International Affairs Division

Mission

NATO

Opportunities for International Governments

IAS CONOPS

FEMA’s International Affairs Division identifies and manages the agency’s international partnerships and supports the U.S. government's homeland security priorities.

FEMA works closely with NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) to enhance resilience and manage civil emergencies.

Our attaché to the U.S. Mission to NATO represents the U.S. in NATO’s resilience and civil emergency committees.

Additionally, the Associate Administrator of FEMA’s Office of Policy, Programs, and Analysis (OPPA) serves as the U.S. Resilience Policy Director, overseeing our collaborative efforts.

FEMA interacts with foreign governments through multiple mechanisms.

Welcoming International Visitors to FEMA

FEMA hosts international visitors at our headquarters, regional offices, and other facilities such as the Emergency Management Institute and the Center for Domestic Preparedness.

International delegations requesting to a visit to a FEMA facility should include their specific areas of interest when contacting us. All international visit requests should be emailed to FEMA-international@fema.dhs.gov at least seven-weeks prior to the proposed visit.

FEMA’s Consular Roundtable Program connects the foreign consular community with essential information about disaster assistance available to foreign residents and visitors in the United States.

The program highlights the consular community’s vital role during a U.S. domestic emergency. Foreign embassies and consulates are key resources and information nodes for temporary residents and foreign visitors impacted by disasters in the U.S.

The International Assistance System Concept of Operations (IAS CONOPS) is built to provide smooth and timely integration of international offers of assistance into domestic incident response capabilities.

This system was designed for the U.S. government to adjudicate and receive international offers of assistance as well as provide guidance for U.S. response entities using international resources during catastrophic domestic incidents.

The IAS CONOPS policies also include how other United States federal agencies may be a part of this process. For example, U.S. Customs and Boarder Patrol play a key role in inspecting donations entering the United States.