Women in civil protection

Esther El Haddad, Deputy Team Leader, Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC)

The people we help come from all sorts of different backgrounds and cultures. This means that in order to reach their hearts and minds, we must connect with them in lots of different ways – the more diverse and different we are, the more hearts and minds we can reach!

Kajsa Sjösvärd, Team Leader, European Civil Protection Pool (CP Pool)

The way I see it, it is equity with variety that we must support, specifically. It’s more about creating an atmosphere of inclusion for every competence, personality, experience and capacity that a person might bring into the civil protection environment. Gender is, of course, one obvious factor, but I think the main focus needs to be on the less fixed idea of what ‘mission style’ is adopted, as well as on collective team effort and performance.

Marie Sattler, International Relations, Luxembourg Fire and Rescue Corps (CGDIS)

I think that the European civil protection system can help raise awareness for gender equity via campaigns, for instance. However, it is more important to set a good example by demonstrating that neither gender nor any other external characteristic is a factor that will prevent you from being a valuable part of the civil protection family.

Scira Menoni, Professor at Politecnico di Milano and Seconded National Expert at the European Commission

We are in a moment in history where it seems we are really going back centuries, with wars and regimes that are trying (and perhaps succeeding) to take the rights and conditions for women back hundreds of years.

I think that equity in European civil protection can be achieved by being empathic to people’s suffering, and understanding the struggles of diverse populations, including women.

Susanne Klatt, Team Leader EUCP and Fire Officer,Essen Fire Brigade (Germany)

As a woman, I am still a minority in the fire service. That is why I have been involved in a network of female firefighters for many years, in order to connect with more female colleagues and to pave the way for other women. In EU civil protection I have definitely met more women than in most fire departments, and of course I want to be a role model for other female colleagues. I have the impression that the EU Civil Protection Mechanism encourages the participation of women.