MSB taking over the IHP chair until July 2022

Published: 2021-01-22

Happy New Year and my best wishes for 2021! First of all, I wish to thank Mati and the Estonian Rescue Board for their leadership during the last one and a half year. Despite the massive challenges mainly caused by Covid-19, including changed priorities and various restrictions, IHP activities are moving forward.

While continuing an ambitious and forward-looking leadership of the IHP, I will combine that with a portion of realism, humbleness and patience.  We need to focus on a few areas where we want to move forward, and as with everything else in life – patiently take one step after another.

MSB will focus on three priorities during our IHP chairmanship:

1. Operations and services
   Operations and servicesResponding to requested needs and to carry out operations is the essence of IHP and the basis for our very existence. The top priority for the Swedish IHP Chair is to ensure readiness to respond to major emergencies and humanitarian crises, for example through enhancing preparedness procecures, strong results orientation in the field and expand IHP's capacity to respond to complex and high-risk situations.
   
   
2. Improved partnerships
   Climate changes and a new security paradigm are two major dimensions of the changing operational environment. We also see day-to-day changes in terms of evolving approaches to meet humanitarian needs, we witness an almost unbelievable speed of technical developments, and we meet new actors that enter the emergency response arena, changing the context in which we operate.
   
   To remain relevant, IHP needs to stay tuned in and to adapt in accordance with these changes. Therefore, one of the most important priorities of IHP is to stay tuned and in close dialogue with our UN partners as well as with the EU. The IHP is one of the partners that can come up with the solutions to overcome the challenges and to meet the changing needs.
   
   
3. Improved preparedness and readiness through our membership cooperation
   The foundation of the IHP is that we are a hand-full of “like-minded” actors and countries. The combined capacity of IHP is a unique source for strong resource mobilization. We need to continue to build trust and understanding between each other. In that way we can continue to bring the best out of our combined capacity and strengths.

We will continue to be facing challenging conditions this year, but I am more prone to lean towards the positive than the negative. Let us take note of what works rather than getting stuck in the obstacles. I believe that IHP can take some necessary steps forward in continuing to improve and develop our partnership and our role as an operational response actor. We will continue to be facing challenging conditions this year, but I am more prone to lean towards the positive than the negative. Let us take note of what works rather than getting stuck in the obstacles. I believe that IHP can take some necessary steps forward in continuing to improve and develop our partnership and our role as an operational response actor.

I look forward to further collaborate with all members and partners to enhance the capacity of IHP.

With best regards,

Britta Ramberg (IHP Chair, MSB)