I am pleased to present you with OCHA in 2000, the second such publication produced by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). It provides a consolidated view of OCHA’s extrabudgetary needs, both at headquarters and in the field. OCHA in 2000 also highlights some of the challenges and accomplishments of 1999, with the aim of learning lessons and identifying our priorities for the coming year.

Last year was an extremely difficult one for OCHA’s clients and for the humanitarian community as a whole. Some of the most intractable conflicts, such as those in Afghanistan, Angola, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, deteriorated further. In other parts of the world, such as South Eastern Europe and East Timor, new emergencies erupted. Meanwhile, the Northern Caucasus reminded us of the fragility of situations that are not thoroughly resolved through political settlement. Within the context of all of these conflicts, we face multiple challenges to our core humanitarian principles and our methods of working. Perhaps no issue is more pressing than how to ensure the protection of civilians in armed conflict, as well as the security of aid workers who are mandated to assist victims of war.

In addition to complex emergencies, in 1999 OCHA coordinated the response to 52 natural disasters worldwide, which included the coordination of military and civil defence assets whenever these were utilized. As part of its overall response, OCHA mobilized more than US$ 100 million for disasters such as the floods in China and the Sudan, devastating earthquakes in Turkey, Afghanistan and the Chinese province of Taiwan, and the cyclone in Orissa, India which alone killed more than 9,500 people and affected some 12.6 million others. The year ended with the tragedy of the uncounted victims of the Venezuelan floods, Latin America’s worst disaster of the century.

With all of its challenges, 1999 also provided opportunities for innovation. OCHA, together with its partners, worked to develop stronger advocacy tools and field coordination capacity for confronting contemporary emergencies. For instance, in Sierra Leone the Humanitarian Coordinator helped to negotiate greater humanitarian access as an integral part of the Lomé Peace Agreement. In the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Office developed novel approaches to advocacy, through ongoing assessment of the energy crisis and its humanitarian implications. In another development, OCHA deployed United Nations Disaster and Coordination teams immediately after the onset of the Kosovo and East Timor crises. This was the first time in recent years that such teams had been deployed to a complex emergency and is an example of increased integration of the Office’s disaster response and complex emergency branches and maximised use of common services. Furthermore, the Office, with the support of key partners within and outside the United Nations system, prepared the Secretary-General’s report on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. It also made significant inroads in developing policy and practical field guidelines on internal displacement.

Attention was also focused on the "forgotten" people, those in countries such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Somalia and Tajikistan, who suffer daily, but are often not seen in the media. OCHA, on numerous occasions, has engaged the Security Council on the need to address "forgotten" emergencies. More recently, the Secretary-General highlighted their plight at the global launch of the United Nations Consolidated Inter-agency Appeals for the year 2000, calling on donors to contribute US$ 2.3 billion to assist the victims of complex emergencies around the world.

In the year 2000, OCHA will build on the achievements of 1999 to improve its field coordination capacity and to strengthen its advocacy role. As the International Decade on Natural Disaster Reduction concludes, ECOSOC has decided that an Inter-Agency Secretariat for Disaster Reduction will be established in January 2000 to follow up on the Decade’s important work. In 2000, OCHA will forge closer synergy between disaster reduction, mitigation and response activities. We shall also continue to strengthen our internal management and improve the working conditions of our field staff.

I wish to thank all of our partners for their support and collaboration throughout this extraordinary year. I hope that we can continue to count on your support and that OCHA in 2000 will contribute to further strengthening our mutual knowledge and trust.

Sergio Vieira de Mello
Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

INTRODUCTION

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was established in 1998 pursuant to the Secretary-General's Programme for Reform and assumed the responsibilities of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA). OCHA’s functions focus on three core areas:

• Coordination of humanitarian emergency response to complex emergencies and disasters, by ensuring that appropriate response mechanisms are established on the ground, notably through consultations of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and the Executive Committee on Humanitarian Affairs (ECHA);

• Advocacy of humanitarian issues with political organs, notably the Security Council, the Department of Political Affairs (DPA), the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Governments and the general public;

• Policy development in support of the Secretary-General and the IASC, to ensure that humanitarian issues, including those which fall between the mandates of other agencies, such as protection and assistance for internally displaced persons (IDPs), are addressed.

For 2000, OCHA has set a series of priority objectives that will be addressed by all OCHA programmes, based on their various areas of responsibility. These are: strengthening the field coordination system; reinforcing inter-organizational and intersectoral cooperation and analysis related to disasters; improving OCHA’s advocacy capacity; developing closer links with the Member States; strengthening security arrangements for staff in the field; and promoting better working conditions and rotation of staff.

OCHA has 137 core staff at Headquarters, of which 39 per cent are funded through the United Nations regular budget; the rest hold extra-budgetary posts.

Projects in the field are subject to variable staffing arrangements depending on the evolution of emergencies. However in 2000, 111 international staff (also including four regional disaster response advisors - RDRAs) will form the core group of OCHA personnel in the field, together with 269 national officers and general service staff.

During 1999, five donors (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States) made available over US$ 4 million unearmarked for field coordination units in complex emergencies. These funds, which gave OCHA considerable flexibility in managing its field operations and recruiting staff, have been allocated according to the following criteria:

• Establishment of units in new emergencies;

• Expansion of units due to worsening situations;

• Support to severely underfunded units.

As a result, a special sub-account has been set up, which OCHA hopes will attract the interest of more donors in the year 2000.

Statistics concerning staffing for other OCHA activities are as follows:

• Projects at Headquarters (policy, advocacy and information): 6 professionals;

• Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN): 16 professionals, 33 general service staff;

• ReliefWeb (in addition to four staff of the Information Management Service Branch-IMSB): 5 professionals, 3 general service staff;

• Projects of the Disaster Response Branch (DRB) in Geneva: 15 professionals, 8 general service staff;

• Secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR): 9 professionals, 5 general service staff;

• UNOCHA liaison and administrative office in Geneva: 1 professional, 2 general service staff;

• Pisa warehouse: 2 professionals, 7 general service staff.

OCHA professionals at headquarters, including associate experts and staff on special service agreements, come from 40 countries, one quarter of which are developing countries. Women represent 42.6 per cent of the total number of professionals. Efforts are being made, both at headquarters and in the field, to further improve the gender and geographic balance in staffing.

Total funding needs for 2000 OCHA activities, presented in detail on the following pages, amount to US$ 52.9 million. As financial statements are not available at the time of printing, the above figures represent gross requirements. In February/March 2000, OCHA will be able to provide data on available resources in its monthly financial updates, which are now regularly issued by the Office and circulated to donors.

The format of this document closely resembles that of last year; but a few changes have been made to this edition in an effort to simplify the presentation of data and better respond to information needs. Readers will notice that expected requirements for 2001 are also included for all programmes. Although these are estimates, they may be useful in clarifying the duration of various activities and ensuring their continuity through adequate funding.

OCHA 2000 IN FIGURES

ISDR Secretariat **

4,974,800

* Including IRIN and ReliefWeb
** ISDR works on the basis of a two-year programme. The indicated annual amounts each represent one half of the overall biennial requirements. The requirements for the ISDR Secretariat are not included in the total for OCHA.

Note: The full text of this document is available on-line in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format and may also be downloaded in zipped WordPerfect format.

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Extra printed copies of this appeal are available by writing to:

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Complex Emergency Response Branch (CERB)
Palais des Nations
8-14, ave de la Paix
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland

Tel.: (41 22) 917 1234
Fax: (41 22) 917 0023
E-Mail: ochagva@un.org

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