Many countries around the world have civil defense organizations dedicated to protecting civilians from military attacks and providing rescue services after widespread disasters. In most countries, civil defense is a government-managed and often volunteer-staffed organization.
Towards the end of the Cold War, a number of civil defense organizations have been disbanded or mothballed (as in the case of the Royal Observer Corps in the United Kingdom and the United States civil defense), while others have changed their focuses into providing rescue services after natural disasters (as for the State Emergency Service in Australia).
Africa
Egypt
The Egyptian General Administration of Civil Defense "is a department of Ministry of Interior (Egypt), founded in 1875. Its main task is to respond and to protect civilians and animals in case of emergency or natural disasters".
Algeria
Nigeria
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps "is a para-military agency of the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria that is commissioned in 2003, to provide measures against threat and any form of attack or disaster against the nation and its citizenry".
Americas
Brazil
States and some cities have their own civil defense measures, overseen by the Ministry of Regional Development.
Canada
Canada's civil defense measures evolved over time. As with many other matters in Canada, responsibility is shared between the federal and provincial government. The first post-WWII civil defence co-ordinator was appointed in October 1948 "to supervise the work of federal, provincial and municipal authorities in planning for public air-raid shelters, emergency food and medical supplies, and the evacuation of likely target areas".
In 1959, the Government of Canada, under John Diefenbaker handed authority for civilian defense to the Emergency Measures Organisation (EMO). Large fallout shelters, known as "Diefenbunkers" were built at rural locations outside major cities across Canada at the height of the Cold War during the infancy of the ICBM threat.
The EMO then became Emergency Planning Canada in 1974, then Emergency Preparedness Canada in 1986. In February 2001, the Government replaced Emergency Preparedness with the Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection and Emergency Preparedness (OCIPEP), responsible for civilian emergency planning in both peace and war.
Among the "Core Missions" of the Canada First Defence Strategy (under the Canadian Department of National Defence) are to respond to terrorist attacks and other crises such as natural disasters. According to the Emergency Management Act, the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness is responsible for exercising leadership relating to emergency management in Canada by coordinating, among government institutions and in cooperation with the provinces and other entities, emergency management activities.
Caribbean
Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands, are members of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, which organizes relief efforts after widespread disasters. Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines are also members of the Regional Security System, which may also provide assistance during national emergencies.
Panama
The Panama Civil Defense Seismic Network has the capability of informing and warning citizens of hazardous conditions such as earthquakes, volcanoes, or tsunami.
United States
The Office of Civilian Defense was set up May 20, 1941, by Executive Order 8757, to co-ordinate state and federal measures for protection of civilians in case of war emergency. The Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) was organized on December 1, 1950, and distributed civil defense information until it was merged with FEMA in 1979. Between 1979 and 2001, the duties of Civil Defense were served by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). FEMA was absorbed into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.