The Ministry of Home Affairs will arrange for the Department of Religion and Ceremonies to share the results of this year’s National Day Disaster Prevention Parade in the Ministry’s meeting today (15th). Minister Liu Shifang said that this National Day celebration combined the participation of more than 2,500 disaster prevention fighters from five major echelons in the parade and performance, successfully demonstrating the energy of all walks of life in long-term investment in public welfare services and disaster prevention and relief work, and demonstrating the policy results of the government and the private sector working together to promote disaster prevention for all. This year, the number of disaster prevention personnel trained nationwide will be steadily reached 200,000 as a phased goal. In order to continue to expand the capacity of national disaster prevention, relief and independent response, next year will move towards the 400,000 disaster prevention personnel mark.
The Ministry of the Interior explained that the five echelons of this parade each have their own characteristics. The team members hold cheering sticks and display diverse styles with distinctive clothing and equipment. The first "public agency representative echelon" to appear was led by Deputy Secretary-General of the Executive Yuan Ruan Zhaoxiong. It gathered representatives from the Fifth Academy and other central agencies, the Central Police University and the Taiwan Police College to demonstrate the resilience and determination of the public service system to jointly participate in national disaster prevention.
The Ministry of the Interior continued to point out that the second echelon of the "alternative service echelon" is composed of active and reserve alternative service men. This parade also unveiled the "new uniforms" for the first time, symbolizing a new milestone for the alternative service system to move toward professional disaster relief. The reserve men who participated in the post-disaster recovery work in Ma Tai'an River, Hualien, also transformed into "Shovel Superman" holding a round shovel, conveying the spirit of protecting their homeland with practical actions.
In addition to the participation of government agencies, the Ministry of the Interior has broken down that non-governmental organizations regardless of occupation, religious belief, and various groups are also actively participating in disaster prevention training. The third echelon is the "civilian group echelon" composed of village chiefs and village officers, civil defense vigilantes, security guards, volunteers, apartment buildings and mountain area managers, building the strongest national defense network for Taiwan; the "religious group echelon" from inter-religious groups such as Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity, etc., demonstrates the spirit of unity across faiths and working together.
The Ministry of the Interior added that the final fifth echelon, the "People's Organization Echelon", brought together the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Youth Chamber of Commerce, Tongji Club and other groups to use colorful fan logos to show the diverse forces of various industries in disaster prevention, convey the spirit of "self-rescue and mutual aid", and demonstrate the action of all people to protect their homes together.
In order to continue to expand the capacity of national disaster prevention, relief and independent response, the Ministry of the Interior emphasized that the number of disaster prevention personnel trained nationwide will steadily reach 200,000 disaster prevention personnel this year as a phased goal, and will move towards the 400,000 disaster prevention personnel mark next year. In the future, we will continue to deepen inter-departmental collaboration and public-private collaboration to expand the objects and areas of disaster prevention training. In addition to continuing to promote the participation of standing men, substitute men, police, security personnel, apartment building management committees, taxi drivers, people's organizations, foreign migrant workers, village chiefs and village officials, religious groups, etc., we will also actively expand to other social fields and civil society groups to include disaster prevention training.
The Ministry of the Interior hopes that by deepening disaster prevention knowledge in all walks of life and at the grassroots level, disaster prevention practitioners will be spread throughout Taiwan's various industries and micro-nodes in society, forming a dense social protection network to jointly create a safer, more resilient and sustainable Taiwan.
