INSARAG Global Meetings (IGM)
The INSARAG Global Meeting is held every 5 years. This global event is a unique opportunity designed to bring all member countries together from across all INSARAG regions.
IGM 2021
On 6 October 2021 Poland virtually hosted the 3rd INSARAG Global Meeting. The network of policy and technical experts discussed and deliberated on new ways of delivering value-added life-saving assistance, aiming to be fit for the future.
The event provided an opportunity for USAR teams from all over the world to share their expertise and to learn from best practices across the regions striving for a global approach. During the 3rd IGM, the Warsaw Declaration was approved and launched. The theme of the meeting was “Strengthen Quality, Predictability, Speed and Flexibility in Support of National and Local Capacities.”
In 2021, INSARAG is celebrating 30 years of life-saving assistance. The Global Meeting offered a unique opportunity to celebrate the anniversary and launch a series of products to commemorate INSARAG’s birthday, all of them are available here:
- This is INSARAG: 30 Years of Preparedness and Response – Anniversary Edition
- The Exposure Story: 30 Years of Urban Search and Rescue
- This is Insarag and The Exposure Story Launch video at the 3rd IGM
IGM Portal is now available at this link. It is a dedicated website designed as a ‘one-stop shop’ for all of the information related to the 3rd IGM.
Statistics of IGM 2021
- 1-month remote event
- 778 participants in the 5 network meetings
- 1 Global Meeting – Over 350 participants from 150 Member States and organizations
- Endorsement of the Warsaw Declaration
- Launch of the INSARAG Exposure Story
- Launch of This is INSARAG
- 3 Regional Meetings
- Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting – 105 participants
- Africa-Europe-Middle East Regional Meeting – 100 participants
- Americas Regional Meeting – 83 participants
- 1 Technical Working Group and Team Leaders Meeting – 140 participants
- 1 Virtual Exhibition Area
- 26 virtual exhibition stands established
- 5 live sessions
- 1 Canvas Sheet
- 85 photos
- 55 quotes
- 4 videos
- 6 Technical Discussion Forums
Endorsed IGM Warsaw Declaration
- Version in English
- Version in Spanish
- Warsaw Declaration Endorsement Video
Key Documents and Video Recordings
- IGM 2021: Event Programme | Meeting Recording | Chairman Summary | List of Participants
- INSARAG Strategic Plan 2021 to 2026
- AP Regional Meeting: Chairman Summary
- AEME Regional Meeting: Meeting Recording
- Technical Meeting of Working Groups and Team Leaders: Meeting Recording | Chairman Summary
- INSARAG & UNDAC Americas Regional Meeting: Content Not Available
IGM 2015
Message from: Jesper Holmer Lund
Secretary of INSARAG
and Chief FCSS, OCHA Geneva
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
The international and national urban search and rescue (USAR) community gathered for the second INSARAG global meeting and 25th anniversary of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), from 18 to 19 October 2015, back-to-back with the three Working Groups Meetings, USAR Team Leaders Meeting and three Regional Groups Meetings on 20 October – the largest INSARAG gathering in history !
313 participants from 94 countries and organisations and more than 200 participants from the Abu Dhabi Police attended the meeting, leading to the ‘INSARAG Abu Dhabi declaration’, INSARAG’s input to the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016.
As the UN Secretary-General said in his message on this occasion, ” As INSARAG celebrates 25 years, you should all be proud of the success this community has achieved…The ability of the network to span continents and cultures is a testament to the commitment of its members and a model of best practice for the humanitarian community”
In the past week, I have received nothing but positive comments. As such, there is no doubt that we fully met our objectives for the series of INSARAG meetings. This astounding success surpassed all expectations, and I thank each and every one of you who contributed time, effort and commitment to making the week of INSARAG meetings in Abu Dhabi a historic and memorable event. Allow me to salute and thank again, all of you who made it possible.
By coming together, we have shown the humanitarian community that INSARAG remains a highly relevant network and can be called upon to deliver value added life-saving assistance based on agreed standards and will continue to improve our response to be “Fit for the Future”.
Finally, we are very grateful to the UAE, the Ministry of Interior of the UAE, for hosting this event, UN and international/regional organizations and other entities that contributed.
Please find the session presentations in the links below for the Team Leaders and Global Meetings.
Best regards,
Jesper
Key Documents and Video Recordings
- IGM 2015: Chairman Summary | Presentations
- Abu Dhabi Declaration: English | French | Spanish | Chinese | Arabic
- Team Leaders Meeting
IGM 2010
The first-ever INSARAG Global Meeting was hosted by the Government of Japan and co-organized by the United Nations OCHA as the INSARAG Secretariat in Kobe, Japan from 14-16 September 2010 to commence celebrations of INSARAG’s forthcoming 20th anniversary. The meeting had a comprehensive agenda and was attended by 188 international participants from 77 countries and organizations along with over 37 observers from Japan. 20 organisations also exhibited their capabilities.
Greetings from the Secretary-General together with a video message from Ms Valerie Amos, Under-Secretary General for OCHA were warmly welcomed by the participants. The Secretary-General said INSARAG had “come a long way” since it was founded in 1991, and he welcomed its efforts to promote greater professionalism and coordination. “There is great scope for sharing lessons learnt and using modern technology to provide even more effective support to affected communities and governments.”
An important outcome of the INSARAG Global Meeting was the creation of the INSARAG Hyogo Declaration (English, French) with recommendations on “recognition and strengthening of international urban search and rescue operational standards” which was unanimously agreed upon by all participating countries. The giant copy of the declaration signed by all the meeting participants was handed over to the Governor of Hyogo, to be displayed at the Earthquake Museum in Kobe, Japan.
Key Documents and Video Recordings
- IGM 2010 Chairman Summary: English | Arabic | French
- Photos: Hyogo Declarations