Effective emergency preparedness and response has been a major priority of UNHCR
throughout the decade. In 1991, during my first field mission as High Commissioner,
I witnessed the sudden and dramatic exodus of hundreds of thousands of Kurdish
refugees from their homes in Iraq to Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Since
then, the Office has responded to a long list of massive outflows.
These crises have caused widespread human suffering and put great demands on our
Office, prompting us to develop an effective and speedy response mechanism. We
have established a revolving internal roster that ensures the deployment of UNHCR
staff within 72 hours. Standby arrangements with external agencies for rapid deployment
of their staff have also been created. We have devised and implemented
staff training, as well as specific management tools to maintain our readiness to
respond quickly and effectively to emergency situations. To address humanitarian
needs urgently, a centralized stockpile of goods has been assembled, which includes
governmental packages of humanitarian assistance.
