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of ICDO, at its Constituent Assem- The Charter conferred on ICDO a cer- As can be seen, the idea of internatio-
bly, adopted the text of the present tain number of tasks aimed at promo- nal civil defence has now been intro-
Charter, which granted it the status of ting on an international scale the ideas duced into humanitarian law. Howe-
an intergovernmental organization. of protection and safety of persons ver, this international humanitarian
In fact, this Charter became an inter- and property faced with all types of law, which is reflected in Geneva
national convention giving countries disasters. It is worth mentioning that Conventions, only applies in wartime.
the right to become members of the the General Assembly of the United Efforts remain to facilitate and, if ne-
organization by sending documents Nations, in its resolution 2034 adop- cessary, legalize humanitarian opera-
tions in peacetime -- specifically as-
sistance in international disasters.

ICDO which, by decision of its Mem-
ber States, has become a specialized
organization in the protection of the
population and its property from all
disasters, has mainly concentrated its
work on intervention and internatio-
nal assistance in peacetime and the
consolidation of international coope-
ration in this field. ICDO has prepared
the "Framework Convention on Civil
Defence Assistance", which was adop-
ted during the International Confe-
rence held in Geneva on 22 May 2000.
Today, ICDO is a well-known, profes-
sional and steadily developing organi-
zation. It has fifty-one member states,
sixteen observers and seventeen af-
filiated structures (companies pro-
ducing rescue systems and equip-
ment, universities, and also research
centres). Since 2007 ICDO has carried
out more than twenty international
humanitarian projects assisting popu-
lations suffering from various natural
and man-made disasters.

The present ICDO Secretary-General,
N. Al-Sleibi, said: "Our Organization
is open for all states without any po-
litical views, religious and race. [ ... ]
ICDO has the ambitious target - to
create an International Defence Sys-
adopting the Charter to the depositary ted in 1965, called upon "governments tem for the protection of populations
of the organization. to establish appropriate planning and suffering from various natural and
executive bodies, best suited to their manmade disasters worldwide."
The next main objective of ICDO defi- particular circumstances, with a view
ned in its Charter is: "to intensify and to defining the scope and nature of the Summarizing the progress of ICDO
coordinate on a world-wide scale the necessary assistance and centralizing over the eighty-one years of its exis-
development and improvement of or- the management of relief operations." tence, it can be stated that the idea of
ganizations, means and techniques for population protection in wartime has
preventing and reducing the conse- Furthermore, ICDO took part in the now been extended to that of protec-
quences of natural disasters in peace- preparation of the Additional Proto- tion and safety of the population in
time or the use of weapons in time of cols to the Geneva Conventions by general. It became possible thanks to
conflict". The Charter came into force participating in meetings of experts increased coordination and planning,
on 1 March 1972 at the first General which led to the final drafting of these of the methods, means and technology
Assembly of Member States. Thereaf- Protocols in 1977. The role of the ICDO at the international level to prevent,
ter, the Charter of ICDO was registered and its Member States had been deci- overcome and mitigate the conse-
in 1975 at the United Nations in New sive in defining civil defence within quences of natural and man-made di-
York in accordance with Article 102 of the new concept of humanitarian law. sasters in peace or during warfare.
the Charter and published in the Uni- In addition, a specific article (Protocol
ted Nations Treaty Series. Finally, an I, Chapter VI, and Article 64) extends Alexey Kuvshinov
agreement between the Swiss Federal the protection granted by the bellige- ICDO intern
Government and ICDO was signed rents to national civil defence organi-
on 10 March 1976 giving legal status zations, as well as to "relevant interna-
to the Organization in Switzerland. tional organizations".

International 27]