Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-Ordinator

A/RES/39/207No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 83aOffice of the United Nations Disaster Relief Coordinator, published in 1985.

What other versions does this mandate have?

8 versions · 1977–1987

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/41/201

1987A/RES/41/201Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinatorLatestCompare with previous version
1985A/RES/39/207Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinatorCompare with previous version
1983A/RES/37/144Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief CoordinatorCompare with previous version
1981A/RES/35/107Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinatorCompare with previous version
1979A/RES/34/55Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinatorCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Budget Contributions Disaster Preparedness Disaster Prevention Disaster Relief Emergency Relief International Relief Technical Cooperation

What does this mandate say?

14 operative paragraphs

Takes note with sails.faction of the report of the Sec retary-General on the work of the Office of the United Nations Disaster Relief Co-ordinator, 127 as well as his report on strengthening the capacity of the United Nations system to respond to natural disasters and other disaster situations, 128 called for in paragraph 12 of General Assem bly resolution 38/202, and of the statement made by the Co-ordinator on 5 November 1984; 129

Recognizes that information is one of the essential elements for the fulfilment of the mandate of the Office of the Co-ordinator as the focal point of the United Nations system for disaster relief co-ordination, and emphasizes the importance of improving the flow and quality of infor mation during disaster relief operations so that a more complete picture of relief channels and activities, assist ance received and unmet requirements may be available to all concerned;

Stresses, in this regard, the primary importance of inter-agency assessment missions organized by the Office of the Co-ordinator with the participation of the appropri ate organizations of the United Nations system and other relief bodies in order to ensure the effective co-ordination of disaster relief activities, assistance and requirements;

Recognizes the value of united appeals, launched after the joint development with the agencies concerned of concerted relief programmes based upon the findings of inter-agency assessment missions, to be sent at the invita tion of the Government concerned, as a most effective tool for co-ordination and urges Governments to continue to respond to such appeals accordingly;

Requests the Secretary-General to modify existing United Nations procurement procedures, as necessary, to permit, on the part of the Office of the Co-ordinator, a timely and more effective response to the special and immediate requirements of countries exposed to disasters or facing an emergency situation;

Ca/ls upon those contributing assistance in kind to provide, when appropriate, special grants to cover the costs of transport and distribution of the assistance to and within the affected country;

Requests the Office of the Co-ordinator to study, in co-operation with the parties concerned, the most appro priate steps to ensure the ready availability of relief sup plies and transport equipment;

Urges Governments to increase their efforts to reduce delays in the provision of food assistance in response to natural disasters and other disaster situations;

Recommends that as the Co-ordinator phases out his emergency co-ordination responsibility in a given country, he should contribute to ensuring the necessary transition to the rehabilitation and reconstruction phase by passing on relevant data to competent organs and agen cies of the United Nations system;

I 0. Calls upon Governments and international relief organizations to put at the disposal of the Co-ordinator the names and specializations of qualified disaster personnel available, in case of need, for inter-agency assessment mis sions, the execution of relief programmes or other disaster mitigation activities, and to inform him of existing dis-

aster management training capabilities and opportunities for such training which could be offered to officials from developing countries;

Requests the Co-ordinator to review and improve. if necessary with the assistance of specialists made avail able by appropriate international bodies, the internal eval uation system of the Office of the Co-ordinator in order to ensure that experience obtained from disaster relief opera tions is fully taken into account in the future work of the Office;

Recognizes the importance of disaster prevention and preparedness at the regional and national levels in mitigating the effects of disasters, appreciates the work which the Office of the Co-ordinator has performed in this area as far as the resources available in the Trust Fund of the Office have allowed, and encourages Governments to continue to draw upon the services available from the Office and other organizations concerned and to provide the necessary resources for this aspect of technical co-oper ation;

Requests the Office of the Co-ordinator to increase its fund-raising efforts through the means available to it;

Emphasizes the essential need for the work of the Office of the Co-ordinator to be placed and kept on a sound financial basis and requests the Secretary-General to assign a higher priority to this;

Reiterates in particular its appeals to the interna tional community in resolutions 35/107 of 5 December 1980, 36/225 of 17 December 1981, 37/144 of 17 Decem ber 1982 and 38/202 of 20 December 1983 for urgent increased contributions to the Trust Fund established pur suant to its resolution 3243 (XXIX) of 29 November 197 4 for the purposes set out in the reports of the Secretary General concerning the activities of the Office of the Co ordinator.

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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