About ReliefWeb

Who We Are

ReliefWeb is the world’s leading on-line gateway to information (documents and maps) on humanitarian emergencies and disasters. An independent vehicle of information, designed specifically to assist the international humanitarian community in effective delivery of emergency assistance, it provides timely, reliable and relevant information as events unfold, while emphasizing the coverage of "forgotten emergencies" at the same time.

ReliefWeb was launched in October 1996 and is administered by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Recognizing how critical the availability of reliable and timely information in time of humanitarian emergencies is, the UN General Assembly endorsed the creation of ReliefWeb and encouraged humanitarian information exchange through ReliefWeb by all governments, relief agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Resolution 51/194 on 10 February 1997. The General Assembly reiterated the importance of information sharing in emergencies and of taking advantage of OCHA's emergency information services such as ReliefWeb in Resolution 57/153 on 3 March 2003.

ReliefWeb has seen steady growth in usage. In 2002, ReliefWeb received 1.5 million hits per week, and in 2004, the site received approximately 1 million hits a day. Shortly after the South Asia Tsunami disaster of December 2004, it received 3 million hits a day on average.

ReliefWeb maintains three offices in three different time zones (New York, Geneva, and Kobe) to update the web site around the clock. The total budget for the project is USD 2 million (2005), the bulk of which is supported by voluntary contributions by donors.

In recognition of its successful virtual teamwork among three offices, ReliefWeb received two UN21 awards in March 2004 in the areas of "knowledge management" and "improvements to the working environment."

OCHA on-line

Donor Support

What We Do

ReliefWeb disseminates timely, reliable and relevant humanitarian information by updating its web site around the clock. In addition, ReliefWeb reaches over 70,000 subscribers through its e-mail subscription services, allowing those who have low bandwidth Internet connections to receive information reliably.

ReliefWeb posts some 150 maps and documents daily from over 2,000 source from the UN system, governments, NGOs, academia and the media. Map Centre also creates original ReliefWeb maps.

All documents posted on the site are classified and archived in the ReliefWeb document database, allowing advanced searching of documents from past emergency responses. The database contains nearly 300,000 maps and documents dating back to 1981.

In addition to Map Centre and emergency updates by latest or by country, region, and emergency, ReliefWeb offers various resource sections specifically targeted to relief professionals:

- Appeals and Funding - Funding appeals for complex emergencies and natural disasters and financial tracking of responses to funding requirements
- Policies and Issues - On-line library of reference materials covering humanitarian policies and issues of global nature
- Professional Resources - Information of practical use for relief professionals, including a sectoral or thematic listing of "communities of practice," listings of job opportunities and training opportunities, and an information providers' directory.

The site also offers a "web feed" service to deliver customized content to partners' web sites. The service allows users to further utilize the ReliefWeb's content, thereby avoiding duplication of efforts.

>>For subscription services, see ReliefWeb via Email
>>For the use of third party content, see Terms of Service [under development]
>>For submitting documents, maps, vacancies, etc., see Contact Us
>>For complete overview of the site, see Site Map
>>For additional information, see Help
>>Download new ReliefWeb brochure (pdf): Part 1 (front page), Part 2 (back page)

For internship opportunities with ReliefWeb Kobe Office, please click here

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