GEO Brasil - UNEP

the state of environmental disasters
the state of the environment in Brazil
During the 1960s, the most remarkable fact was the creation
of the Civil Defence in the old State of Guanabara, in
consequence of the floods of 1966 in that state By the end
of the decade, the Federal Government created the Special
Group for Public Calamity Support (GEACAP – Grupo
Especial de Apoio às Calamidades Públicas), with the
aim of implementing guidelines and norms of action for a
permanent defence against public calamities
During the 1970s, the Civil Defence was created in the State
of São Paulo after the infamous fires in the Joelma and
Andraus buildings The Federal Government established
the Special Secretariat for Civil Defence (SEDEC –
Secretaria Especial de Defesa Civil) within the Ministry
of the Interior, aimed at co-ordinating Civil Defence actions
in the entire Brazilian territory
During the 1980s, the most important natural disasters were
the great drought of 1979-1983, which affected a population
of over 30 million in the Northeast, and the flood in the
South Region, which affected about 80 percent of the State
of Santa Catarina The human-caused disaster that had the
greatest impact was the Cesium-137 radioactive accident in
Goiânia, State of Goiás, in 1987
The National Civil Defence System (SINDEC – Sistema
Nacional de Defesa Civil) is based on the municipal
agencies, which are responsible for disaster reduction
management in the municipalities and for the coordination
of response actions to disasters, when they
occur Its structure was formalised after the Federal
Constitution of 1988 was promulgated, by Decree Law
no 97,274 from 12 December 1988 From the beginning
of the 1990s on, there were advances in the institutional
organisation of Civil Defence structures in the states and
municipalities based on the federal legislation Thus,
SINDEC was updated and re-organised by Decree Law
no 895, from 16 August 1993 It should also be noted
that from 1990 to 2001 SINDEC belonged to 7 different
Ministries, with differing structures and denominations
Such administrative reforms affect the continuity of any
sectorial or national policy
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