Meeting of the INSARAG Steering Committee

OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS

(OCHA)

International

Search and Rescue

Advisory Group

Report on the Meeting of the

INSARAG Steering Committee

Geneva, Switzerland, 27 February 2002

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The designations employed and the

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Meeting of the INSARAG Steering Committee

Geneva, Switzerland, 27 February 2002

Final Report

Introduction

The INSARAG steering Committee meeting for 2002 was held in Geneva on 27 Feb 200. It was attended by the INSARAG Chairman, the Chairmen and Vice Chairmen of the three INSARAG Regional Groups and the INSARAG Secretariat.

Mr Ross Mountain, Director OCHA Geneva, who attended the meeting for a short period, stressed the need for improvement of the performance on the ground and that the involvement with OCHA as well as the links between international actors and the UNDAC team during response operations was vital.

The Steering Committee Meeting was opened by the INSARAG Chairman, Mr. Toni Frisch, Delegate for Humanitarian Aid Switzerland. Mr. Frisch welcomed the results of the recent strengthening of the INSARAG Regional Groups in Asia/Pacific and the Americas and the establishment of new partnerships in the regions. He stressed the importance of the new dimension of terrorist threats that had become an issue in international disaster response since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the USA. Mr. Frisch introduced the agenda for the meeting, which was adopted by the participants (list of participants and Agenda is attached).

Briefings and Presentations

The meeting began with a briefing By Mr. Piero Calvi-Parisetti, consultant to OCHA, about the results of the last meeting of the Core Group for the creation of a Legal Framework for Urban Search and Rescue assistance, which was held in Geneva, on 25 and 26 March. The Core Group is pursuing the establishment of a General Assembly Resolution to facilitate international urban search and rescue operations. The Turkish Government has agreed to facilitate and sponsor the process with support from the USA, who will be co-sponsoring the initiative. The next meetings for the preparation of the GA Resolution will be held in New York later this year and will aim at increasing the number of participating countries. Mr. Calvi-Parisetti stressed the need of close cooperation with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), particularly regarding their work with the International Disaster Response Law project. More information about this process is available on the INSARAG homepage at

The briefing was followed by a presentation by Mr. Arjun Katoch, Chief Field Coordination Support Section (FCSS), Emergency Services Branch (ESB), OCHA Geneva, on the upcoming INSARAG Asia/Pacific regional urban SAR exercise “Exercise INSARAG SINGAPORE 2002”, to be held in Singapore from 5 to 9 March. The exercise aims at training managers of regional SAR teams in INSARAG methodology of international cooperation in a major urban SAR operation as well as UNDAC team in the establishment and running of an On Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) in cooperation with the Local Emergency Management Authority (LEMA). More than 14 countries as well as a 9 person UNDAC team will participate in the exercise. The exercise will be hosted by the Government of Singapore and co-organized by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the INSARAG Secretariat (FCSS in OCHA Geneva).

Then the chairmen of the INSARAG Regional Groups provided an update on the results of the last regional meetings and an overview of work plans of their regional groups.

1)Regional Group Asia/Pacific. In his briefing Mr. John Lovell, Emergency Management Advisor and Deputy Commissioner, Ministry for Emergency, Management, New Zealand and Chairman of the INSARAG Regional Group Asia/Pacific stated that one outcome of the Regional Group meeting is the conduct of the regional SAR exercise in Singapore in March 2002 (see above). The meeting further resulted in the election of a new chair (China), who would take over his responsibilities for the period of one year as of March 2002. The current chair (New Zealand) will become vice-chair. The next meeting of the Regional Group Asia/Pacific will be held in Shanghai, China, on 12 and 13 November 2002. In addition, the regional group had established two regional Working Groups under the chairmanship of New Zealand to:

a)Revise the format of the INSARAG Guidelines in order to produce a more user-friendly document. The format of the INSARAG Guidelines could be also discussed at the proposed meeting of the regional working groups on training (see bullet d) under topic “INSARAG Working Groups” below)

b)Evaluate the feasibility and possible alternative solutions to the peer evaluation concept, which was proposed at the last regional meeting.

