Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System

The aim of GDACS is to provide the international disaster response community with a platform to ensure that disaster alerts and information relevant to the international disaster response is exchanged interactively in a structured and predictable manner among all concerned.
GDACS will be activated in major natural, technological and environmental disasters, which overwhelm the affected country’s response capacity and require international assistance.
GDACS will be active from the moment a major disaster is forecasted or has occurred until the end of the relief phase. The relief phase terminates when there is no further requirement for information exchange by responding organisations to coordinate their activities and the focus of international assistance shifts to rehabilitation and reconstructions. The duration of the relief phase can vary in disasters but is usually between three to four weeks. Early warning and rehabilitation/reconstruction will currently not be covered by GDACS.

• Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (587)