Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations
Report of the Secretary-General
|
Summary
|
|
The present report has been prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 46/182, in which the Assembly requested the Secretary-General to report annually to the Assembly and the Economic and Social Council on the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance. The report is also submitted in response to General Assembly resolutions 63/147 and 64/76 and Economic and Social Council resolution 2009/3.
The report describes the major humanitarian trends and challenges over the past year and analyses two thematic issues of current concern: operating in high-risk environments, and vulnerability and its implications for humanitarian response. The report provides an overview of current key processes to improve humanitarian coordination and ends with recommendations for further strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations.
|
II. Overview of humanitarian trends and challenges
18. In Gaza, the Israeli blockade imposed since 2007 continued to exacerbate humanitarian needs. Food insecurity affected over 60 per cent of households. Recovery from the damage caused by Israel’s “Cast Lead” military offensive in January 2009 was severely hampered because of continued restrictions on the import of construction materials. Together with the Emergency Relief Coordinator, the Secretary-General repeatedly urged the lifting of the blockade on Gaza and the free movement of humanitarian and commercial goods, including supplies for humanitarian projects. In the West Bank, access by Palestinians to farmland and resources continued to be limited by the combination of the Wall, settlements and closures. Continued home demolitions displaced 262 Palestinians in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem. The reporting period saw 49 Palestinian fatalities and 1,106 injuries in the occupied Palestinian territories caused by Israeli military activity and settler violence. Palestinian attacks, including indiscriminate launching of rocket fire, caused 5 Israeli fatalities and 174 injuries in the West Bank and Gaza, as well as one foreign casualty in southern Israel.
/…
Predictability of response: humanitarian financing
51. To be effective in response, humanitarian financing should be timely and targeted where needs are greatest. Despite the global economic downturn in 2009, the United Nations humanitarian financing system continued to grow, and more importantly, to become increasingly effective and accountable. Pooled funds continue to be a useful tool in facilitating rapid response and immediate life-saving assistance, particularly the Central Emergency Response Fund, country-based pooled funds (common humanitarian funds and emergency response funds) and other humanitarian financing mechanisms such as the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
52. Contributions to the consolidated appeals process reached $6.9 billion in 2009, nearly double the amount raised two years earlier, yet significant discrepancies persist in the level of funding across sectors. While funding for the Central Emergency Response Fund dropped from $453 million in 2008 to $401 million in 2009, the decrease was due largely to fluctuations in global currency exchange rates. Some 22 Member States increased their contributions in their national currencies, while another 17 countries joined the ranks of Central Emergency Response Fund donors in 2009, bringing the total number of Member States that have contributed to the Fund to 117. Levels of funding for country-based pooled funds also decreased from $407 million in 2008 to $339 million in 2009. Five new country-based emergency response funds were established in the reporting period, bringing the total to 18.
53. All of these funding mechanisms continued to focus on further improving their effectiveness and accountability. For the Central Emergency Response Fund and the consolidated appeals process, accountability measures were strengthened by developing a draft performance and accountability framework and piloting reporting outcomes by clusters. Monitoring systems were further strengthened for country-based pooled funds in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq and the occupied Palestinian territories. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs also strengthened its capacity for administering these funds by establishing a dedicated administrative unit in Geneva.
/…
