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United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

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United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
AbbreviationOCHA
Formation19 December 1991;32 years ago(1991-12-19)
TypeSecretariat office
Legal statusActive
HeadquartersNew York, United States
Geneva, Switzerland
Head
Thomas Fletcher
(Under-Secretary-General)
Websitewww.unocha.org
iconPolitics portal

TheUnited Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA) is aUnited Nations(UN) body established in December 1991 by theGeneral Assemblyto strengthen the international response to complex emergencies andnatural disasters.[1]It is the successor to theOffice of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator(UNDRO).

TheDepartment of Humanitarian Affairs(DHA) was established shortly thereafter by the Secretary-General, but in 1998, was merged into OCHA, which became the UN's main focal point on major disasters.[2]OCHA's mandate was subsequently broadened to include coordinatinghumanitarian response,policy developmentandhumanitarianadvocacy.Its activities include organizing and monitoring humanitarian funding, advocacy, policymaking, and information exchange to facilitate rapid-response teams for emergency relief.[3]

OCHA is led by theUnder-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator(USG/ERC), appointed for a five-year term. Since October 2024, the role has been filled byThomas Fletcherof the United Kingdom.[4]

OCHA organized the 2016World Humanitarian SummitinIstanbul,Turkey.It is a sitting observer in theUnited Nations Development Group.[5]

Staff and country offices

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OCHA is headed by theUnder-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator,since October 2024 byThomas Fletcher.[4]The headquarters is based in two locations (New York and Geneva) in addition to 6 regional offices, 34 country offices, and 20 humanitarian adviser teams.[6]

Staff

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As of June 2016, OCHA has 2,300 staff spread across the world in over 60 countries.[7]

Country offices

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Major OCHA country offices are located in allcontinents,among others inAfghanistan,Bangladesh,Central African Republic,Chad,Colombia,Democratic Republic of Congo,Ethiopia,Ivory Coast,Nigeria,Palestinian territories,Sri Lanka,Sudan,South Sudan, Somalia,Syria,Yemen, andZimbabwe,while regional offices are located inPanama City,Dakar,Cairo,Johannesburg,Bangkok,andKuala Lumpur.[8]OCHA also has some liaison and support staff in New York andGeneva.

In the aftermath of the2020 Beirut explosions,Najat Rochdi was the co-ordinator for OCHA's efforts inLebanon.[9]

Services

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OCHA has built up a range of services in the execution of its mandate. Some of the larger ones are:

  • IRIN,Integrated Regional Information Networks, a humanitarian news and analysis service[10](1995–2014) Since 1 January 2015, IRIN now operated as an independent news service,The New Humanitarian,and is no longer affiliated with OCHA.[11]
  • INSARAG,International Search and Rescue Advisory Group
  • ReliefWeb,a leading source of time-critical humanitarian information on global crises and disasters. ReliefWeb is a 24/7 service that provides the latest reports, maps, infographics, and videos from trusted sources, as well as jobs and training programs for humanitarians.[12](1996)
  • Central Emergency Response Fund,a humanitarian fund established by the UN General Assembly to 1) promote early action and response to reduce loss of life; 2) enhance response to time-critical requirements; and 3) strengthen core elements of humanitarian response in underfunded crises (2006)
  • Humanitarian Reformseeks to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian response by ensuring greaterpredictability,accountabilityandpartnership.
  • Who does What WhereDatabase and Contact Management Directory: To ensure that appropriate and timely humanitarian response is delivered during a disaster or emergency, information must be managed efficiently. The key information that is important to assess and ensure that humanitarian needs are met in any emergency/disaster are, to know which organizations (Who) are carrying out what activities (What) in which locations (Where) which is also universally referred to as the 3W (Who does What Where). The integrated Contact Management Directory, complements the 3W database, making it easy for the user to navigate through the application.(2006)[13]
  • Common and Fundamental Operational Datasets (CODs)are criticaldatasetsthat are used to support the work of humanitarian actors across multiple sectors. They are considered a de facto standard for the humanitarian community and should represent the best-available datasets for each theme. The Fundamental Operational Datasets (FODs) are datasets that are relevant to a humanitarian operation, but are more specific to a particular sector or otherwise do not fit into one of the seven COD themes.[14]The main source of curated CODs is accessible via theHumanitarian Data Exchange,[15]though CODs may also be found on various governmental and independent websites.
  • Since 2004, OCHA has partnered with theCenter for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistanceto facilitate OCHA's Civil Military Coordination (UN-CMCoord) course in the Asia-Pacific Region. The UN-CMCoord Course is designed to address the need for coordination between international civilian humanitarian actors, especially UN humanitarian agencies, and international military forces in an international humanitarian emergency. This established UN training plays a critical role in building capacity to facilitate effective coordination in the field by bringing together approximately 30 practitioners from the spectrum of actors sharing operational space during a humanitarian crisis and training them on UN coordination mechanisms and internationally recognized guidelines for civil-military coordination.[16]
  • Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs occupied Palestinian territory (OCHAoPt). OCHA's Country Office in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), was established in 2002 to support international efforts to respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the oPt.[17]
  • Since 2015, the annual production of theGlobal Humanitarian Overviewreports.[18]
  • Since 2015, OCHA acts as the secretariat for theHumanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks.[19]

