Strengthening the Capacity of the United Nations System to Respond to Natural Disasters and Other Disaster Situations

A/RES/36/225View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, published in 1982.

What other versions does this mandate have?

2 versions · 1982–1984

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/38/202

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
1984	A/RES/38/202	Strengthening the capacity of the United Nations system to respond to natural disasters and other disaster situations	979	19%Compare
1982	A/RES/36/225	Strengthening the capacity of the United Nations system to respond to natural disasters and other disaster situations	1,907	–

What subjects does this mandate have?

2 subjects

Coordination Within UN System Disaster Relief

What’s in this document?

20 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General and other reports on international efforts to meet humani tarian needs in emergency situations, as well as on measures for strengthening the capacity of the United Nations system to respond to natural disasters and other disaster situations229 and of the statement made by the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator before the Second Committee on 5 November 1981 ;230

Reaffirms the sovereignty of individual Member States, recognizes the primary role of each State in caring for the victims of disasters occurring in its territory and stresses that all relief operations should be carried out and co-ordinated in a manner consistent with the priorities and needs of the countries concerned;

Reaffirms the mandate of the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator, established by the General Assembly in resolution 2816 (XXVI) as the focal point of the United Nations system for disaster relief co ordination, and calls for strengthening and improvement of the capacity and effectiveness of the Office;

Endorses the approaches outlined by the Secretary 4. General in his comments on the report of the Joint Inspection Unit concerning the role of the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator in the various phases of disaster assistance; 23 1

Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take ftte necessary steps to strengthen the management operations of the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co ordinator;

Stresses the need to take full advantage of infor mation provided by existing early-warning monitoring sys tems that have been developed to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations system in responding to natural disasters and other disaster situations and to co-ordinate, as far as feasible and useful, all the relevant early-warning systems, and stresses that, to this effect, the capability of the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator in information collection and dissemination should be fur ther strengthened and improved;

Urges the appropriate organs, organizations and bod ies of the United Nations system, including the United Na tions Children's Fund. the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, tƖe World Health Organization. the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Ref ugees, the World Food Programme and other appropriate bodies, to co-operate closely, in their respective areas of competence, with the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator in disaster relief activities and other disaster situations, to respond effectively to the needs of the situation and to comply promptly with the requests of disaster-affected countries;

Decides that, in response to a request for disaster relief from a disaster-stricken State and, as necessary, in particular in disaster-prone countries, the United Nations resident co-ordinator shall. with the full concurrence, con sent and participation of the Government, convene meetings of the concerned organs. organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to plan, monitor and take immediate action to provide assistance and the International Committee of the Red Cross. the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and appropriate voluntary organizations may be invited to participate in such meetings with the approval of the host country;

Decides that. following a request for disaster relief from a disaster-stricken State and whenever required to deal effectively with complex disasters and emergencies of ex ceptional magnitude. the Secretary-General or his represen tative, who would normally be the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator, shall convene meetings of the con ci>rned organizations of the United Nations system in order to develop a concerted relief programme and conduct ad hoe consultations with the heads or representatives of the agencies concerned with disaster-relief questions, with a view to ensuring speedy and efficient delivery of goods and services to the disaster-stricken areas, and decides that these ad hoe consultations should draw on information provided by the Government concerned, as well as on the assessments of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator, the res ident co-ordinator and representatives of other United Na tions organizations in the countries concerned, and take into account advice offered by the International Committee of the Red Cross, the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and appropriate voluntary organizations in the field with the understanding that all agencies with responsibilities for natural disasters and other disaster situations should be involved at the appropriate level in such consultations;

Decides that. once it has been determined-on the basis of the above-mentioned information and consulta tions-that an exceptional or complex natural disaster or other disaster situation requiring system-wide action exists, the Secretary-General shall designate, at the international level, a lead entity from among the United Nations organ izations, agencies and bodies, including the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator, and, at the country level, the appropriate entity of the United Nations system to carry out relief operations, taking into account the specific requirements of the situation and in consultation with the host Government, and calls upon all organs. or ganizations and bodies of the United Nations system to co operate closely with one another in their relief operations;

Invites the Administrative Committee on Co-ordi nation to examine urgently the role of the lead entity and participating organs. organizations and bodies of the United

Nations system in complex disaster situations, taking into account decision 1981/2 of that Committee, and requests the Secretary-General to submit a report, through the Eco nomic and Social Council at its second regular session of 1982, to the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh session, on the deliberations of the Committee;

Strongly calls upon all States to respond positively and expeditiously to the Secretary-General's appeals for contributions to meet natural disasters and other disaster situations;

Reiterates in particular, its appeal in resolution 35/ l 07 for increased contributions to the Trust Fund of the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator, in particular to the subaccount for humanitarian emergency relief;

Stresses in this regard the need to strengthen the operational capacity and the human, material and financial resources available to individual agencies and organizations, in order to enable them to play their respective roles more promptly, efficiently and effectively in natural disasters and other disaster situations;

Requests all States to ensure a full flow of infor mation to the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator, especially regarding relief actions, and also to provide the United Nations system with the necessary personnel and logistic support;

Urges Governments in disaster-prone countries to explore further, with the assistance of the donors, appro priate organs, organizations and bodies of the United Na tions system, the possibility of improving storage, communication and transportation facilities, as well as meas ures to ensure disaster preparedness and prevention;

Also urges the international community to assist disaster-prone countries, upon their request, with the estab lishment of effective national early-warning systems, the development of contingency plans for disasters and the strengthening of assessment capacity for relief requirements and for distribution and monitoring of relief supplies;

Calls upon organs, organizations and bodies of the 18. United Nations system involved in the provision of human itarian assistance and disaster relief to establish emergency units ::>r focal points if they are not already in existence;

Reaffirms the need for the international community to respond fully to requests for emergency and humanitarian assistance, in particular through increased financial contri butions for affected developing countries, bearing in mind the relevant provisions of the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade and of the Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries, as well as those of the Trust Fund of the Office of the UniteC: Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit a prelim inary progress report on the implementation of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its thirty-seventh ses sion, tnrough the Economic and Social Council at its second regular session of 1982, and a comprehensive report to the Assembly at its thirty-eighth session, through the CoJncil at its second regular session of 1983.

"' Resolution 35/56, annex '" Report of the United Nations Conference on the least Developed Countries. Pans. 1-14 September /98/ (United Nations publication, Sales 226 N36/27 l and Corr. I .

No. E.82 18), part one. sect A. para. 59.

229 See A/36/73 and Add. I, A/36/259 and Ell 981/16 and Corr. I . annex. See also decision 1981 /2 of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC/1981/DEC/l-lO).

230 Official Records of the General As.remblv, Thirtv-sixlh Session, Second Committee, 29th meeting, paras. 33-40. • • m A/36/73/Add. l.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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