When war and disaster leave large numbers of children, women and men without food or shelter, our Emergency Response Team springs into action to provide desperately needed relief. Would you like to stand with them?

When people have fled their homes, and are destitute, hungry and may be injured, they need help rapidly. Our Emergency Response Team is on stand-by round the clock to respond to any major refugee crisis, anywhere in the world. Within hours planes are loaded with vital supplies, and highly trained UN Refugee Agency staff jump aboard with expertise that can save countless lives. We are often first on thescene – as we were for the Tsunami and Pakistan earthquake – but it takes a lot of preparation to be this ready for when disaster strikes...

It’s vital to be prepared

Emergency Response Team members have to hit the ground running, often in extremely stressful and chaotic situations. That is why, when they volunteer to go on standby for the Team, they have to undergo nine days of intensive training in practical skills such as security, telecommunications, 4WD driving and first aid.

They learn to cope with extreme stress and fatigue in a day-long emergency simulation. This involves seven ‘incidents’ in nearby woods, designed to test every aspect of what they’ve learned. Dozens of volunteers take part, including 50 children who act as refugee children in one incident. The army, federal police and many volunteers from an emergency relief organisation are all involved, creating an extremely realistic atmosphere.

The training takes place in Europe three times a year, with each course taking around 40 people from all over the world. By the time they’ve completed the course they are physically and mentally prepared to face some of the toughest and most challenging situations in the world. They don’t know when the call will come, but when it does, often with just a few hours’ notice, they are ready to drop everything and be deployed for up to three months.

Leaping to action in Darfur

After fighting erupted in the Darfur region in Sudan, over 200,000 people fled across the border into the remote desert regions of Chad, where water was scarce and their makeshift huts were prey to cross-border attacks. Only immediate help was going to prevent a catastrophe.

Within hours our Emergency Response Team was on the ground, setting up refugee camps at a safe distance from the borders. Emergency airlifts flew in thousands of tonnes of tents, blankets, plastic sheeting, soap and other essential items. In spite of an acute shortage of water and the punishing terrain, our team helped to establish 12 camps, saving thousands of lives and giving people protection from terror and from hunger.

How it all began

Our first Emergency Response Team went out in 1991 in the wake of the Gulf War, after thousands of Kurdish refugees streamed through the snowy mountain passes of Northern Iraq, with little or no help. Now there is an early warning system to monitor refugee hotspots that are likely to turn into a crisis. That way our team is ready and waiting, as well as being there to respond to emergencies no one can predict.

You care about what happens to refugees. And what happens to them depends greatly on the courageous men and women in our Emergency Response Team. Would you like to stand alongside these UN Refugee Agency staff, to make sure they have the training, equipment and supplies they need on the frontline?

We need you to join our team

Your monthly gift could provide this practical support:

$15 a month could pay for lifesaving full medical check-ups for 54 refugee children in urgent need of healthcare.

$20 a month could provide 48 large blankets to keep people warm at night in harsh and difficult conditions.

$30 a month could buy 18 refugee families a complete kitchen set, containing everything they need to prepare meals.

$50 a month could help us provide all-season tents to shelter 7 families of 5 from the elements.

We are increasing our current Emergency Response Team roster from 50 to 100 trained-and-ready staff. Our emergency resources stockpile must also be doubled so that we are ready to provide immediate help for up to 500,000 people who have lost everything.

What you’ll receive as a member

When you become part of the Emergency Response Team we will send you:

• A membership card to show your commitment to helping refugees.

• Email updates with the latest news and inside briefings on the lifesaving work our teams are doing in emergency hotspots

• Exclusive online access to information including Emergency Response Team member profiles, photo galleries, videos and online journals from the field.

TOP: © UNHCR / N. Ng