HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS SEGMENT
The ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment took place on 16 - 18 July 2007, and provided an important forum for discussing activities and issues related to strengthening the coordination of the humanitarian system of the United Nations.
At its organizational session for 2007, the Council had decided: (a) that the theme of the Humanitarian Affairs Segment of its substantive session of 2007 would be “Strengthening of the coordination of United Nations humanitarian assistance through enhancing the effectiveness of needs-based humanitarian assistance”; and (b) that it would convene two panel discussions, the topics of which would be: (i) “The use of military assets in natural disaster relief”; (ii) “Needs-based humanitarian financing, including the Central Emergency Response Fund” (Council decision 2007/211).
The panel discussion on "The Use of Military Assets in Natural Disaster Relief," which took place on Monday 16 July, featured representatives from governments, UN agencies, the International Red Cross/Red Crescent System and an independent policy institute, who spoke about civil-military coordination in disaster response from both military and humanitarian perspectives.
The panel on "Needs-Based Humanitarian Financing, Including the CERF," which took place on Tuesday 17 July, featured representatives from governments, UN humanitarian agencies and NGOs and explored the functions and comparative advantages of humanitarian financing mechanisms as a way to demonstrate the complementarity of their use.