Key achievements 2023

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In 2023, for example, the organization successfully coordinated significant humanitarian efforts, in Ukraine for example, receiving almost $3.7 billion in support. The Central Emergency Response Fund distributed $735 million to aid 33 million people across 42 countries, including rapid responses in Ukraine and to global food insecurity. Record donations to the Country-Based Pooled Funds have enabled support for over 47 million people worldwide.[20]

Humanitarian innovation in organizations

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The OCHA encourages humanitarianinnovationwithin organizations. For organizations, it is a way of identifying and solving problems while changing business models to adapt to new opportunities. In OCHA's occasional policy paper Humanitarian Innovation: The State of the Art, they list the reasons why organizations are moving toward providing their own kind of humanitarian service through innovation:

  • Shifting business models based on public demand: There is a growing amount of humanitarian emergencies and the old model of response does not fit the modern problem.
  • Increased contributions from the private sector: Private organizations are driven by their obligation toCorporate Social Responsibilityand now associate their contributions to their brand.
  • Developing partnerships within organizations: Partnerships lead to new ideas and solutions to problems.
  • Trend toward developing innovative technologies: Technology allows people to respond to emergencies quickly.

They also list potential challenges associated with these changes:

  • Humanitarian innovation requires a different market structure: It is assumed that there is no incentive for private organizations to participate in humanitarian innovation.
  • Inequalities in power can stimulate conflict: There is no general principle for ethics in innovation. If humanitarian innovation is carried out incorrectly, there can be consequences to communities, individuals, or the system at large.
  • Monetary and political risk if humanitarian efforts fail: This risk can cause delayed responses to humanitarian issues, so organizations tend to look to the past rather than plan for the future.[21]

International dialing code

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The OCHA was assigned its owninternational calling code+888. Telephone numbers in the +888 "country code" were assigned to agencies providing humanitarian relief. The +888 code was implemented byVoxbone.[22]However, the assignment of the +888 code has been withdrawn.[23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^United Nations General AssemblySession 46Resolution182.Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance of the United NationsA/RES/46/18219 December 1991.
  2. ^"Who We Are".OCHA.27 September 2016.Retrieved17 December2019.
  3. ^"OUR WORK".OCHA.29 September 2016.Retrieved17 December2019.
  4. ^abNichols, Michelle (9 October 2024)."UN names former British diplomat Tom Fletcher to lead aid efforts".Reuters.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^UNDG Members.Undg.org. accessed on 20 November 2011.
  6. ^"OCHA Annual Report 2019"(PDF).ReliefWeb.11 June 2020. p. 4.Retrieved14 July2020.
  7. ^"OCHA Annual Report 2015".ReliefWeb.21 June 2016. p. 14.Retrieved4 January2017.
  8. ^"Where We Work - All Countries".OCHA. Archived fromthe originalon 26 April 2015.Retrieved21 April2015.
  9. ^Lederer, Edith M. (14 August 2020)."UN launches $565-million appeal for Beirut explosion victims".The Globe and Mail Inc. Associated Press.Retrieved2 April2024.
  10. ^Redesigning ReliefWeb.Reliefweb.int (1 September 2007). accessed on 20 November 2011.
  11. ^about-usIRIN News. Accessed 10 June 2016.[dead link]
  12. ^"About Us".ReliefWeb.21 March 2011.Retrieved4 January2017.
  13. ^""Who does What Where" Database ".Archived fromthe originalon 22 November 2007.
  14. ^"Welcome - Humanitarian Data Exchange".data.humdata.org.Retrieved2 April2024.
  15. ^"Humanitarian Data Exchange".data.humdata.org.Retrieved6 May2019.
  16. ^"Center for Excellence".COE.Retrieved2 November2009.
  17. ^"About OCHA oPt"Archived9 April 2014 at theWayback Machine.accessed 11 November 2013
  18. ^Salomons, Dirk. "Charity or Charade? The tragedy of humanitarianism."Journal of International Affairs70, no. 2 (2017): 39-57.
  19. ^"Humanitarian Networks and Partnerships Weeks (HNPW) x GISF 2021".Global Interagency Security Forum.Retrieved23 January2022.
  20. ^"OCHA Annual Report".Retrieved11 April2024.
  21. ^"Humanitarian Innovation: The State of the Art".accessed 9 November 2014
  22. ^"Voxbone Press Release".Voxbone. Archived fromthe originalon 12 November 2011.Retrieved5 July2011.
  23. ^"National Numbering Plans".International Telecommunications Union.Retrieved16 May2022.
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