Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency
The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (Swedish: Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap, MSB) is a Swedish administrative authority, organised under the Ministry of Defence. The agency is responsible for issues concerning civil protection, public safety, emergency management and civil defence. Responsibility refers to measures taken before, during and after an emergency or crisis. MSB work in close cooperation with the municipalities, the county councils, other authorities, organisations and the private sector to achieve increased safety and security at all levels of society. This is done through education, support, training exercises, regulation and supervision.[1]
![](../I/m/Om_krisen_eller_kriget_kommer%2C_2018_(cropped).jpg)
Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap | |
![]() Logotype of the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1 January, 2009 |
Preceding agencies |
|
Headquarters | Karlstad |
Employees | 1,000 |
Annual budget | SEK 1.2 billion (2019) |
Minister responsible | |
Agency executive | |
Parent agency | Ministry of Health and Social Affairs |
Website | www.msb.se |
The agency covers the whole spectrum of contingencies; from everyday road traffic accidents and fires, up to chemical emergencies, power cuts and other technical failures. Additionally, more serious emergencies, such as bomb threats and other antagonistic attacks, epidemics, natural disasters and war. In most cases, the responsibility for on-scene action does not lie with the Civil Contingencies Agency but with municipal rescue services, law enforcement agencies or other agencies.[1]
History
The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency was established 1 January 2009, when it replaced the now defunct Swedish Rescue Services Agency (Swedish: Räddningsverket), the Swedish Emergency Management Agency (Swedish: Krisberedskapsmyndigheten) and the Swedish National Board of Psychological Defence (Swedish: Styrelsen för psykologiskt försvar).[2]
During the 2018 Sweden wildfires, Sweden requested help from European Union through the Emergency Response Coordination Centre at the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department. Sweden received help from Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Portugal. The help included firefighters, equipment and water bombing aircraft.[3][4][5][5][6] Polish state-owned television channel Telewizja Polska later claimed that "Sweden needed help as the country lacks firefighting capabilites, having prioritized spending on immigration and gender theory education.", due to the agency having spent 1.9% of their research budget (21m SEK, roughly €2m) on equality and on gender theory to investigate relations during crisis management. The agency responded that they considered the accusation to be fake news, as the agency has nothing to do with firefighting, as Swedish fire and rescue service brigades are funded by the municipalities and regions.[7][8]
Organisation
The MSB is based in Stockholm, Karlstad, Kristinehamn and Ljung. The MSB also has some colleges in Sandö, Revinge and Rosersberg. The agency has about 850 employees, led by Director-General Dan Eliasson. It's organised into five departments: Risk & Vulnerability Reduction Department, Emergency Management Development Department, Coordination and Operations Department, Evaluation and Monitoring Department and the Administration Department.[9][10]
See also
References
- "About". MSB. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- "Vision, concept and cornerstone". MSB. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- "Så tog bränderna över den svenska sommaren". SVT Nyheter. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
- "French soldiers land in Sweden to battle wildfire inferno". thelocal.se. 23 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- "Sweden rushes firefighting aircraft to tackle fast-spreading wildfires". Deutsche Welle. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
- "The Swedish town on the frontline of the Arctic wildfires". The Guardian. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
- "MSB satsar 10 miljoner på genusforskning - ska gå till botten med "maktrelationer" vid krishantering". Dagens Juridik (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-07-21.
- Nyheter, SVT (2018-08-08). "Polsk tv sprider falska nyheter om Sverige efter skogsbränderna". SVT Nyheter (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-08-11.
- "Management". MSB. Retrieved 21 July 2014.
- "Departments and Sections". MSB. Retrieved 21 July 2014.