Inter-Agency and National Contingency Planning processes have become a necessity in most countries due to the multi-dimensional nature of humanitarian emergencies. However, experience has demonstrated that too often these plans are rarely or only partially utilized by actors in their initial response efforts at the onset of crisis. As a result, regional partners in West Africa and HQ level consulted and agreed that:

- Simulation exercises at country level were essential as they could offer practical experience needed to understand the value of such planning process.
- A simulation exercise would offer a joint framework for practicing the direct application of reforms within humanitarian field – more so, the functionality of emergency coordination leaderships and Partnerships.

While past simulations have focused on IASC Contingency Plans; recent trends indicate that some governments are now showing interest and have begun to make requests for technical support in order to test the functionality of their own National Contingency Plan. Ghana is just one of the few countries that have made such request. Following several weeks of consultations and planning, it was agreed that a team of facilitators from HQ and Regional level would support the Government of Ghana to conduct a flood simulation exercise based on their National Contingency Plan. The simulation exercise was held on 4 May followed by a debriefing workshop on 5 May 2011.

Objectives

The methodologies developed and applied during the simulation and the debriefing workshop followed exisiting ones based on the four pillars of the Humanitarian Reform:
1) Adequate, timely and flexible financing;
2) Adequate capacity and predictability in all key sectors;
3) Effective leadership and coordination in humanitarian emergencies;
4) Strong partnerships between Government, UN and non-UN actors.

Prior to the mission, the Facilitation Team held several discussions with the Country Team in Ghana to develop the simulation exercise package. A flooding scenario was agreed upon, and the Facilitation Team worked closely with a small core-team composed of CT members, and NADMO prepared all the necessary simulation documents, including instructions for the facilitators, instructions for the participants, guidance for the NADMO National Coordinator and the RC, approximately 80 e-mail inject messages to be sent to participants during the exercise, additional injects to be provided by telephone calls and at face-to-face meetings, and the list of key external (HQ/RO) participants to involve in the exercise.

Methodology

The objectives of the National Emergency Simulation (NES) exercise in Ghana were as follows:
1. Reinforce partnership among Government and humanitarian agencies and strengthen their capacity to respond to emergencies;
2. Familiarize participants with roles and responsibilities of ministries, organizations and agencies, with a focus on immediate actions to be taken in the initial hours of an emergency;
3. Enable participants to apply the national disaster management policies and tools as well as inter-agency guidance tools to manage an emergency response;
4. Test the efficiency of the preparedness measures of the various participating Government and humanitarian agencies (e.g. - National Contingency Plan and Inter- Agency Contingency Plan)
5. Enable participants to understand the importance of leadership and effective management in emergency response
6. Identify sectoral strengths and weaknesses (gaps) to enhance preparedness measures in Ghana