Objective: To raise awareness of gender equality and disability inclusion within volunteer first responder services
Title of the project: Institutionalising a Volunteer First Responder Service in Armenia (VolFiRe)
Country: / Location: Armenia / countrywide
Date of the Action: 01.12.2022 – 31.08.2025
The Civil Protection system in Armenia is currently mainly based on professional responders from governmental institutions. They are to a large extent on-duty firefighters and other paid staff of the Rescue Service (RS) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA). But Armenia has numerous remote areas particularly affected by the limited coverage through the regional fire and rescue services. These areas are often out of reach if we consider international standards for rapid response to emergencies and disasters. Closest MIA RS local fire brigades are established far from these municipalities, 20km to 45km, and access is often difficult (bad road conditions, mountainous roads…). In some cases, the emergency services cannot at all reach the municipalities due to snow fall in winter or landslides in spring. This fact also applies to ambulances and other medical services. Therefore, the Armenian population living in remote areas is extremely vulnerable in case of emergencies (accidents, medical emergencies, house fires…) and disasters (landslides, forest fires…).
The Austrian Red Cross (AutRC) implemented the StrengthVOL project (https://strengthvol.org/) from 2020 – 2022 (funded by DG ECHO and co-funded by the Austrian Development Agency). In the frame of this project the Rescue Services of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Armenia (MES), Armenian Red Cross Society (ARCS) and Austrian Red Cross (AutRC) developed a comprehensive model for Civil Protection volunteering for Armenia.
In this model, the volunteers are first responders, firefighters and rescuers called “Volunteer Fire Rescue Groups” (VFRGs). The volunteers are affiliated to the Armenian Red Cross Society. Volunteers pass also an exam with the MIA Rescue services (RS) and successful candidates receive from the RS an official rescuer ID.