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Govt and partners discuss preparations to implement Incident Command System

Govt and partners discuss preparations to implement Incident Command System

Image TATOLI/Camilio de Sousa

DILI, 23 january 2025 (TATOLI) – The government of Timor-Leste, through the Civil Protection Authority (APC-Tetun), held a roundtable discussion with USAID and the IOM to prepare for the implementation of the Incident Command System (ICS) in the country.

The Incident Command System (ICS) is highly standardized, top-down, military-based management structure that supersedes the management structure of every other agency that responds to an event. This management tool is used to meet the demands of small or large emergency and nonemergency situations.

APC’s National Operation Commander, Nuno Romualdo Gomes that ICS is crucial for Timor-Leste as it helps to manage all emergency response incidents in the country.

The benefits of the system are that it establishes common processes for planning and managing resources, and that it allows for the integration of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications operating within a common organization structure.

Gomes therefore said that the implementation of the ICS in Timor-Leste is important in that it helps organize the country’s various institutions and organizations to respond to emergency situations under a single command.

Last year, 39 Timorese Incident Command System (ICS) Master Trainers, including six women and thirty-three men, graduated from a United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-supported program.

Master Trainer graduates come from various Timorese institutions including the Civil Protection Authority (CPA), the National Police, the Environmental Department, firefighters, the Ambulance Department, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM)’s Disaster Emergency Center.

Since 2014, the United States has provided US$675,000 for emergency response training to Timor-Leste “Our partnership with the United States Forest Service (USFS) aims to integrate relevant components of the U.S. National Incident Management System into the disaster management systems of partner countries,” said in a statement.

Through this regional program, USFS supports the Government of Timor-Leste to develop and enhance ICS capabilities and improve national staff capacity to respond to natural disasters through detailed training, exercises, mentorships, and simulations. through its Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).

“I hope with the presence of our graduated ICS Master Trainers in Timor-Leste, we can expand ICS knowledge to all relevant institutions, helping to provide priority responses during any kind of crisis in the future,” said U.S. Embassy Dili Acting Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Eric Sheffield.

 

 

Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor: Filomeno Martins

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