DRK demands: billions for better population protection now!

DRK demands: billions for better population protection now!

The German Red Cross (DRK) has urged higher investments in population protection. In an interview with the "Rheinische Post", DRK President Gerda Hasselfeldt makes it clear that at least 0.5 percent of the federal budget should be intended for this area. This would correspond to around 2.4 billion euros annually in order to master current and future challenges as best as possible. Hasselfeldt refers to the coalition agreement between the Union and the SPD, which provides for a strengthening of population protection. The Federal Government not only set itself the goal of shaping population protection crisis -proof, but also recognizes the increasing threats as urgency.

The additional means should help ensure the operational capacity of aid organizations, to promote volunteering and to harden the infrastructure. Furthermore, a rapid expansion of the childcare and accommodation capacity for crisis or defense cases is required in order to be able to react quickly in an emergency.

Context of the claims

Hasselfeldt's demands are in the context of the increasing threats that require a quick reaction of state and civil society organizations. In particular, the federal government is asked to ensure the operational capacity of aid organizations in the event of a crisis by means of appropriate investments. According to Deutschlandfunk , the Federal Office for Population Protection and Disaster support, under the direction of Tisler, is planning about a million protective positions in U-Bahn stations, To set up underground garages and public buildings. A concept for this is to be presented in the summer of 2025.

core demands for a future -proof strategy

Five organizations, including the DRK, have summarized the pressing needs in a joint press release. In particular, they demand the improvement of the legal framework and the financial resources for population protection. These core demands include:

The DRK and other aid organizations emphasize that population protection was identified as an important field of action in the exploratory talks of the CDU, CSU and SPD. The quick and comprehensive expansion of the measures is now required to effectively protect Germany's population. In this context, training programs are also asked to strengthen resilience, as required by Martin Schelleis (Malteser) and other representatives of the aid organizations.

The federal government is required to continuously work on improving population protection and to observe the importance of the volunteer. Because volunteers make a decisive contribution to the security of the citizens.

For more information, visit DRK and Welt .