Dag Hammarskjöld Library at Uppsala University
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - OCHA
- © United Nations
The humanitarian assistance of the United Nations is a complex interaction of UN programmes and agencies, non-governmental organizations, the governments concerned and the affected population.
The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) serves as the coordinating body of international humanitarian assistance in complex emergencies and natural disasters.
OCHA is headed by an Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, holding the chair of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC).The Committee is an inter-agency forum with representatives of key UN agencies and other appropriate actors developing humanitarian policies and allocating division of responsibility.
OCHA monitors humanitarian developments throughout the world and has developed an effective early warning system on emergencies.
Documentation
Background information and news and full text documents and reports can be accessed through the OCHA official web site at the UN official web site, section Humanitarian Affairs.
Yearbook of the United Nations, Part Three: Economic and social questions, Chapter III: Humanitarian and special economic assistance provides an overview of the United Nations humanitarian action. A complete collection of yearbooks is held by the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, Uppsala, and the Libraries at UN Headquarters in New York and Geneva.
Databases and Indexes
OCHA administers the database ReliefWeb, the world’s leading on-line gateway to information on humanitarian emergencies and disasters. ReliefWeb contains over 150.000 documents and maps, news and reports from 1981 onwards.
It is updated around the clock and maintains three offices in three different time zones (New York, Geneva, and Kobe).
The database can be accessed through the UN official web site, section Humanitarian Affairs, ReliefWeb.
Early Warning is a special section of ReliefWeb serving as a gateway to early warning web sites.
IRIN - Integrated Regional Information Network - is part of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. It provides news and analysis about sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia for the humanitarian community. It can be accessed through ReliefWeb, section IRIN.
The UN Library online catalogue UNBISnet contains reports, documents and articles related to UN activities with links to full texts for recent years. Subject search can be performed using relevant terms from the UNBIS THESAURUS.
Printed Indexes