Background of IHP

In 1995, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) and the Swedish Rescue Services Agency (SRSA) founded the International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) to provide multi-national collaborative support to humanitarian operations of the United Nations. They were joined in 1998 by the Norwegian Department for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DCPEP) and the Finn Rescue Force (FRF) of the Finnish Ministry of the Interior.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (N-MFA) joined in 2002, and the Estonian Rescue Board (ERB) joined in 2006. The IHP Secretariat and permanent focal point is provided by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Geneva.

It is a platform for international cooperation and burden sharing; providing appropriate operational, technical and financial support to multi-lateral organisations (primarily the UN, but potentially the EU and IFRC) engaged in humanitarian operations around the world. Support is provided in both complex (conflict-related) and natural-disaster emergency situations, and comes in the form of predefined support modules and service packages.

Ever since its foundation, the IHP has been a successful demonstration of voluntary multi-national cooperation between like-minded governmental bodies active in the field of humanitarian assistance. Its informal structure with no binding agreements or commitments and an annually rotating chairmanship has made it to a brand name for timely, effective and appropriate humanitarian response.