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OCHATHE ARCHITECT OF UNDAC AND INSARAGDAC members have been deployed on 194UNDAC missions in over a hundred countries.Interview with Mr. Arjun KatochChief of the Field Coordinationand Support Section in OCHAGeneva.SALLY GRIFFITHS, OCHACan you briefly say what FCSS does?The Field Coordination Support Sectionsits in the Emergency Services Branch inOCHA, Geneva. Our core function is tosupport Governments and UN countryteams affected by a sudden onset emergencye.g. a major earthquake, tsunami,floods, technological disaster, etc. To thisend, we manage a number of different toolsand services, most notably the UN DisasterAssessment & Coordination system (UN-DAC) which trains national disaster managersfrom all over the world in the UNDACmethodology and deploys them to disastersites to assist with coordination of the internationalresponse; the International Search& Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) networkwhich brings together over 90% of theworld’s urban search and rescue providersto set standards in collapsed structurerescue including operational coordinationthrough the UNDAC system; and finally ournetwork of partners from Member States,UN specialized technical agencies, technicalNGOs and the private sector which providetechnical support to UNDAC teams indisaster response.Since UNDAC’s inception in 1993, 998 UN-Who else is involved in UNDAC –who are your partners?In addition to the Member States who aremembers of the INSARAG and UNDAC networks,we work with regional organizationssuch as the EU, ASEAN and ECOWAS, consortiaof countries from the International HumanitarianPartnership and Asia Pacific HumanitarianPartnership for technical supportmodules and personnel, UN humanitarianagencies and technical programmes such asUNOSAT (satellite mapping), technical NGOssuch as Telecoms sans Frontières (emergencytelecoms and connectivity), MapAction (specializedmapping services) and private sectorpartners Ericsson (telecoms), Microsoft(software), DHL (emergency airport logistics)and others. We work together in missions,training and simulation exercises – it is a verywide network of responders indeed.After 11 years at the helm of FCSS,you have been called the architect ofUNDAC. What does it take to becomean UNDAC member and how longdoes it take to deploy a team to adisaster site? How effective is thisassistance?UNDAC members are not only experienceddisaster managers – they also need to beBonnes Fêtes de Fin d’annéeet nos meilleures Vœux pour 2010Coupe brushing 69.–Coupe messieurs 45.–En partenariat avecKERASTASE PARISCENTRE COMMERCIAL COOP84, rue de MontbrillantTél. 022 734 84 14GenèveHotel - Conference & Event center154 design bedrooms9 meeting rooms1 Event Center1 coffee lounge1 restaurant900 parking lotsRamada Encore GenèveLa Praille /10-12 route des JeunesCH-1227 CAROUGETél. : +41 (0) 22 309 50 00info@encoregeneve.chwww.ramadaencoregeneve.chSimply better…JANINE ET FRANCINEDE FOUNÈSOpticiennes visagistesNo charge second pairThe best qualityfor the best price5, rue de Berne(angle rue du Mont-Blanc)Tél. 022 732 73 12 1201 Genèvewww.defounes-optique.ch31 – UN Special – Décembre 2009