Dubai Civil Defence’s Billion Readiness initiative has helped reduce fire incidents worldwide by 18% while significantly improving emergency response and safety outcomes, senior officials reported.
Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Issa Ahmed Al Mutawa, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for the Smart Services Sector at Dubai Civil Defence, said the initiative was launched with the ambitious goal of educating and training one billion people globally within four years.
“Less than a year since its launch, the initiative has already reached over half a billion people worldwide, surpassing projections set by experts and program teams,” Al Mutawa said.
The program has expanded to 59 countries, delivered in more than 25 languages, and implemented through 68 global awareness campaigns, generating over 250 million digital interactions, he added.
Al Mutawa highlighted measurable real-world impacts of the initiative, including a 24% improvement in global emergency response times and a 25% reduction in human losses, equivalent to saving roughly 45,000 lives annually.
Material losses were also reduced by 20%, totaling more than $50 billion, which he described as resources redirected from recovery efforts to sustainable development.
“These outcomes reaffirm that real investment is in people, knowledge, and collective action,” he said, emphasizing that the achievements were the result of international cooperation, not the efforts of a single country.
Al Mutawa stressed that the UAE sees partnership as a responsibility and human protection as a priority, noting that safety “is achieved through action and commitment, not slogans.”
