B-FAST (Belgian First Aid and Support Team, sometimes styled B-Fast) is the rapid intervention structure of the Belgian government.
It provides emergency aid during disasters abroad, at the request of the foreign government, providing an armed conflict is absent and when the foreign country is no longer capable itself to organise an adequate aid.[ citation needed ]
It was founded by the Belgian government after the 1999 İzmit earthquake. [1] [2] B-Fast is composed of doctors, nurses, firefighters, members of the Belgian Civil Protection, dog handlers, mountaineering teams, military personnel and logistic helpers.
Emergency services and rescue services are organizations that ensure public safety, security, and health by addressing and resolving different emergencies. Some of these agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies, while others deal with ad hoc emergencies as part of their normal responsibilities. Many of these agencies engage in community awareness and prevention programs to help the public avoid, detect, and report emergencies effectively. Emergency services are often considered first responders, and typically have dedicated emergency vehicles.
The Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) elite tactical unit. The HRT was formed to provide a full-time federal law enforcement tactical capability to respond to major terrorist incidents throughout the United States. Today, the HRT performs a number of tactical law enforcement and national security functions in high-risk environments and conditions and has deployed overseas, including with military Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) units. In an article to mark its 40th anniversary, it was reported that since its formation in 1983 the HRT had deployed more than 900 times.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) is a global humanitarian aid, relief, and development nongovernmental organization. Founded in 1933 as the International Relief Association, at the request of Albert Einstein, and changing its name in 1942 after amalgamating with the similar Emergency Rescue Committee, the IRC provides emergency aid and long-term assistance to refugees and those displaced by war, persecution, or natural disaster. The IRC is currently working in about 40 countries and 26 U.S. cities where it resettles refugees and helps them become self-sufficient. It focuses mainly on health, education, economic wellbeing, power, and safety.
Operation Dragon Rouge was a hostage rescue operation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo conducted jointly by Belgium and the United States in 1964. The operation was led by the Belgian Paracommando Regiment to rescue hostages held by Simba rebels in the city of Stanleyville.
Many countries and international organizations offered the United States relief aid in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
The international response to the 2005 Kashmir earthquake was widespread and immediate, as many countries, international organizations and non-governmental organizations offered an abundance of relief aid to the affected regions − particularly Pakistan, which was hit the hardest due to the earthquake's epicentre being around Muzaffarabad, the capital city of Pakistani-administered Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The aid given was in the form of monetary donations and pledges, as well as relief supplies including food, various medical supplies, tents and blankets. Rescue and relief workers as well as peacekeeping troops were sent from different parts of the world to the region, bringing along rescue equipment, including helicopters and rescue dogs. The earthquake displaced some 3.3 million people, while killing around 80,000–100,000.
The 2008 Sichuan earthquake, magnitude 7.9. ML, occurred at 14:28:01.42 CST on 12 May 2008, with its epicenter in Wenchuan County, Sichuan province of the People's Republic of China. The disaster galvanized the CANGOs into soliciting numerous monetary donations and other forms of aid from across the globe, which has exceeded a collective total of US$456.9 million in cash contributions from sources outside the country. Inside mainland China, by 14 May, the Ministry of Civil Affairs stated that ¥ 10.7 billion had been donated by the Chinese public alone, including ¥ 4.185 billion yuan in the first week.
David Wright Miliband is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of the International Rescue Committee and a former British Labour Party politician. He was the Foreign Secretary from 2007 to 2010 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Shields in North East England from 2001 to 2013. He and his brother, Ed, were the first siblings to sit in the Cabinet simultaneously since Lord Edward and Oliver Stanley in 1938. He was a candidate for Labour Party leadership in 2010, following the departure of Gordon Brown, but was defeated by his brother and subsequently left politics.
IsraAID is an Israel-based non-governmental organization that responds to emergencies all over the world with targeted humanitarian help. This includes disaster relief, from search and rescue to rebuilding communities and schools, to providing aid packages, medical assistance, and post-psychotrauma care. IsraAID has also been involved in emergency response and international development projects in more than 60 countries, with focuses on Water, Sanitation & Hygiene, public health and medical care, education, and mental health and protection.
The humanitarian response by national governments to the 2010 Haiti earthquake included numerous national governments from around the world pledging to send humanitarian aid to the Haitian people. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and ReliefWeb are coordinating and tracking this aid.
Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Japan received messages of condolence and offers of assistance from a range of international leaders. According to Japan's foreign ministry, 163 countries and regions, and 43 international organizations had offered assistance to Japan as of September 15, 2011. The magnitude of the earthquake was estimated at 9.1. This article is a list of charitable and humanitarian responses to the disaster from governments and non-governmental organizations. As of March 2012, donations to areas affected by the disaster totalled ¥520 billion and 930,000 people have assisted in disaster recovery efforts.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the ministry responsible for handling Qatar's external relations as well as its diplomatic efforts, including the maintenance of its diplomatic missions across the globe. The current minister is Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Upon making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the deadliest Philippine typhoons on record, killing at least 6,300 people in that country alone. In terms of JTWC-estimated 1-minute sustained winds, Haiyan is tied with Meranti in 2016 for being the second strongest landfalling tropical cyclone on record, only behind Goni of 2020. Haiyan was also the most intense tropical cyclone worldwide in 2013.
In the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, the Philippines received numerous messages of condolence and offers of assistance from a range of international leaders.
Between 13 and 18 May 2014 a low-pressure cyclone designated Tamara and Yvette affected a large area of Southeastern and Central Europe, causing floods and landslides. Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina suffered the greatest damage, as the rain was the heaviest in 120 years of recorded weather measurements. By 20 May, at least 62 people had died as a result of the flooding, and hundreds of thousands had been forced from their homes. Towns of Obrenovac in Serbia and Doboj in Bosnia and Herzegovina account for most victims, after being inundated by several-meter high waters from nearby rivers.
An earthquake struck Nepal at 11:56:54 NST on 25 April 2015 with a moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). It was the most powerful earthquake to strike Nepal since the 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake. Many thousands of people died, with most casualties reported in Nepal, and adjoining areas of India, China,Bhutan and Bangladesh.
The Civil Protection is a Belgian federal service that falls under the Directorate-General Civil Security of the Federal Public Service Interior. It operates as a specialized second-line service. It is not a first response service like the fire departments, but is only called upon when specialized assistance is needed. Its main tasks revolve around CBRN incidents, search and rescue operations and heavy technical assistance. Some Civil Protection units however also partake in the regular emergency response in their area, for example for firefighting or emergency medical assistance. The minister of the Interior can also order agents of the Civil Protection to partake in foreign missions of B-FAST, the Belgian foreign emergency relief team.
Israeli foreign aid relates to the development assistance and humanitarian aid provided by Israel to foreign countries. Israel provides assistance to developing countries to alleviate and solve economic and social problems through its international cooperation program of technical assistance, based on its own recent and ongoing experience in developing human and material resources. Israel's Agency for International Development Cooperation, established as an agency of the Israeli Foreign Ministry in 1958 and known by its Hebrew acronym, MASHAV, is the primary vehicle for providing this aid.