INSARAG Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting 2023

The INSARAG Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting was held on 26-27 September 2023 in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was hosted by Fire and Emergency New Zealand, with support from New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The INSARAG focal points from the Asia-Pacific regional group and network members participated from 17 countries both in-person and by online; Australia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Thailand, Tonga, USA and Vanuatu with the total of 65 participants. This meeting welcomed new INSARAG network members from the Pacific; Tonga, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, and Vanuatu, and was an excellent opportunity for those countries to present, discuss, and share their thoughts of INSARAG in the Pacific context. All the participants actively engaged in the discussion to reflect lesson learned from the recent Earthquake response to enhance future earthquake disaster management in the Asia-Pacific region. The group also discussed how to implement International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (ISG) outcomes in the region as well as developing regional priorities and into regional work plan 2024. The meeting ended with the remarks by outcoming regional chair: South Korea and the regional chair 2024: Pakistan.  

Meeting materials can be downloaded here https://www.insarag.org/regional-groups/asia-pacific/asia-pacific-meetings/handouts-2/  

INSARAG IEC/R Leadership Course 2023 – The Netherlands

The INSARAG IEC/R Leadership course was held in Vooburg, the Netherlands, from 5 to 8 June 2023, hosted by the USAR NL. Team. This was the fourth course, followed by 2020 in Oman, 2014 in Abu Dhabi, and 2012 in Winchester, UK. The purpose of the course is to share an extensive knowledge of IEC/R for those who intend to take roles of leadership positions, including Team Leader and Deputy Team Leader of Classifiers, Mentors, and the INSARAG Secretariat.
The course was facilitated by INSARAG Training Working Group members with experts, and together, 19 participants attended the course from all over the world.
The four-day course focused on the Roles and Responsibilities of each leadership position, Negotiation Skills, Design of Exercise, Checklist and POE, Exercise Site Analysis, and so on by exchanging knowledge and experience of participants and facilitators.


Thank you very much to the participants, the facilitators, and especially to the USAR.NL for hosting the course.

IRNAP Course for TSG/TRG Experts

The first IRNAP course for Technical Support Group (TSG) and Technical Recognition Group (TRG) experts was held from 12 to 15 April and hosted 19 participating experts from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, 5 facilitators from Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, observers from Brazil and BHA/USAID and is supported by the INSARAG Secretariat. This was organized by INSARAG’s Americas Regional Group and sponsored by the Secretariat of Risk Management of Ecuador, and carried out at the Training and Specialization Center of Ambato’s Fire Department. This course is the product of several years of hard work and revision and is expected to be replicated in other regions to strengthen their TSG/TRG rosters.

National USAR Coordination Course-Panama

An USAR National Coordination Course was held in Panama from 6 to 10 March. This course aims to strengthen the National USAR system in terms of coordination between the National Civil Protection System and the National USAR response groups. A total of 33 participants from the National Civil Protection System (SINAPROC), the Panamanian Red Cross, the Panamanian Fire Brigade, the Social Security Fund and the National Border Service (SENAFRONT) attended the course.