Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance of the United Nations

A/RES/59/141View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A document of the General Assembly, under agenda item 39a Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations, published in 2005.

What other versions does this mandate have?

30 versions · 1996–2024

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/79/140

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2024	A/RES/79/140	Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations	10,870	92%Compare
2023	A/RES/78/119	Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations	10,024	91%Compare
2022	A/RES/77/28	Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations	9,324	94%Compare
2021	A/RES/76/124	Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations	8,836	87%Compare
2020	A/RES/75/127	Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations	7,788	100%Compare

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 3	Emergency support services	6

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

1 entity

Entity	(Sub-)Programme	Title	Total mandates cited	Expenditure
	Subprogramme 3	Emergency support services	6	—

Historical expenditure covers the complete programme or subprogramme, not this mandate. For an overview of all UN entities and programmes, see UN entities and programmes.

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

41 reports · 2005–2025

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2025	A/80/384	Central Emergency Response Fund report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/140
2025	A/80/75	Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/79/140
2024	A/79/327	Central Emergency Response Fund report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/119
2024	A/79/78	Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/78/119
2023	A/78/365	Central Emergency Response Fund report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/77/28

What’s in this document?

23 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the outcome of the seventh humanitarian affairs segment of the Economic and Social Council, during its substantive session of 2004;

Encourages the Emergency Relief Coordinator to continue his efforts to strengthen the coordination of humanitarian assistance, and calls upon relevant United Nations organizations as well as other humanitarian and development actors to work with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat in enhancing the coordination, effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian assistance;

Recognizes the importance of secure and predictable funding to the coordinated, appropriate and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance, stresses the need to increase in an incremental way, in the normal course of the budget process, the share of the budget of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs borne by the regular budget of the United Nations, and requests the Secretary-General to give this matter full consideration;

Emphasizes the importance of the discussion of humanitarian policies and activities in the General Assembly and in the Economic and Social Council and that these discussions should be further revitalized by Member States;

Calls upon Governments, relevant organizations of the United Nations system, other relevant international organizations and non-governmental organizations to cooperate with the Secretary-General and the Emergency Relief Coordinator to ensure timely implementation of and follow-up to resolutions of the General Assembly and resolutions of the Economic and Social Council adopted at the humanitarian affairs segment of its substantive sessions;

Strongly encourages the United Nations to address more systematically protection of civilians and other humanitarian issues with regional organizations, in accordance with their respective mandates, inter alia, through dialogue;

Decides to raise the maximum limit of an emergency cash grant to 100,000 United States dollars per country in the case of any one disaster, within existing resources available from the regular budget of the United Nations;

Encourages the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, in close collaboration with the United Nations Development Group Office, to improve further the training and capacity of humanitarian and resident coordinators so that they can respond to the full range of humanitarian issues and those related to transition from relief to development in a given context, including protection and assistance needs;

Calls upon the Secretary-General to ensure that the design and implementation of United Nations integrated missions take into account the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality as well as independence for the provision of humanitarian assistance;

Welcomes the ongoing work within the United Nations on the complex issue of transition from relief to development, and takes note of the request by the Economic and Social Council to the Secretary-General to prepare a report on the issue for further consideration by the Council and the General Assembly;

Emphasizes the fundamentally civilian character of humanitarian assistance, reaffirms the leading role of civilian organizations in implementing humanitarian assistance, particularly in areas affected by conflicts, and affirms the need, in situations where military capacity and assets are used to support the implementation of humanitarian assistance, for their use to be in conformity with international humanitarian law and humanitarian principles;

Recalls the 2003 “Guidelines on the Use of Military and Civil Defence Assets to Support United Nations Humanitarian Activities in Complex Emergencies”,³ as well as the 1994 “Guidelines on the Use of Military and Civil Defence Assets in Disaster Relief”,⁴ and stresses the value of their use and of the development by the United Nations in consultation with States and other relevant actors of further guidance on civil-military relations in the context of humanitarian activities and transition situations;

³Available from www.reliefweb.int.

⁴Department of Humanitarian Affairs publication, DHA/94/95.

Strongly condemns all acts of violence committed against civilian populations in situations of humanitarian crisis, especially against women, girls and boys, including sexual violence and abuse, and reiterates that such acts can constitute serious violations or grave breaches of international humanitarian law and constitute, in defined circumstances, a crime against humanity and/or a war crime;

Calls upon States to adopt preventive measures and effective responses to acts of violence committed against civilian populations as well as to ensure that those responsible are promptly brought to justice, as provided for by national law and obligations under international law;

Reaffirms the obligation of all States and parties to an armed conflict to protect civilians in armed conflicts in accordance with international humanitarian law, and invites States to promote a culture of protection, taking into account the particular needs of women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities;

Encourages Member States with internally displaced persons to develop or strengthen, as appropriate, national laws, policies and minimum standards on internal displacement, inter alia, taking into account the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement,⁵ and to continue to work with humanitarian agencies in endeavours to provide a more predictable response to the needs of internally displaced persons, and in this regard calls for international support, upon request, to the capacity-building efforts of Governments;

⁵E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, annex.

Strongly condemns all forms of violence to which humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel are increasingly subjected, as well as any act or failure to act, contrary to international law that obstructs or prevents humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel from discharging their humanitarian functions;

Calls upon all Governments and parties in complex humanitarian emergencies, in particular in armed conflicts and in post-conflict situations, in countries in which humanitarian personnel are operating, in conformity with the relevant provisions of international law and national laws, to cooperate fully with the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies and organizations and to ensure the safe and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel as well as supplies and equipment in order to allow them to perform efficiently their task of assisting the affected civilian population, including refugees and internally displaced persons;

Expresses concern about the continued occurrence of sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian crises, emphasizes that the highest standards of conduct and accountability are required of all personnel serving in humanitarian and peacekeeping operations, and requests the Secretary-General to report on measures to follow up, inter alia, the Plan of Action on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises developed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee⁶ and the application of the bulletin of the Secretary-General on special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse;⁷

⁶See A/57/465, annex I.

⁷ST/SGB/2003/13.

Takes note with interest of the progress being made by donors to improve their policies and practices of good donorship, including under the Good Humanitarian Donorship initiative, and calls upon donors to take further steps to improve their policies and practices with respect to humanitarian assistance;

Calls upon relevant United Nations organizations to continue to improve transparency and reliability of humanitarian needs assessments;

Encourages the Secretary-General to continue to improve his reporting on emergency humanitarian assistance, including with respect to natural disasters;

Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixtieth session, through the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2005, on progress made in strengthening the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations.

Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance of the United Nations

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Who cites this mandate in the budget?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

Table of contents

Who cites this mandate in the budget?