OCHA in 2002

Foreword

When I joined the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in 2001, the first year of the new millennium, the international community was struggling to address the increase in frequency and severity of both complex emergencies and natural disasters around the world, most notably in Kosovo, East Timor and the Horn of Africa.

Our efforts were later in the year compounded by the tragedy of 11 September and the subsequent events, which had profound implications for the world.

One of the most immediate and obvious consequences was the deterioration of the situation in Afghanistan, resulting in the need to deliver humanitarian relief to more than six million Afghans under difficult and dangerous conditions. Now, we must continue to strive to ensure a smooth interface and transition from relief to rehabilitation and reconstruction. This we must do in full partnership with political, military, development and human rights actors if we are to succeed in creating the conditions for sustainable peace and development. In doing so, however, we must also safeguard the impartiality of humanitarian assistance, which will continue to be delivered to all vulnerable people, no matter what the circumstances.

Our challenges, of course, are not confined to Afghanistan. Africa continues to suffer from a large protracted crisis belt spanning across the continent from Sudan in the Northeast, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Great Lakes in the centre, and Angola in the Southwest. Of particular concern are the large numbers of internally displaced and the slow progress in reintegrating them into stable societies. Of equal concern is the continued or renewed violence, especially in recent weeks, in the Middle East, the Northern Caucasus and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), which threatens to further destabilize neighbouring countries and regions.

Meanwhile, natural disasters have continued to increase in frequency and severity, resulting in dramatically increased death tolls. In this area in particular, OCHA has sought to strengthen its response. Together with my management team, I have committed to placing greater emphasis on strengthening OCHA’s natural disaster response. We will do this in 2002 by mainstreaming natural disaster response throughout each of OCHA’s core functions, increasing training and strengthening cooperation with UNDP, the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and relevant relief organizations, in our activities ranging from prevention and mitigation to response. OCHA will also begin implementing the recommendations of a review of United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) and, in consultation with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, undertake a review of its Military and Civil Defence Unit.

You will also note from this publication that in January 2002 the inter-agency Internal Displacement Unit within OCHA was in place. I am looking forward to further reporting in 2002 on our efforts to address the troubling and critical elements of our humanitarian response to the crisis of internal displacement around the world.

These efforts, as well as our broader response to crises in 2001, provide OCHA with the opportunity to examine how its internal review process, which we began implementing in 2001, has translated into improvements in the discharge of its core functions in response to complex emergencies and natural disasters. Our response to the Afghanistan crisis will, in particular, put to the test our attempts to strengthen surge capacity; provide better support to the field, specifically in the areas of finance and administration; and to better integrate policy and advocacy support into our crisis response. OCHA will undertake as soon as possible an internal lessons learned exercise to identify areas in need of further improvements as it continues to move ahead with the implementation of its change process.

This publication, which presents a consolidated view of OCHA’s extra-budgetary needs at headquarters and in the field, further elaborates on our work in 2001, with the aim of ensuring that we continue to strengthen our capacity and skills to meet the new challenges of 2002.

I should like to thank all of our partners for their support and collaboration throughout this extraordinary year. I look forward to further strengthening these partnerships in 2002 and trust that I shall enjoy your full support.

Kenzo Oshima
Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator

OCHA in 2002
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