The Planning Committee has agreed to postpone the Triplex exercise 2010 (arranged to be held in Denmark in October 2010) to April 2011.

More specifically, Triplex 2010 will take place from 8 April to 15 April 2011 at the Staff College of the Danish Emergency Management Agency at Snekkersten.

Triplex 2010 will be an inject-driven table top exercise. On 8 April 2011 the exercise will begin with an inject sent by e-mail to all participating countries and organisations. Between 8 April and 12 April the exercise will be frozen in order for the participants to travel to Snekkersten, and from 12 April to 15 April the exercise will be conducted at the Staff College in Snekkersten.

More information about Triplex 2010 will be available at www.ihp.nu soon.

Every fourth year Triplex is organised as a full-scale exercise. Following a pre-exercise workshop where participants meet, have the possibility to present their organisation and receive training in different areas of humanitarian response; Triplex is conducted over 3 days as a full-scale exercise where the response to a sudden-onset natural disaster is being simulated. This includes e.g. the deployment of and UNDAC and other bilateral response teams to the affected area, the set up of a base camp facilities and the full provision of IHP support services.

From 2010 it’s decided that Triplex every fourth year – in a cycles’ with the traditional full-scale exercise - will be a table-top like exercise with relevant technical workshops and an additional conference on current topics. The goal is to train the management relations within the IHP and between the focal points and UN Agencies as well as corporation between member states.

Triplex 2010 will focus on Management level and the decision-making processes during the alert, mobilisation and deployment phases. The exercise – conference, management workshop and technical workshops – will take place in Denmark during 4 – 8 October.

For the 2010 exercise the scenario will be a natural disaster e.g. an earthquake in a heavily populated area suffering the devastating humanitarian crisis we have seen on Haiti, in Pakistan and elsewhere.

The Triplex Conference will be organised together with the University of Copenhagen, Master of Disaster Management Program, with speakers from IHP-countries and other international organisations and universities. The conference will be open for up to 300 participants. A small meeting fee for non-Triplex participants will apply to prevent to many no-shows at the conference.

The theme for the conference is: Disaster management in Complex Emergencies with two main topics – first Global humanitarian politics and secondly Future challenges in Complex Emergencies.

In connection to the conference there will be a small Exhibition granting IHP-member organisations and partners the possibility to promote themselves and there services. The Exhibition will be open all day.

Plans for the next Triplex exercise were discussed at a meeting in Copenhagen in the beginning of June. During a break the majority of participants gathered for a photo session. Back row from left to right: Peter Westerbeck, Netherlands, Jesper Lund, OCHA, Peter Kaas-Claesson, Denmark, Hannes Keller, Estonia and Shaun Edgerley, UK. Front row from left to right: Thorbjörn Nesjan, Denmark, Pekka Tiainen, Finland, Lars Johansson, Sweden, Vegar Skilheim, Norway and Hans Bouun, Denmark.

Sally Hoffer from Netherlands was the only female delegate in the Triplex meeting in Copenhagen. Here pictured together with two Danes, Peter Kaas-Claesson (left) and Thorbjörn Nesjan.

The base camp which is being built under the direction of IHP in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, has a capacity for 230 people from different UN organizations. The camp is located within a large enclosed area called Camp Charlie, a little more than five kilometres from the airport.

There will be room for offices, accommodation, cafeteria, water and sanitation facilities within the camp. Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland have each contributed base camp equipment that can accommodate 60 UN staff. Estonia contributes with special equipment.

“The IHP-staff from different countries is working together in an impressive way. Everybody here is talking about the IHP-spirit. This is team work at its best”, Henni Boudijema, the IHP camp manager said on Friday.

Boudijema estimates that it will take at least a week to complete the camp.

WFP has sent a request for another base camp that can accommodate an additional 100 people due to the high demand for accommodation. Sweden will contribute with equipment for 40 more people. The division between the other IHP member countries had not yet been determined as of Friday afternoon (January 22nd). This equipment will be sent on a cargo flight the middle of next week.

Several UN organizations have requested accommodation space in the base camp. Due to the high demand, not everyone will be guaranteed a place despite the establishment of the camp for over 300 people. Prioritization based on necessity will be carried out by WFP.

Photos from the base camp

Click on an image to make it bigger

Photo: Beredskabstyrelsen, denmark

Photo: Per Larsson, 24/7, MSB

Photo: Per Larsson, 24/7, MSB

Haiti will be one of the the largest operations in IHP’s 15 year history. The partnership has received a request from WFP for an extended base camp with the capacity to support 200 UN staff.

In addition to a place to work and sleep, the camp must also provide meals and access to water and sanitation facilities. The need for a large base camp in Haiti’s capital city of Port Au Prince is great, considering that many of the previous UN offices have been destroyed by the earthquake.

Four of the IHP’s seven member countries will actively contribute to the establishment of the base camp, which will be flown into Haiti as soon as possible during the weekend (16 – 17th of January). Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway will each contribute a base camp module that has the capacity to house about 60 people. Estonia will contribute will special equipment.

“No single country has the capacity to provide a base camp for 200 people, but thanks to the cooperation within IHP, WFP’s needs can be met. This intervention is a clear example of how the international partnership fills an important function,” the current chairman of the IHP from Sweden, Kjell Larsson, said.