2)Regional Group of the Americas, The briefing was by Mr. Paul Bell, Senior Regional Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean, USAID, USA, and Chairman of the INSARAG Regional Group of the Americas. As result of the last meeting of the regional group in April 2001, the INSARAG Guidelines and the INSARAG Website had been translated into Spanish. The Regional Group had created a working group on the development of standardization criteria for light, medium and heavy urban search and rescue teams. The results of the working group are expected at the next meeting of the regional group (1 to 6 May 2002) in Fairfax, USA. The meeting resulted further in the promotion and application of the BREC training concept within the region. The BREC training concept comprises a 6 day curriculum for technical urban SAR training. The main challenge of the regional group remains in identifying INSARAG focal points in member countries.

3)Regional Group Africa/Europe, The briefing was by Mr. Dietrich Laepke, Director, Federal Academy for Emergency Planning, Civil Protection and Crisis Management, Germany, and Chairman of the INSARAG Regional Group Africa/Europe. The Regional Group Africa/Europe has been organizing meetings regularly in recent years, with the aim to expand the network by including countries from Eastern Europe (Poland meeting in 1998), and countries from Africa (Tunisia meeting in 2000). The Regional Group Africa/Europe had further organized a lesson-learned meeting for international SAR teams that participated in the earthquakes in Turkey, Greece and Taiwan in 1999. The meeting, which was held in Neuhausen, Germany, in December 1999, resulted in the recommendation for the creation of a Legal Framework for Urban Search and Rescue Assistance (see above). Unlike other regional groups, Africa/Europe faces the challenge to create synergy and define interfaces with other regional networks and programmes (in particular NATO, NATO/PfP and the European Union), which also aim at improving cooperation in natural disasters by developing disaster response methodology, guidelines and training concepts. The next meeting of the Regional Group will be held in Sweden on 23 and 24 April 2002, in which, amongst other things, these issues will be addressed.

Discussions and Decisions

The meeting continued with discussions on priority issues for INSARAG and on strategic directions of INSARAG for the years to come. The results of the discussion, decisions taken and follow up required can be summarized as under

INSARAG Working Groups

a)The Steering Committee decided that the New Zealand (Asia Pacific Regional Group) would lead an INSARAG working group to revise the format of the INSARAG Guidelines, in order to produce a more user-friendly document for both field and management purposes.

(Action: Asia Pacific Regional Group, INSARAG Secretariat)

b)It also decided that the Regional Group of the Americas lead an INSARAG working group for the development of specifications for light, medium and heavy urban search and rescue teams.

(Action: Americas Regional Group, INSARAG Secretariat)

c)The Steering Committee decided to establish regional Working Groups on Training in order to identify requirements for training and exercises in the region as well as the need for standardized training curricula and briefing packages in the regions. The present INSARAG working group on training will be discontinued with immediate effect.

(Action: Regional Groups)

d)In order to maintain an institutional memory, it was recommended to convene a meeting between the chairpersons of the new regional working groups on training and the former chairman of the INSARAG working group on training, Col. Norbert Fürstenhofer, Commander, NBC Defence School, AFDRU, Ministry of Defence of Austria. Mr. Dietrich Laepke offered to provide the venue for the meeting and cover costs for travel of participants.

(Action: INSARAG Secretariat)

Proposed UN General Assembly Resolution on urban search and rescue

The INSARAG Secretariat was requested to draft a standard letter to inform member governments about the progress of the proposed Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) UN General Assembly (GA) Resolution. The letter should be sent by the chairmen of regional groups to their regional INSARAG member countries Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

(Action: INSARAG Secretariat, Regional Groups)

INSARAG Focal Points

The INSARAG Secretariat was requested to draft a standard letter to request member countries to nominate INSARAG Focal Points. The letter will be sent to INSARAG member countries by the chairmen of regional groups.

