Relief Co-ordination Branch

Regional Desks

Monitoring and Relief Coordination of Natural Disasters and Technological Emergencies

Mission Statement - The primary function of RCB Regional Desks is:

"To play the leading role in the coordination and management of international emergency assistance following natural disasters and - jointly with the UNEP/DHA Environmental Unit - technological emergencies, within the overall mandate of DHA."

This entails acting as RCB focal point for and principal liaison contact with all major humanitarian partners. Specifically, this lead responsibility requires the RCB regional desks to: 1. plan, coordinate and manage the relief effort prior to the onset of a disaster; 2. support and coordinate international emergency assistance throughout the emergency phase; and 3. facilitate the institutional hand-over, within the UN system, of the transition to the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase.

Pre-Disaster Activities

• Establish and maintain close working relationships and/or cooperate, as appropriate, with: 1. the Logistics Desk, the joint UNEP/DHA Environmental Unit, FCSU and MCDU, within RCB; 2. other divisions, branches and units of DHA; and 3. the regional/country desks of: UN Field Offices and Agencies, Permanent Missions, Ministries of Foreign Affairs/International Aid Departments, National Emergency Centres, and relevant inter-governmental and non- governmental organizations.
• Travel to provide briefings on RCB, develop arrangements for overall coordination of international emergency assistance and promote disaster response facilitation measures.
• Sponsor and participate in regional/national disaster relief conferences, training and exercises.
• Establish and maintain chains of coordination with regional/national networks.
• Foster common understanding of relief coordination policy, within DHA's overall mandate.
• Organise and supervise the collection and updating of basic data and information on hazards and disasters, regional and national governmental and non-governmental organisational warning and emergency response structures and infrastructures.
• Monitor disaster related information sources (internal and external) for early warning purposes.

• Serve as RCB focal point for and principal liaison contact with: UN Field Offices and Agencies, Permanent Missions, Ministries of Foreign Affairs/International Aid Departments, National Emergency Centres, and relevant inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations (including information exchange, coordination of planning/donors' meetings and relief requirements).
• Initiation, tasking and management of RCB coordination of international emergency assistance, and, if necessary, establish an operations team. This entails the production and dissemination of sitreps, fundraising and the monitoring of DHA's effort.
• Provide support to the UN Resident Coordinators and UN-DMTs. As appropriate, Regional Desks propose the despatch of UNDAC teams and, when possible, participate.
• Other responsibilities are:
  • request the support services of FCSU and MCDU.
  • request the support of IMERB for public information.
  • manage contributions (DHA's cash grants, Nippon Foundation, national emergency funds, other cash or in-kind contributions channelled through DHA).
  • request relief shipments from the DHA's Warehouse in Pisa, arranged as appropriate.

Post Emergency Phase

• Finalize reporting and evaluation, including dissemination of lessons learned.
• Facilitate the institutional hand-over for transition activities with DRD and UN field offices.
• Propose adjustments of existing tools and procedures.