INSARAG, a global network of more than 80 countries and disaster response organizations, deals with urban search and rescue related issues and aims to establish standards for international coordination in earthquake response.
The three-day INSARAG exercise will take place in Kathmandu beginning April 22. Kathmandu is considered one of the most at-risk for earthquakes cities in the world.
INSARAG was established in 1991, following initiatives by international search and rescue teams that responded to the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. The Field Coordination Support Section (FCSS) in the Emergency Services Branch (ESB) of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva functions as the INSARAG Secretariat.
Officials at the Home Ministry said that the primary purpose of the exercise would be to test Nepal’s capability to respond to earthquakes and to improve the coordination among local, international and regional search and rescue organizations.
Among others, personnel from the Nepal Army, the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force, workers from the Red Cross and members of various non-government organizations working on earthquake risk management will participate in the simulation exercise. The Asia Pacific regional event will focus on improving search and rescue operations in quake-struck urban areas.
Under Secretary Thir Bahadur GC, chief of the Disaster Management Department at the Home Ministry, said that the simulation event will help enhance the country’s disaster responders’ ability to carry out search and rescue activities during major earthquakes and other disasters and increase awareness among people.
The Home Ministry has formed a 15-member organizing committee under the chair of Home Secretary Dr Gobinda Prasad Kusum. Some 250 people from various parts of the Asia Pacific region, including from Nepal, will attend the function.
Each year, INSARAG organizes regional Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) simulation exercises and awareness training courses to give responders opportunities to practice disaster-response coordination methods as defined in the INSARAG Guidelines. Nepal will be the first country in South Asia to hold the exercise.
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