SINGAPORE : The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) has sent two officers to assist in Pakistan's flood relief efforts.
The two officers left on Friday afternoon and are expected to arrive in Pakistan on Saturday.
They are deployed under the auspices of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs or UNOCHA.
One of the officers will be deployed as part of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team and will assist in conducting assessment on the affected population, casualties' status, affected buildings, shelter, medical, food, transport and sanitary condition.
The other officer will be deployed under the Asia-Pacific Humanitarian Partnership (APHP) team to support the UNDAC efforts in providing communications and IT coverage for the On-Site Operations Coordination Centre (OSOCC) to be set up at the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) compound.
SCDF said that as a member of the international civil defence fraternity, it has actively taken part in various overseas humanitarian missions and exercises, as well as meetings conducted under the UNOCHA.
It has 10 UNDAC and 11 APHP trained members on 24/7 stand-by for deployment to overseas disaster sites within hours to carry out rapid assessment of priority needs, and support the United Nations Resident Coordinator to coordinate international relief on-site.
As a member of the UNDAC's Advisory Board, SCDF has contributed in formulating standard operating procedures and guidelines for urban search and rescue.
- CNA/al