How an operation works

Sweden has carried out international aid and rescue operations since December 1988 when the then Swedish Rescue Services Agency (SRSA) sent a search and rescue team to Armenia after a severe earthquake.

The Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency is one of many organisations in the fields of humanitarian aid, mine action and capacity development that are active on the international arena. We have contact and cooperation with a large number of organisations, various UN agencies being the most common.

We draw on our core competencies as the national preparedness authority to deliver effective solutions. We maintain a resource base of pre-identified and trained experts, a stock of equipment, and established routines for project management, We also provide cross-cutting support functions for security, health, environmental protection, and gender equality.

Response management follows a predefined process covering the planning, implementation, and closure of operations. During a response cycle, various functions work together to ensure that our interventions are needs-based, of high quality, and lead to the expected results.

Our project managers are responsible for planning, implementing, and closing operations in accordance with established and approved practices and procedures. Other involved functions include HR officers, logisticians, advisors in security, health, psychosocial support, gender equality and environment, as well as duty officers, project economists, among others.

Sustainabilty and cross-cutting issues

Anyone who is serious about fighting poverty, reducing disaster risks and contributing to sustainable development must take into account short and long term effects on the environment.

The Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency increases the quality and efficiency of operations by involving everyone - men, women, boys and girls in all stages and aspects of a mission.

Cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, vulnerable groups, and environment and climate change are integrated into all operations. Depending on the nature of the intervention, human rights and democracy, conflict sensitivity, security, and health must also be incorporated.

Lessons learned

The Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency annually conducts hundreds of operations worldwide, generating large amounts of experience. Knowledge based on experience and lessons learned functions as a catalyst for further development where experience can be fed back into the organization in the form of quality improvement measures.