We are pleased to announce the creation of the

Technical Rapid Response Team (TRRT)

During humanitarian crises, the response capacity of governments, UN agencies, and international and localNGOs may be compromised as they struggle to find adequate technical and human resources to meet urgent technical needs.

In order to respond to these inter-agency challenges, International Medical Corps (IMC) and consortium partners Action Against Hunger (ACF-USA) and Save the Children UK (SCUK), with funding from USAID-OFDA, will provide partners with emergency response technical expertise and human resource support through its Technical Rapid Response Team.

The TRRTproject aims to improve overall emergency nutrition response by deploying technical surge advisors in major and complex humanitarian crisis and by providing remote support and building the capacity of stakeholders involved in humanitarian responses. This initiative is also closely coordinate with the Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) in Genevaand the UNICEF Nutrition section in New York.

The Technical Rapid Response Team consists of four experienced professionals with high capacity technical skills and expertise in Assessment, Infant and Young Children Feeding in Emergencies (IYCF-E), in Community Based Management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) and in Social Behavior Change (SBC). The SBC role is a new one and aims at bringing innovative ways on how emergency response can provide more holistic and inclusive solutions, as well as closing the gap between humanitarian, early recovery and development.

Duration of TRRT deployment

The Technical Rapid Response Team can provide dedicated surge technical capacity to any country/agency facing a humanitarian crisis and are deployable within 72 hours (depending on visa procedures). They can be deployed for a maximum of 4 weeks. Note this is not a gap filling resource and should be used for the benefits of the collective humanitarian community.

TRRT roles and criteria for deployment

The TRRTcan deployed for:

  • Level 3 or Level 2 categorization where cluster or sector coordination mechanisms are in place;
  • Humanitarian crisis including rapid onset emergency such as natural disaster, civil unrest/war or slow onset emergency such as drought, political/economical crisis and global challenges (climate change, food prices, irregular migration).
  • Countries with limited technical capacity in nutrition in emergencies.

The Steering group of the consortium will review requests and make a decision within 72 hours.

How much does it cost?

All assignment related costs, such as travel, staff costs, per diem and accommodation are covered by the grant. Additional costs related to the intervention such as costs for conducting an assessment are jointly shared between the partner agencies and the requesting agency in country. A budget will be established while drafting the Term of Reference (ToR).

Who and how to request a TRRT member?

There are 2 ways to request a TRRT member:

  • The Nutrition Cluster Country or existing sector coordination group in country make a request on behalf of the collective. If UNICEF is the cluster-lead agency in the country, Request form 1 should be completed and signed by UNICEF in country and sent to the relevant individuals as indicated in the request form 1.
  • When cluster or sector group are not activated, any technical partner on the ground, which has identified a technical gap can request support on behalf of the collective. In this case, Request form 2 should be completed and sent to the relevant individuals as indicated in the request form 2.

For more information regarding the Technical Rapid Response Team, contact the following persons:

-Geraldine Le Cuziat, TRRT Program Manager at

-Caroline Abla, IMC, Director, Nutrition, Food Security, and Livelihoods at

-Maureen Gallagher, Action Against Hunger Senior Health and Nutrition Advisor at

-Megan Gayford, Save the Children Senior Nutrition Advisor at