SCDF has deployed two of its officers to assist in the Pakistan flood relief efforts. The two officers left Singapore on Friday

6 Aug 2010 at 1250hrs and are expected to arrive in Pakistan on Saturday 7 Aug 2010 at 0250 hrs.

2. The two officers are deployed under the auspices of United Nations Office for the Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs or UNOCHA. One of the officers will be deployed as part of the United Nations Disaster

Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team and will assist in the conduct of assessment on the affected

population, casualties' status, affected buildings, shelter, medical, food, transport and sanitary condition. The

other officer will be deployed under the Asia-Pacific Humanitarian Partnership (APHP) Singapore is the first

country to operationalise the APHP. This is a communications support module that provides UNDAC teams with

a communications link to the United Nations Reception Centre. In addition, the communications support is to

facilitate the need for specified equipment for operations and to establish On-Site Operation Coordination

Centre (OSOCC). team to support the UNDAC efforts in providing communications and IT coverage for OSOCC

to be set up at the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) compound.

3. SCDF, as a member of the international civil defence fraternity, has actively taken part in various overseas

humanitarian missions/exercises and meetings conducted under the UNOCHA. SCDF has 10 UNDAC and 11 APHP

trained members on 24/7 stand-by for deployment to overseas disaster sites within hours to carry out rapid

assessment of priority needs, and support the United Nations Resident Coordinator to coordinate international

relief on-site. Also as a member of the UNDAC"s Advisory Board, SCDF has contributed in formulating standard

operating procedures and guidelines for urban search and rescue.

UNDAC - The primary aim of UNDAC is to facilitate the international response to emergencies through immediate

establishment of coordination mechanisms for international relief operations at the site of a disaster. The UNDAC

team will also carry out an assessment of the situation and the resulting humanitarian needs and assist in putting

in place an information management mechanism to ensure information flow between the affected area, the

capital of the affected country and to the international organisations involved.

APHP - Singapore is the first country to operationalise the APHP. This is a communications support module that

provides UNDAC teams with a communications link to the United Nations Reception Centre. In addition, the

communications support is to facilitate the need for specified equipment for operations and to establish On-Site

Operation Coordination Centre (OSOCC).