United Nations General Assembly Resolution 57/150, adopted on 16 December 2002, titled “Strengthening the Effectiveness and Coordination of International Urban Search and Rescue Assistance”, was developed through the efforts of INSARAG. This resolution serves as a cornerstone for INSARAG’s work, endorsing the INSARAG Guidelines and Methodology while emphasizing key principles central to its mission.

A pivotal aspect of the resolution is its reaffirmation that each state holds the primary responsibility to care for victims of natural disasters within its borders. It asserts the affected state’s primacy in the initiation, organization, coordination, and implementation of humanitarian assistance. International Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) is intended to supplement, rather than replace, the affected country’s existing capacity, including local rescuers. The resolution also underscores the importance of timely coordination of resources to maximize efficiency during disaster response.

For incidents exceeding the capacity of a single country, the resolution emphasizes the need for technically proficient international assistance, particularly in USAR operations following earthquakes and other structural collapse events.

The resolution is available in multiple languages, including ArabicEnglishFrenchRussian, and Spanish.

 

Sponsor Countries

The following countries sponsored United Nations General Assembly Resolution 57/150 of 2002:

Afghanistan, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Lesotho, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America.