The IASC Emergency Response Preparedness Approach – At a Glance (July 2016)

Being prepared is a precondition for responding quickly and effectively to a humanitarian crisis. Recognizing this, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) has developed the Emergency Response Preparedness (ERP) approach, which was adopted for field testing in August 2015. The approach is based on a review of relief operations over the past decade and enables the humanitarian community to proactively prepare for crises requiring a coordinated international response. The aim is to increase the speed and volume of life-saving assistance delivered in the first four to six weeks of an emergency.
The ERP approach provides tools for UN Country Teams and/or Humanitarian Country Teams to:

• Understand risks and establish a system to monitor them;

• Establish a minimum level of preparedness; and

• Take additional action, including developing contingency plans, to ensure readiness to respond to identified risks.