Written answers
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
Department of Foreign Affairs
Rapid Response Corps
10:00 am
Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 63: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the current deployment of the Rapid Response Corps; the nature and expected duration of each deployment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27561/10]
Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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The Government's Rapid Response Corps is a roster of skilled and experienced volunteers who make themselves available to deploy at short notice to work in humanitarian emergency situations.
The Corps comprises 155 individuals with specialised skills in logistics, engineering, public health, humanitarian coordination and protection. Most will have worked extensively overseas in humanitarian and/or development settings.
Individual members of the Corps are deployed at the request of the UN and other humanitarian organisations in need of their specific skills. Those agencies and organisations have the requisite knowledge and experience to determine where gaps exist and how best to use the skills of the Corp members.
Since 2007, there have been 82 deployments of the Corps to more than 20 countries. Currently there are 13 members of the Corps on deployment, working for four different organisations in eight different countries. In addition, another five members of the Corps will be deployed in the coming weeks to Haiti (2), Niger, the Philippines and Sudan. Details on the current deployments are set out below.
Current Deployments
Country | Agency | Start Date | End Date |
Chad | UNHCR | 27-Apr | 26-Oct |
DRC | OCHA | 12-Apr | 31-Jul |
Ethiopia | Concern | 24-Jun | 16-Aug |
Haiti | Concern | 05-May | 06-Aug |
Haiti | OCHA | 01-Apr | 30-Jul |
Haiti | OCHA | 20-Feb | 19-Aug |
Haiti | WFP | 28-Jun | 02-Sep |
Haiti | WFP | 19-Jun | 18-Dec |
Iraq | UNHCR | 14-Mar | 10-Sep |
Kenya | UNHCR | 11-Mar | 10-Sep |
Kyrgyzstan | UNHCR | 02-Jun | 01-Aug |
Somalia | Concern | 24-May | 24-Nov |
Somalia | UNHCR | 04-May | 03-Nov |
Deployments Pending
Country | Agency | Start Date | End Date |
Haiti | Concern | 12-Jul | 10-Sep |
Philippines | OCHA | 17-Jul | 21-Aug |
Haiti | Concern | 22-Jul | 21-Oct |
Niger | Irish Red Cross | 01-Aug | 30-Sep |
Sudan | WFP | 09-Aug | 08-Jan 2011 |
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