Armenia

During emergencies the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Government of the Republic of Armenia (MES) is the republican body of state governing and the Armenian Rescue Service (ARS) is the state governmental body. Both MES and ARS coordinate and supervise population protection activities in the field of civil protection. Each ministry or department involved in the system of civil protection, implements the civil protection policy in its own field.

The MES is responsible for the current state of the country’s preparedness and
provides prospective development policy in the field of civil protection. The
objectives of the MES are for example to:

• Establish and implement governmental policy in the civil protection and population protection field
• Coordinate emergency response, rescue, and firefighting operations
  Ensure the implementation of forecasting, studying, and special observations of hydro-meteorological phenomena
• Coordinate activities for emergency humanitarian response; coordinate activities of state governing, local self-governing bodies and organizations in the field of civil protection and population protection as well as the activities of forces implementing international rescue activities in the territory of the Republic of Armenia
• Organize and ensure the awareness of state bodies and the population regarding civil protection and population protection issues.

Emergency management and civil protection subdivisions work in all provinces and in the city of Yerevan. These bodies are subject to the ARS to implement the policy. In the event of disaster, the activities of governmental, department administrational and public services are directly governed by the ARS.