stronger, and together we are able to save more lives,’ he said.
The three pilots deployed most often through the UCPM received a medal for extraordinary contribution. They are Captain Marco Amort, flight operations manager, and Captain Fabrizio Majerna, flight safety manager, both of Italy’s fleet, and Frédéric Kretz, chief pilot in France. They have been deployed eight, nine and six times respectively, and they risk their lives in forest-firefighting operations every year. Speaking for the three, Captain Amort said they share the award with the wider community of firefighting pilots: ‘This is not a one-man show but a team working together,’ he said.
The Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency was recognised for its extraordinary work in the field of gender equality, and Director-General Mikael Frisell received the medal on behalf of the agency. Sweden deploys more female experts through the UCPM than any other Member or participating state. ‘Gender equality and inclusion are not add-ons to crisis response,’ Frisell said. ‘They have to be integrated into response from the very beginning.’ He described the agency’s approach as ‘preparedness by design’. The agency developed its gender equality toolkit 20years ago, trains all personnel in gender and inclusion before missions and includes gender and inclusion advisers in its capacity-building missions. It has also built the principle into its rescEU shelter capacity. ‘Shelter is not only about providing a roof over someone’s head,’ Frisell said. ‘It is about safety, dignity and protection for everyone affected by disaster or conflict.’
The medal for extraordinary contribution to the UCPM-funded project SEE ME (Safe and Equal in EMErgencies), coordinated by the Ministry of the Interior of Croatia, was received by Marijana Berket on behalf of the project. SEE ME is a frontrunner in including people with disabilities in preparedness planning. It links 112 centres to registries of persons with disabilities and trains first responders on disability-specific needs. ‘In 2022, we were the first project funded under this topic,’ Berket said, ‘but today we are happy to share our results and experiences with many other projects that are currently being implemented.’ She thanked the organisations of persons with disabilities that took part: ‘They are both trainers and participants in our activities.’ Read more about SEE ME 2.
The medals were presented at the Forum, held at Tour & Taxis in Brussels on 3 and 4 November under the theme ‘Preparing today, ready for tomorrow’.