ActionAid’s Policy on the security of communities in emergencies commits the organisation to respond to disasters that affect the communities.

International Humanitarian Action & Resilience Team (IHART) exists to provide technical and practical support to countries on emergency preparedness, response and resilience building. IHART’s main functions are:

How ActionAid responds to emergencies:

• Capacity-building:

Providing capacity-building on emergency preparedness, and supporting the development and implementation of preparedness plans.

• Policy:

Co-ordinate the policy and influencing work around response,

preparedness and resilience building.

• Coordination:

During emergencies, IHART acts as the hub for coordinating information flow between Bangladesh and the wider organisation.

• Supporting response, linking it to resilience building and longer term change processes:

In medium-large scale emergencies, IHART will deploy an International Program Manager/Coordinators from the IHART team to support country program to respond and build resilience.

• Fundraising:

During emergencies, IHART coordinates fundraising efforts across the organisation, acting as the focal point for communication between fundraising affiliates and the country program. Outside of emergencies, IHART supports country program to secure funding for disaster preparedness activities as well as strategic humanitarian policy engagements.