International Cooperation on Humanitarian Assistance in the Field of Natural Disasters, From Relief to Development

A/RES/57/152View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 21a Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations, published in 2003.

What other versions does this mandate have?

27 versions · 2000–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/113

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/113	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development	9,282	99%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/139	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development	9,281	94%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/120	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development	8,801	99%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/29	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development	8,758	93%Compare
2021	A/RES/76/128	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development	8,160	94%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

23 reports · 2002–2025

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2025	A/80/390	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/139
2024	A/79/369	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/120
2023	A/78/360	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/29
2022	A/77/361	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/76/128
2021	A/76/376	International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/75/124

What’s in this document?

22 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General entitled “International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development”³ and “Strengthening the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations”;⁴

³A/57/578.

⁴A/57/77-E/2002/63.

Expresses its deep concern at the number and scale of natural disasters and their increasing impact, resulting in massive losses of life and property worldwide, in particular in vulnerable societies lacking adequate capacity to mitigate effectively the long-term negative social, economic and environmental consequences of natural disasters;

Calls upon all States to adopt, where required, and to continue to implement effectively necessary legislative and other appropriate measures to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, inter alia, by disaster prevention, including building regulations and appropriate land use, as well as disaster preparedness and capacity-building in disaster response and mitigation, and requests the international community to continue to assist developing countries, as appropriate, in this regard;

Stresses, in this context, the importance of strengthening international cooperation, particularly through the effective use of multilateral mechanisms, in the provision of humanitarian assistance for all phases of a disaster, from relief and mitigation to development, including through the provision of adequate resources;

Also stresses that humanitarian assistance for natural disasters should be provided in accordance with and with due respect for the guiding principles contained in the annex to resolution 46/182 and should be determined on the basis of the human dimension and needs arising out of the particular natural disasters;

Recognizes that economic growth and sustainable development contribute to improving the capacity of States to mitigate, respond to and prepare for natural disasters;

Reaffirms that disaster risk analysis and vulnerability reduction form an integral part of sustainable development strategies and need to be considered in development plans of all vulnerable countries and communities, including, where appropriate, in plans relating to the transition from relief to development, and also affirms that within such preventive strategies, disaster preparedness and early warning systems must be further strengthened at the country and regional levels, inter alia, through better coordination among relevant United Nations bodies and cooperation with Governments of affected countries and regional and other relevant organizations with the aim of maximizing the effectiveness of natural disaster response and reducing the impact of natural disasters, particularly in developing countries;

Emphasizes the importance of enhanced international cooperation, including with the United Nations and regional organizations, to assist developing countries in their efforts to build capacities and to predict, prepare for and respond to natural disasters;

Stresses the need for partnership among Governments of the affected countries, organizations of the United Nations system, relevant humanitarian organizations and specialized companies to promote training to strengthen preparedness for and response to natural disasters;

Also stresses the need to promote the access to and transfer of technology related to early warning systems and to mitigation programmes to developing countries affected by natural disasters;

Encourages the further use of space-based and ground-based remote-sensing technologies for the prevention, mitigation and management of natural disasters, where appropriate;

Also encourages in such operations the sharing of geographical data, including remotely sensed images and geographic information system and global positioning system data among Governments, space agencies and relevant international humanitarian organizations, as appropriate, and also notes in that context initiatives such as those undertaken by the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters and the Global Disaster Information Network;

Stresses that particular international cooperation efforts should be undertaken to enhance and broaden further the utilization of national and local capacities and, where appropriate, regional and subregional capacities of developing countries for disaster preparedness and response, which may be made available in closer proximity to the site of a disaster, more efficiently and at lower cost;

Welcomes the role of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat as the focal point within the overall United Nations system for the promotion and coordination of disaster response among the United Nations humanitarian agencies and other humanitarian partners;

Also welcomes the establishment of the positions of regional disaster response advisers by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as well as the initiative of the United Nations Development Programme to establish regional disaster reduction adviser positions, and encourages the further development of these initiatives in a coordinated and complementary manner in order to assist developing countries in capacity-building for disaster prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response;

Encourages further cooperation between the United Nations system and regional organizations in order to increase the capacity of these organizations to respond to natural disasters;

Encourages States that have not signed or ratified the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations, adopted at Tampere, Finland, on 18 June 1998, to consider doing so;

Invites the United Nations system to explore further the concept of transitional recovery teams for providing assistance for bridging relief assistance and development cooperation;

Requests the Secretary-General, in collaboration with relevant organizations and partners, to continue progress on compiling a directory of disaster mitigation capacity at the national, regional and international levels as well as the Directory of Advanced Technologies for Disaster Response as a new part of the Central Register of Disaster Management Capacities;⁵

⁵www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/programs/response/register.html.

Welcomes the global review of disaster reduction initiatives coordinated by the secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and emphasizes the importance of periodic review as a means of discussing disaster trends, assessing policies aimed at mitigating the impact of disaster and offering examples of successful initiatives;

Encourages donors to consider the importance of ensuring that assistance in the case of higher-profile natural disasters does not come at the expense of those that may have a relatively lower profile, bearing in mind that the allocation of resources should be driven by needs, as well as the importance of making efforts to increase the level of assistance for disaster reduction and preparedness programmes and for disaster response and mitigation activities;

Requests the Secretary-General to examine the overall situation regarding the mobilization of resources for response to natural disasters and to consider concrete recommendations to improve the international response to natural disasters, as necessary, based on his examination, keeping in mind also the need to address any geographical and sectoral imbalances and shortfalls in such responses, where they exist, as well as the more effective use of national emergency response agencies, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session.

International Cooperation on Humanitarian Assistance in the Field of Natural Disasters, From Relief to Development

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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