Role of international NGOs during NZ national emergencies

Our thoughts are with the many communities impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle and the flooding over the last fortnight. With the New Zealand Government declaring a National State of Emergency (only the 3^rd time in the country’s history), we appreciated that many of our members will also be involved in domestic response and welfare support.

We would like to share the below resources with you to reference as needed: 

• The Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) 3^rd Edition describes New Zealand’s coordination, command, and control system for emergency responses in NZ.  
• The Guide to the National CDEM Plan 2015 – including revisions is a living document that operationalises the National CDEM Plan 2015 (2^nd  tier legislation that supports the CDEM Act 2002). It is a useful general document to dip in and out of, but I’d particularly refer you to: 
• § Section 14. Welfare services – for understanding of the MCDEM welfare services portfolio, and the arrangements that a number of NZ-based NGOs and a few INGOs have roles and responsibilities within.
• § Section 31. International assistance – CID and the Humanitarian Network are mentioned under s31.7.2 (in relation to c146(f)(v) under the National CDEM Plan Order 2015).
• The Welfare Services in an Emergency Director’s Guideline (DGL) provides further information on the welfare services arrangements and sub-functions.  

There is also a NCMC International Function SOP which has been going through quite a long review process, which CID is currently trying to source a working draft of.