The German Civil Service Federation (DBB) has called for a rethink of Federal and State strategies for dealing with major emergencies.
Speaking before the union’s annual conference, Chair of the DBB, Ulrich Silberbach (pictured) said the major lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic was that the State must strengthen its resilience.
“The necessary consequences of the pandemic are clear: Our colleagues must be better able to cope with future crisis situations,” Mr Silberbach said.
“In recent months, the Civil Service has been running up against its technical and personal limits far too often,” he said.
Mr Silberbach said that even in normal times, not only the public health service, but many other authorities and administrations were running on a knife edge as a result of a failure in training and resources.
“Only thanks to the tireless efforts of many Public Service officials are we still in a relatively good position, but an improvement in disaster management is urgently needed,” he said.
“Crisis situations must be trained for better and more often. In addition, Federal, State and Local Governments must finally accelerate the development of an efficient and comprehensive digital infrastructure,” Mr Silberbach said.
Because of the pandemic, the DBB conference was held virtually, organised from its headquarters in Berlin.
Berlin, 12 January 2021
