March 1 is World Civil Defense Day. In 1931 the French surgeon-general Georges Saint-Paul established throughout Europe Geneva Zones, designated areas or towns where women, children, sick and aged persons could seek refuge during wartime.

In 1966 the ICDO (International Civil Defense Organization) became an intergovernmental organization with the mission to prevent and reduce the consequences of natural disasters in peacetime or of the use of weapons in time of conflict.” The Constitution effectively came into force on 1 March 1972 at the first General Assembly of Member States.