The Emergency Directors Group (EDG) is composed of representatives from about 20 IASC member organizations and partners/observers, including operationally relevant UN agencies, NGOs and the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement. Chaired by the OCHA Operations & Advocacy Director, the EDG is called upon to advise and follow-up on strategic and operational issues requiring urgent collective action, system-wide resource mobilization and/or targeted field support to sustain or scale-up a given humanitarian response.
The EDG is accountable to the Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Inter-Agency Standing Committee and links with the OPAG on policy matters through the chairs. The work of the EDG focuses on addressing operational challenges and gaps involving ongoing or imminent emergencies rather than on system-wide normative/policy issues.
The Emergency Directors are responsible for:
- Advising the IASC on operational issues of strategic concern
- Preparing options and recommendations for the IASC on operational issues
- Mobilizing agency and Global Cluster resources to address strategic and operational challenges and gaps, in support of Humanitarian Coordinators (HCs) and Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs)
- Considering future high-risk scenarios and determining appropriate early actions
- Supporting the IASC Principals with the activation and implementation of a system-wide Scale-Up Protocols
- Monitoring and providing field support, including through capacity building and guidance
- Carrying out Operational Peer Reviews through the Peer-2-Peer project.