Mr. Moncef Belkhir, General Director, Office National de la Protection Civile, Caserne de la Garde Nationale, Tunisia, and Vice-Chairman of the INSARAG Regional Group Africa/Europe, announced that, subject to availability of funding, the Tunisian Civil Defence would be prepared to establish an outpost of the INSARAG Secretariat for Africa. The main responsibility of the secretariat would be to translate INSARAG documents into French and Arabic, to develop and maintain French and Arabic sections of the INSARAG homepage, as well as to establish and maintain a network of country Focal Points in the Region. It was recommended to provide a project proposal to the INSARAG Chairman.

(Action: INSARAG Secretariat, Regional Groups, Vice Chairman Africa/ Europe Regional Group)

Strategic Direction for INSARAG for the coming years

A discussion was held on the strategic direction that should govern INSARAG activities in the next 3- 5 years. It was suggested that this be in accordance with the following five principles

a)Closer integration of regional INSARAG groups activities with each other, in particular for training and exercises (Action: All INSARAG members)

b)To promote regional urban SAR capacity building within disaster-prone countries, as stated in the INSARAG Inaugural Meeting in Beuggen, Germany, in 1991. For this countries with relatively advance SAR capabilities should assist those that need to develop such capabilities using the INSARAG network. (Action: All INSARAG members)

c)To encourage member countries to incorporate actions as stated in the INSARAG Guidelines, into national disaster management plans of INSARAG member countries. (Action: All INSARAG members)

d)To utilize international fora to promote create higher visibility for INSARAG methodology, guidelines and standards including the need for an international urban search and rescue UN General Assembly resolution. (Action: All INSARAG members)

e)To deepen the institutionalisation of the functioning of INSARAG. Amongst other things, this could include actions to (Action: All INSARAG members):

i)Identify INSRAG Focal Points in member countries and organizations

ii)Ensure consistency and regularity in the organization of annual meetings of the Regional Groups and the Steering Committee

iii)Establishment of the rotating chairmanship in all regional groups in order to enhance ownership and commitment among INSARAG member countries

iv)Definition of terms of reference and expected outcome of established regional or inter-regional working groups.

Other Issues

1)The Steering Committee endorsed the request of the INSARAG Secretariat to be authorised to develop a summary of the contents of INSARAG Guidelines required for international operations as an Annex to the text of the GA Resolution on Urban SAR Assistance. (Action: INSARAG Secretariat)

2)It was felt that the link and cooperation between INSARAG and IFRC should be strengthened. (Action: INSARAG Secretariat)

3)It was agreed that the meeting of the INSARAG Steering Committee should be held annually, and should be organized in connection with a meeting of any INSARAG Regional Group. The next meeting of the INSARAG Steering Committee should be held together with the first INSARAG regional group meeting in 2003 (Action: INSARAG Secretariat)

4)Regional Chairs to report to the Secretariat names of their convenors for their working group (Action: Chairpersons of INSARAG Regional Groups)

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Annex I – List of Participants

INSARAG Steering Committee Feb 2002, GenevaFinal Report

Meeting of the INSARAG Steering Committee

Geneva, Switzerland, 27 February 2002

List of Participants

Austria

Ms. Brigitte BrennerHead of Group I/A, Ministerialrätin

Federal Chancellery, Group I/A

Federal Chancellery of Austria

Ballhausplatz 2

Austria

Tel: +43 1 523 03 6150

Fax: +43 1 523 03 6128

Mobile: +43 664 337 7709

e-mail:

Mr. Norbert FürstenhoferCommander

NBC Defence School

AFDRU

Ministry of Defence

Wilhelmskaserne

Vorgartenstrasse 223

A-1020 Vienna

Austria

Tel: +43 1 5200 41000

Fax: +43 1 5200 17130

Mobile: +43 664 1822 765

e-mail:

Mr. Stefan ScholzCounsellor

Permanent Mission of Austria

to the United Nations Office at Geneva

Rue de Varembé 9-11

Case Postale 68

1211 Geneva 20

Switzerland

Tel: +748 2031

Fax: +748 2040

e-mail:

China

Mr. Huang JianfaDeputy Director

Department of International Cooperation

China Seismological Bureau

63 Fuxing Avenue

Beijing

China

Tel: +86 10 880 15518

Fax: +86 10 682 10995

Mobile: +86 139 1030 0366

e-mail:

Mr. Liu YuchenDeputy Director General

China Seismological Bureau

63 Fuxing Avenue

Beijing

China

Tel: +86 10 8801 5518

Fax: +86 10 6821 0995

e-mail:

Ecuador

Mr. Jaime Guillermo Benalcázar RochaComandante General CB-DMQ

Cuerpo de Bomberos del Distrito Metropolitano de Quito

Veintimilla E5-66 y Reina Victoria

Casilla 203

Quito

Ecuador

Tel: +593 22 505 559 / 508 726 / 648 313/505 559

Fax: +593 22 505 560

Mobile: +593 099 970 9651

e-mail:

Germany

Mr. Dietrich LaepkeDirector

Federal Academy for Emergency Planning, Civil Protection and Crisis Management

Germany

Tel: +49 2641 381 200

Fax: +49 2641 381 210

Mobile: +49 171 975 9312

e-mail:

New Zealand

Mr. John K. LovellEmergency Management Advisor and Deputy Commissioner

Ministry for Emergency Management

P. O. Box 13-766

Christchurch

New Zealand

Tel: +64 3 379 0294

Fax: +64 3 379 52 23

Mobile: +64 274 382 694

e-mail:

Switzerland

Mr. Toni FrischDelegate for Humanitarian Aid and Head Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit

Division of Humanitarian Aid and Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit

Freiburgstr. 130

3003 Bern

Switzerland

Tel: +41 31 322 3561

Fax: +41 31 324 1694

Mobile: +41 79 415 2754

e-mail:

Tunisia

Mr. Moncef BelkhirGeneral Director

Office National de la Protection Civile

Caserne de la Garde Nationale

Route de la Marsa 2045

TN - Tunis

Tunisia

Tel: +216 71 961 592

Fax: +216 71 962 347

e-mail:

United States of America

Mr. Paul BellSenior Regional Advisor for Latin

America and the Caribbean

USAID

Embajada de los E.U. de America

Apartado 920-1200

San Jose

Costa Rica

Tel: +506 231 6805

Fax: +506 231 4111

e-mail:

OCHA

Mr. Gerhard Putman-CramerDeputy Director, Natural Disaster Policy and Chief, Emergency Services Branch

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Palais des Nations

CH-1211 Geneva

Switzerland

Tel: + 41 22 917 1724

Fax: + 41 22 917 0023

Mobile: +41 79 217 3013

e-mail:

Mr. Arjun KatochChief, Field Coordination Support Section

and Secretary of INSARAG

Emergency Services Branch

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Palais des Nations

CH-1211 Geneva

Switzerland

Tel: +41 22 917 1199

Fax: +41 22 917 0023

Mobile: +41 79 417 41 65 or 788-6381

e-mail:

Mr. Thomas PeterDeputy Chief, Field Coordination Support Section Emergency Services Branch

Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian

Palais des Nations

1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Tel: +41-22-917 3143,

Fax: +41-22-9170023

e-mail:

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Annex II - Agenda

INSARAG Steering Committee Feb 2002, GenevaFinal Report

INSARAG Steering Committee Meeting

27 February, Geneva, Switzerland

Agenda

09:00-09:15Opening remarks by Chairman INSARAG

09:15-10:00Participants introduction and remarks

10:00-10:30Coffee

10:30-11:00Update on the status of the USAR GA resolution (Legal Framework)

11:00-11:30Presentation of the upcoming SAR exercise in Singapore

11:30-12:30Discussions:

-INSARAG activities and priority issues

-Work-plans of INSARAG Regional Groups

-Training/exercises requirements & activities

12:30-13:30Lunch

13:30-15:30Discussions:

1. Review of INSARAG concept as defined in Breuggen Protocol
2. Strategic direction for INSARAG for the next 5 years
3. Requirements for INSARAG working groups
4. Inter-regional cooperation
5. Support for INSARAG Secretariat

15:30-16:00Coffee

16:00-17:00Review of meeting recommendations and next steps and AOB

17:00Closing remarks

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