International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP)

Background

 

The International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) was created in 1995 as an informal cooperation the Department for International Development (DFID), the Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA), and the Swedish Rescue Service (SRSA).

 

The objective of the cooperation was to provide logistical support to UN agencies especially in sudden onset disasters. Since its creation, the IHP membership has been expanded to also include the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DCPEP), the Finnish Rescue Force (FRF), the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (N-MFA) and the Estonian Rescue Board (ERB).

 

Operational Experience

 

IHP has been largely successful in providing support to international humanitarian operations, and over the years both the capacity of the network and the expectations from its expanding circle of clients have grown significantly. IHP support is provided in the form of standardized modules, ranging from a one-man module with IT and telecommunications support to a base camp which provides accommodation and workspace for 60 – 120 staff. So far IHP has provided this type of support to 36 international operations. The main recipients of the support have been OCHA, UNHCR and WFP. Over the years IHP’s capacity to deliver support has increased, and today the joint capacity of the IHP members is sufficient to cover the needs of its main clients.

 

The operational experience of IHP shows that by working together, the members have been able to provide support to clients, which would not have been possible otherwise. This synergy is derived by combining the different capabilities of the members, e.g. by one agency providing equipment and another providing transport, or by one agency providing equipment and another providing the staff. In addition, IHP has become a guarantee for quality in the eyes of the donors and members find that working together facilitates accessing funding.

 

 

  IHP / United Nations base camp in Calang, Indonesia 2005

 

IHP missions 1996-2007

 

Year	Affected Country	Emergency	Provider	Requesting organization	Type of Support
1996	Great Lakes Region	Civil Strife	DEMA, DFID, SRSA	DHA	UNDAC support modules
1997	Zaire	Civil Strife	DFID, SRSA	UNHCR	Service package
1997	Guinea	Civil Strife	DEMA, SRSA	UNDAC	UNDAC Support
1999	Albania	Population Movement	DEMA, DFID	UNHCR	Airfield Handling
1999	Albania	Population Movement	DEMA, DFID	UNHCR	Convoys/Watsan
1999	Turkey	Earthquake	DFID	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
1999	Turkey	Earthquake	DFID,SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
1999	East Timor	Civil Strife	DFID, DEMA	OCHA	Base Camp
2000	Eritrea	Civil Strife	DCPEP	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2001	Guinea		DCPEP, SRSA	UNHCR
2001	India	Earthquake	SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2002	DRC	Volcano	SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2002	Afghanistan	Civil Strife	DFID, DEMA	UNOCHA	2 Basic Support Modules
2003	Iraq	Civil Strife	DEMA, DFID, Finn Rescue. SRSA	UNOHCI, HIC, JLC, WFP, UNMAS	3 Basic Support Modules 1 Base Camp Module
2003	Iran	Earthquake	DCPEP, DEMA, DFID, FRF, SRSA	OCHA	2 ITC modules
2003	Algeria	Earthquake	DCPEP, SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2004	Sudan	Civil Strife	DCPEP, DEMA, DFID, FRF, SRSA	OCHA UNICEF	3 Basic support Modules
2004	Micronesia	Hurricane	FRF, SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2004	Dominican Republic	Floods	SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2004	Haiti	Floods	SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2004	Haiti	Tropical Storm	DCPEP	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2004	Dominican Republic	Tropical Storm	SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2004	Grenada and Cayman Islands	Hurricanes	DEMA, FRF	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2004	Jamaica	Hurricane	SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2005	Sri Lanka	Tsunami	FRF, SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2005	Sudan	Civil Strife	DCPEP, DEMA, DFID, FREF, NMFA, SRSA
2005	Thailand	Tsunami	DCPEP	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2005	Indonesia	Tsunami	DCPEP, DFID, DEMA, SRSA, ERB	OCHA, WFP	1 Support Module 12 Vehicles 1 Forklift
2005	Indonesia	Earthquake	DEMA, SRSA	OCHA WFP	UNDAC Support Module 2 Base camps
2005	Pakistan	Earthquake	DCPEP, DEMA, ERB, FRF, SRSA	Inter-Agency ( WFP)	2 UNDAC Support Modules 5 Base camps 1 HIC Module
2005	Guatemala	Mudslides	DCPEP	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2005	Nicaragua	Tropical Store	SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module 2 staff
2006	Indonesia	Earthquake	DCPEP, SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2006	Lebanon	Conflict	DCPEP, SRSA	WFP	Trucks
2006	Ethiopia	Floods	SRSA,	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module
2007	Pakistan	Floods	DCPEP, DEMA		UNDAC Support Module
2007	Jamaica	Hurricane	SRSA	OCHA	UNDAC Support Module

 

 Capabilities

 

The IHP support modules are pre-established based on agreed technical standards and interoperability. The modules are all deployed with experienced technical, who all have gone through a joint support staff training course. The modules can be combined and/or tailor-made for specific requests.   

