Establishment

The Civil Defense Higher Committee was established in 1939 under the French Mandate of Lebanon. It was headed by the Minister of the Interior and consisted of many members including a representative of the French Higher Commissioner, a representative of the Commander in Chief, the director and advisor of the Ministry of Finance, the director and advisor of the economic departments and the Chief of Police. On May 5, 1956, a law stipulating the formation of an authority tasked with handling civil defense in times of war and peace was issued. The authority was to fall under the Ministry of National Defense- Army Command.

Article 12 of the Legislative Decree No. 159 issued in 1959 stipulated the formation of the Directorate General of Civil Defense under the control of the highest military command. The Directorate consisted of:

• A central directorate
• A head of department in each Mohafaza
• Civil defense schools
• Departments for equipment and shelter management

Civil Defense was re-organized by virtue of the Legislative Decree dated August 5, 1967 and became affiliated to the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities.

Functions

According to legal texts, the Lebanese Civil Defense is an essential constituent of national defense. It is responsible for:

• Creating plans and civil defense procedures aimed at redressing or preventing loss of life and property in times of war and natural disasters.
• Emergency evacuation from dangerous places or those under threat.
• Sheltering evacuees.

Structure

A Grade 1 Director General runs the Lebanese Civil Defense. Should his post become vacant the Director General may be replaced by an officer from the Lebanese Army or the Internal Security Forces holding one of the following three ranks: Major, Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel.

The Directorate General of Civil Defense consists of:

• A Central directorate including four units:

• An Administrative Unit
• A Technical Unit
• A Technology Unit
• A Transport and Operations Unit

• Civil Defense centers distributed across Lebanon. The sites of such centers are determined pursuant to a decision issued by the Minister of the Interior and Municipalities. Each center is headed by a Grade 3 employee or an officer from the Lebanese Army or the Internal Security Forces holding at least the rank of Lieutenant.

The Civil Defense personnel comprises some 1,806 employees working with approximately 2,200 volunteers and is accounted for as follows:

Source: Lebanese Civil Defense official website

Budget

Civil Defense is allocated an annual budget embedded within the budget of the Ministry of the Interior and Municipalities. It is also entitled to 5% of the municipalities’ share from the Independent Municipal Fund. In the 2012 draft budget law, the Lebanese Civil Defense was assigned LBP 10 billion. Its share of the Independent Municipal Fund in 2011 stood at LBP 18.348 billion, which brings its total budget to LBP 28.348 billion.

Providing the Lebanese Civil Defense with the modern equipment and machinery necessary to improve its performance is an inevitable step if we are to promote the role of this body, in addition to expanding its manpower or at least filling the growing number of vacancies instead of relying on volunteers.