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Critical Infrastructure
The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency honored by the EU for its work on gender equality in international operations
At the 9th European Civil Protection Forum in Brussels, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency received a medal for its long-term and systematic work to integrate gender equality and inclusion into international operations. Experiences from operations in Ukraine, Slovakia and Türkiye show that simple measures, such as good lighting, separate sanitation facilities, accessibility and dialogue with users, can make a significant difference. EU Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management Hadja Lahbib and Director-General Mikael Frisell attended. This year’s forum focused on how Europe can strengthen its preparedness for increasingly complex crises, with themes including public preparedness, civil-military cooperation, and cooperation between the public and private sectors. The Agency also hosted a booth where the IPA-CARE project was presented as an example of how to support EU candidate countries by strengthening their civil protection institutions, capabilities and cooperation. The EU Civil Protection Mechanism comprises all 27 EU Member States and 10 additional participating states.