IASC Briefing on “The Emergency Response Preparedness Approach in COVID-19

Message from the IASC secretariat

We are pleased to invite you to the IASC briefing on “The Emergency Response Preparedness Approach in COVID-19” on Tuesday 16 June, 3 p.m. –  4 p.m. (GVA) / 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. (NY) via online webinar. Please find the Webex details and panelist information below.

The ERP approach was adopted by the IASC in 2015 with the IASC Emergency Response Preparedness Guidelines, as the agreed method to ensure readiness to respond to potential crises requiring coordinated action from the humanitarian community. The aim is to increase the speed, volume, predictability and effectiveness of aid delivered after the onset of a crisis. In response to the global outbreak of COVID-19, the IASC built on those guidelines and developed the Interim Guidance on the Emergency Response Preparedness Approach to the COVID-19 Pandemic; a short and technical step-by-step guide. The interim guidance supports the development or strengthening of preparedness measures for country teams to implement the activities that are required to address the potential non-health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its compound effect on existing risks. In this webinar, expert panelists will provide an overview of the interim guidance and examples of its field application, including a presentation on how national actors are tackling this in Bangladesh. There will also be an interactive discussion.

Moderator:

• Ms. Wendy Cue, Deputy Head of the IASC secretariat & Senior Coordinator on PSEA and Sexual Harassment for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Panelists:

• Mr. John Long, Head of OCHA's Emergency Response Preparedness Unit in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr. Long has over 20 years of professional experience covering political and humanitarian affairs with the UN, EU and private sector. He is also Co-chair of the Preparedness, Early Action and Readiness Sub-Group of IASC Results Group 1 on Operational Response.
• Dr. Ehsanur Rahman, Executive Director of the Dhaka Ahsania Mission, a multi-sector national NGO in Bangladesh. Dr. Rahman serves as Chairperson of the National Alliance of Humanitarian Actors in Bangladesh (NAHAB) and has more than three decades of experience at the national and international level. In his work to strengthen community resilience capacity in Bangladesh, he has been a key contributor in the effort for localization of humanitarian actions.

Dial-in details:

Webex:

• Meeting link: https://ocha.webex.com/ocha/j.php?MTID=mf4ec2efc218455d309cd524fe6a563ad
• Meeting number: 161 551 4567
• Password: 1234

Phone:

• 1-866-469-3239 Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada)
• 1-866-469-3239 Call-in toll-free number (US/Canada)
• Global call-in numbers  |  Toll-free calling restrictions

Questions can be submitted in writing during the webinar for those joining online, however we encourage you to submit questions in advance to iasccorrespondance@un.org (subject: IASC Briefing on Emergency Response Preparedness).

Are you new to IASC briefings? Check out our past recordings of briefings on “Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) including challenges during COVID-19 response" (7 May 2020) and “Climate crisis and humanitarian action: bigger, faster… better?” (27 February 2020). You can also find recordings of the IASC Peer-2-Peer webinars here.