 In 2006, UNDP launched its Immediate Crisis Response to enhance its ability to respond quickly and effectively in the recovery phase following a conflict or natural disaster. This initiative aims to ensure that specially trained UNDP staff are redeployed within days of a crisis to help UNDP country offices foster better recovery and development opportunities for people affected by crisis. These rapid redeployments are backed by newly developed standard operating procedures that allow UNDP to marshal resources from within the organization in support of UNDP country offices facing crises.
To date, more than 100 UNDP staff members with expertise in at least one of 12 identified areas (including early recovery, coordination, operational support, resource mobilization and communications) have joined the crisis response network.
Immediate Crisis Response Advisors have been deployed in several crisis situations: to Haiti following a series of hurricanes in September 2008; to Myanmar following Cyclone Nargis in May 2008; to Cameroon in February 2008 in response to the sudden influx of Chadian refugees in the north; to Chad in February 2008 to assess the needs to rebuild the destroyed UNDP office following violence after elections; to Bangladesh in 2007 following cyclone Sidr; to Liberia in 2007 after a string of natural disasters; to the Solomon Islands in 2007 following a tsunami; and to Sudan in 2007 to support contingency planning for the potential expansion of support to Darfur should peace prevail.
The May 2008 CPR Newsletter focuses on UNDP’s immediate crisis responses. For more information on the initiative, see the chapter on immediate crisis response in the BCPR 2007 annual report.
Voices from Countries in Crisis
 Myanmar - Sanaka Samarasinha, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, discusses UNDP's early recovery efforts in Myanmar (streaming audio or download mp3)
Haiti—Marc-Andre Franche from the Regional Bureau for Latin American and the Caribbean discusses the devastating impact of the recent hurricanes on the population of Haiti (English – streaming audio or mp3; French – streaming audio or mp3)
Snapshots of Somalia
From images of hunger to Black Hawk Down, my preconceptions of Somalia stemmed from my childhood. It was a great opportunity to challenge these ideas when I visited Somalia in July. Read more...
Lessons from Bangladesh
Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to disasters such as cyclones and floods, with at least a fifth of the country submerged by heavy rains each year. Read more...
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