IASC Briefing on “The Emergency Response Preparedness Approach in COVID-19”
Did you miss the webinar? Watch the full recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a0cSu96wA0
![Graphic of the sequencing of ERP components: risk analysis and monitoring, minimum preparedness, and advance preparedness actions](/sites/default/files/inline-images/ERP%20approach.jpg)
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 provided an overview to more than 130 participants on the interim guidance and examples of its field application, including a presentation on how national actors are tackling this in Bangladesh.
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.