Mega-crises may well become the new normal by Valerie Amos, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator 10:54am 15th Jan, 2011   Jan 2011    With climate change presaging natural mega-disasters, aid workers facing mounting attacks in conflict areas and the economic crisis crimping resources, the United Nations office coordinating the global humanitarian response announced its agenda for 2011.    “In a changing world there can be no organizational status quo,” said , who heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),.    “In 2011, OCHA will be more adaptable to the evolving nature of crises,” she said, noting that 2010 had been an unprecedented year with more than 250 natural disasters.    Established by the General Assembly in 1991 as the Department of Humanitarian Affairs to ensure a more effective and coherent response to emergencies by coordinating the actions of UN agencies and national and international organizations, OCHA has seen its caseload dramatically rise over the past 20 years, culminating in the 2010 record.    From the devastating earthquake in Haiti, which killed over 220,000 people and made 1.5 million others homeless, to unprecedented flooding in Pakistan affecting over 20 million people, from Cook Islands in the Pacific, battered by tropical storms, to post-flood coordination in Albania, OCHA was on the ground.    Ms. Amos, who serves as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, stressed the need to learn the lessons of Haiti and Pakistan where delays, logistics and other issues prevented the initial operations from moving as effectively as desired, and she warned of the mounting complexities confronting humanitarian operations in the future, noting that climate change is playing its part.    “Unpredictable and unprecedented weather patterns across Africa, Central America, and South and East Asia displaced tens of millions of people,” she said. “As the frequency and intensity of natural disasters increase, mega-crises such as the flooding across Pakistan may well become the new normal, making us think again about the speed, scale and effectiveness of our response.    “Humanitarian work has also become more dangerous. The level of threats and the number of deliberate attacks on aid organizations have risen dramatically. Reaching populations in need to deliver essential services has become more difficult,” she added, noting that 63 humanitarian workers were killed in 2010.    “And if negotiating these challenges was not enough, the humanitarian community is also dealing with increasing financial pressure. We are being urged to do more with less not only because of the global economic downturn, but also because countries that give us support must account to their populations for the way they have spent their money.”    Ms. Amos listed an ambitious list of tasks for the coming year: to coordinate responses, mobilize resources through international appeals, manage quick-response funds, act as a voice for victims, negotiate access to those in need, and provide critical information and analysis as crises unfold.    And she listed, too, the global challenges where OCHA will continue to improve its understanding: climate change, food and energy price increases, population growth and urbanization. OCHA, operates with over 350 aid agencies participating in joint planning exercises.    Jan 2011    The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Valerie Amos, has allocated some US$84 million to boost humanitarian response in 15 neglected emergencies around the world, where people are suffering the effects of hunger, malnutrition, disease, displacement and conflict.    The funds were made available from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). They will be granted to United Nations humanitarian agencies, the International Organization for Migration, and to partner organizations, and through them to non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to support humanitarian projects in the affected countries. The humanitarian teams in these countries and territories were selected to receive CERF grants based on analysis of the funding levels of their aid programmes and the severity of the humanitarian needs.    Humanitarian actors in Somalia received the largest single allocation of some $15 million. United Nations agencies in Ethiopia will receive the second-largest amount of $11 million. Agencies working in Chad will receive $8 million, while humanitarian partners in Kenya will receive $6 million to assist refugees in 2011. Programmes in the Central African Republic, Democratic People"s Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe have each been allocated some $5 million, while programmes to assist people in Burundi, Madagascar, and the occupied Palestinian territory will receive $4 million apiece. Humanitarian actors in Colombia, Djibouti, and Myanmar will each receive $3 million to bolster their emergency programmes, and the Islamic Republic of Iran will receive $3 million for Iraqi and Afghan refugees.    This is the first round of allocations from CERF"s window for underfunded emergencies in 2011. The second round will be July. In 2010, a total of $139 million was allocated to 17 underfunded emergencies. Since 2006, nearly a third of the $1.9 billion allocated from CERF has gone to chronically neglected crises in more than 50 countries.    CERF is funded by voluntary contributions from Member States, NGOs, local governments, the private sector and individual donors. This year, donors have so far pledged nearly $358 million in support of CERF. CERF commits one third of all funds each year to redress imbalances in global aid distribution by supporting neglected crises.    CERF was established in 2006 to help agencies respond rapidly to new or deteriorating humanitarian situations. Since then, more than 120 Member States have contributed to the fund, which is administered by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. CERF has disbursed nearly $2 billion to help millions of victims of natural disasters and conflict in nearly 80 countries since 2006. Visit the related web page
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