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

Algeria

Algerian Civil Defence is a unit of the Algerian government responsible for firefighting, rescue services, and emergency response.

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".

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.

Asia

China

China continues to construct large public emergency shelters. Not less than three large (maximum capacity of around 8000) shelters are to be completed in the Shanghai area by 2012, with more planned. The ironic completion date of late 2012 has been dismissed as coincidence, with the true intent claimed to be a response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquakes, "as a precaution against possible natural disasters".

Cyprus

The Cyprus Civil Defense Force was established in 1964 in response to the Turkish bombings of Tilliria in order to protect the civilian population and to help it recover from the immediate effects of hostilities or disasters.

Indonesia

Badan Nasional Penanggulangan Bencana or loosely translated into English as National Agency for Disaster Countermeasure is the government agency that has the authority of managing disaster in the national scale.

India

Directorate General-Fire Services, Civil Defense & Home Guards (DGFSCDHG) - federal agency of the Government of India Kerala Civil Defence

Iran

The National Organization for Passive Defense is the principle civil defense organization in Iran. It was established in 2003 and is formally subordinated to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Israel

The Home Front Command, a unit and a military district command of the Israel Defense Forces is the principle civil defense organization in Israel. It was created in February 1992 in response to the lessons of the Gulf War, which was the first war since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War in which centers of civilian population faced significant threat. Japan

Lebanon

The Directorate General for the Lebanese Civil Defense works alongside the Lebanese Red Cross and is administered by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities (Lebanon). It provides search and rescue, fire-fighting and pre-hospital services.

Malaysia

The Malaysia Civil Defence Force is mainly in charge of disaster relief efforts. A separate department the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department is in charge of the fire and rescue services in Malaysia.

Mongolia

The paramilitary National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) was established by the State Great Khural in June 2003. It was established with the duty to conduct nationwide post-disaster activities. All 21 Aimags as well as the capital of Ulaanbaatar have a NEMA division and department. Similarly to the Post-Soviet Ministry of Emergency Situations, it broadly develops environmental legislation and implements activities on disaster prevention and search and rescue work.

Pakistan The Directorate General of Civil Defence provides civil defence services in Pakistan.

Philippines

The Office of Civil Defense began as the National Civil Defense Administration, established on August 18, 1954 through the Civil Defense Act of 1954. The Department of National Defense exercises executive supervision over the Office of Civil Defense.

On September 27, 2010 the "Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010" was passed to strengthen the country's disaster risk reduction and management system in response to Typhoon Ondoy.

Singapore

The Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF) was established by the Civil Defense Act of 1986 as an independent organization under the Ministry of Home Affairs. The SCDF and the Singapore Fire Service were formally merged in 1989.

South Korea

On December 15, 2010, Seoul held its largest civil defense drill in since 1975, in response to the Bombardment of Yeonpyeong.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka Department of Civil Security is a paramilitary force which is tasked as an auxiliary to the Sri Lanka Police. It evolved from the "Home Guards" created in response to attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Syria

The Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management is responsible for developing and overseeing a national system for risk and disaster management in Syria.

Taiwan

There are more than 117,000 air raid shelters in Taiwan, some dating back to the Japanese colonial period. Many more obsolete shelters as well as military bunkers have been repurposed as commercial, artistic, or public buildings.

Turkey

Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD) is the responsible Turkish institution for coordinating civil defence, and to respond to civil emergencies including those arise from natural disasters. AFAD is a participant of the European humanitarian aid and civil protection mechanism. General Directorate of Civil Defence under Turkish Ministry of the Interior was the responsible institution in Turkey for civil protection and it was disbanded in 2009 with the establishment of AFAD.

Turkmenistan

The General Directorate of Civil Defense and Rescue () is part of the Ministry of Defense of Turkmenistan. It is the civil defense agency of Turkmenistan that is similar organizationally to the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations. It conducts exercises in the territories of industrial enterprises with non-militarized rescue workers, developing tactics in the event of various natural disasters and/or rescue operations. The directorate opened the Center for Emergency Management in January 2011.

United Arab Emirates Dubai has the Dubai Civil Defence organization.

Vietnam Vietnam Militia and Self-Defence Force () is part of the Vietnam People's Armed Forces. Their main task is to prevent, combat and overcome the consequences of disasters, incidents, natural disasters, epidemics, fires and explosions; search, rescue, rescue; forest protection, environmental protection and other civil defense tasks according to the provisions of law. They can be deployed as active military soldiers, as it is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces.

Europe

European Union

In addition to providing funding to humanitarian aid, the European Commission's Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO) is in charge of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to coordinate the response to disasters in Europe and beyond and contributes to at least 75% of the transport and/or operational costs of deployments. Established in 2001, the Mechanism fosters cooperation among national civil protection authorities across Europe. Currently 34 countries are members of the Mechanism; all 27 EU Member States in addition to Iceland, Norway, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Mechanism was set up to enable coordinated assistance from the participating states to victims of natural and man-made disasters in Europe and elsewhere.

Albania

Civil Protection in Albania is coordinated by Agjencia Kombëtare e Mbrojtjes Civile (National Civil Protection Agency), a department within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Albania. Established in 2001 as Drejtoria e Përgjithshme e Emergjencave Civile (General Directorate of Civil Emergencies) and renamed in 2019, this agency deals with preparedness and response to natural and man-made disasters.

Belgium

The Belgian Civil Protection is coordinated by the Federal Public Service Interior (the former Ministry of the Interior) and operates as a specialized second-line service. It is not a first-response service like the fire departments, but is only called upon when specialized assistance is needed. Its main tasks revolve around CBRN incidents, search and rescue operations and heavy technical assistance. As of 2016, the Belgian Civil Protection employs about 1,100 people, of which 450 professionals and 650 volunteers.

Denmark