 

IHP standardized support modules table

 

Type	Staff	Name	Equipment
‘‘one-man’’	One support staff module	Support module	3 laptops, scanner, printer, camera, GPS, satellite phone. Optional equipment 5 VHF handsets, base station and repeater
Basic Modules	All basic modules are deployed with two support staff members	Subsistence	Tents for 9 people, office tent, generator, cooker and heater, water purification kit, food for 10 days
		Office	3 laptops, 1 server, scanner, printer, fax, LCD projector, tables, chairs, generator
		Telecommunication	HF base station and repeater, 8 VHF handset, base station and repeater, generator
		Transport	2 vehicles equipped with HF, VHF, MOSS compliant if required (9 blankets and safety film on windows)
Augmented Modules		Humanitarian Information Centre	Infrastructure for information management specialists including 10 desktop and laptop computers, network, printers and plotters, internet connectivity and office space
		Base camp	Self-sustaining accommodation, catering and office space for a specified number of staff (normally 30-60 persons)
		Transport	IHP members stock a number of vehicles according to UN standards (MOSS if required), which can be combined to transport packages according to request from clients

 

 

The member Organizations

 

The IHP members Organizations are governmental entities, involved in civil protection and/or international humanitarian assistance. DEMA, ERB, FRF, DCPEP and SRSA are civil protection agencies reporting to the Ministry of Interior, Justice or Defense.

DFID and N-MFA report to the Department of International Development Assistance and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs respectively.

 

 

Country/Organization	Description
Denmark Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA)	The Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) is a governmental agency under the Ministry of the Defense. The principal task of DEMA is to manage the National Rescue Preparedness Corps, to supervise the national and municipal rescue preparedness and to advise the authorities on matters of preparedness. The IHP focal point is the Director of the Operational Department. International deployments are managed by the International Section.
Estonia Estonian Rescue Board (ERB)	The Estonian Rescue Board (ERB) is an autonomous governmental institution within the Ministry of Internal Affairs. ERB is responsible for in-land fire and rescue services in Estonia. In general, operational services are organized at county level and ERB has administrative duties, but there are also some operational units directly under the Rescue Board's control. The IHP focal point for ERB is the Head of the International Relations Office.
Finland Finnish Rescue Force (FRF)	Finland's international rescue force (Finn Rescue Force - FRF) is an emergency roster composed of crew from the fire departments of the country’s largest municipalities and is located within the Ministry of Interior. The Helsinki Fire Department is in charge of the operational aspects of FRF. The IHP focal point is a Ministerial Advisor within the International Department of the MOI.
Norway Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DCPEP)	The Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DCPEP) reports to the Ministry of Justice and the Police. Its activities are organized around twenty civil defense districts, five civil defense camps, five schools and five regional inspectorates for inspection and control of electrical safety. The IHP focal point is the Director of Civil Defense.
Sweden Swedish Rescue Services Agency (SRSA)	The Swedish Rescue Services Agency is the central supervisory government authority for the rescue services in Sweden. SRSA has a large international department, headed by the Director for Humanitarian Operations, who is also the IHP focal point.
The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs	The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the IHP member Organization for The Netherlands. IHP is managed by the Division for Humanitarian Aid. The IHP focal point is an Emergency Aid Specialist.
United Kingdom Department for International Development	The Department for International Development (DFID) is the IHP member Organization for the United Kingdom. The IHP focal point is the Deputy Director of the Operations Team in the Conflict, Humanitarian and Security (CHASE) Department.

  

Chairman

 

In 2000 it was agreed to introduce a system of an appointed IHP chairmanship. The function rotates among the members on an annual basis. These functions include:

• To be the official representative of IHP at meetings, trainings etc;
• To convene and chair the bi-annual IHP meetings;
• To act as the main link between the members and the Secretariat;
• To act as the point of contact for requesting Organizations and to organize the mobilization procedure whenever a request for support is received;
• To act as the last alternative in case other members are unable to respond to a request.

 

                   

IHP camp arriving in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan

Secretariat

 

Since October 2003, the Field Coordination Support Section within the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has functioned as the Secretariat for IHP. The secretarial functions include meeting management; organization of IHP related training events and notification of the IHP members regarding requests for deployments and lessons learned from IHP missions.

 

Training and Exercises

  

The IHP members are organizing a number of joint training events for the Support Staff; formulate specific training modules for IHP camp managers and to the Exercise TRIPLEX, which is the only civilian-run multilateral humanitarian response field exercise. The Triplex Exercise has received active involvement of OCHA, WFP, UNICEF, OPCW and IFRC as well as the IHP partners. The TRIPLEX is usually hosted by IHP members and was first held in 1997. It has been held on a biennial basis since 1998. The next Exercise TRIPLEX is scheduled to take place in 2008.

 

 

 

1 April 2009