Safety and Security of Humanitarian Personnel and Protection of United Nations Personnel

A/RES/57/155No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 21Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance, published in 2003.

What other versions does this mandate have?

28 versions · 1999–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/112

2025A/RES/80/112Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnelLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/RES/79/138Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnelCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/118Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnelCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/77/31Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnelCompare with previous version
2021A/RES/76/127Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnelCompare 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?

11 topics

Coordination Within UN System Duty Stations Field Offices Field Staff Human Rights in Armed Conflicts Humanitarian Assistance Privileges and Immunities Relief Personnel Security Management Staff Security Training Programmes

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

2 reports of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2003–2004.

2004A/59/365Strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations report of the Secretary-General
2003A/58/344Safety and security of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

30 operative paragraphs

Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General;

Urges all States to take the necessary measures to ensure the full and effective implementation of the relevant principles and rules of international law, including international humanitarian law, as well as the relevant provisions of human rights and refugee law related to the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and United Nations personnel;

Also urges all States to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel and to respect and ensure respect for the inviolability of United Nations premises, which are essential to the continuation and successful implementation of United Nations operations;

Calls upon all other parties involved in armed conflicts, in compliance with international humanitarian law, in particular their obligations under the 1949 Geneva Conventions11 and the obligations applicable to them under the Additional Protocols thereto,12 to ensure the safety and protection of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel, to refrain from abducting or detaining them in violation of their immunity under relevant conventions referred to in the present resolution and applicable international humanitarian law, and speedily to release, without harm, any abductee or detainee;

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 in order to allow them to perform efficiently their task of assisting the affected civilian population, including refugees and internally displaced persons;

Strongly condemns any act or failure to act, contrary to international law, which obstructs or prevents humanitarian personnel and United Nations personnel from discharging their humanitarian functions, or which entails being subjected to threats, the use of force or physical attack, frequently resulting in injury or death, and affirms the need to hold accountable those who commit such acts and, for that purpose, the need to enact national legislation, as appropriate;

Expresses deep concern that over the past decade, threats against the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel have escalated at an unprecedented rate and that perpetrators of acts of violence seemingly operate with impunity;

Urges all States to take stronger actions to ensure that any threat or act of violence committed against humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel on their territory is investigated fully and to ensure that the perpetrators of such acts are brought to justice in accordance with international law and national law;

Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to ensure full respect for the human rights, privileges and immunities of United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations operation and to continue to consider ways and means in which to strengthen the protection of United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations operation, notably by seeking the inclusion, in negotiations of headquarter and other mission agreements concerning United Nations and its associated personnel, of the applicable conditions contained in the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations,16 the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies17 and the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel;14

Emphasizes the importance of paying special attention to the safety and security of United Nations and its associated personnel engaged in United Nations peacekeeping and peace-building operations;

Recommends that the Secretary-General continue to seek the inclusion of, and that host countries include, key provisions of the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, among others, those regarding the prevention of attacks against members of the operation, the establishment of such attacks as crimes punishable by law and the prosecution or extradition of offenders, in future as well as, if necessary, in existing status-of-forces, status-of-mission and host country agreements negotiated between the United Nations and those countries, mindful of the importance of the timely conclusion of such agreements;

Calls upon all States to provide adequate and prompt information in the event of arrest or detention of humanitarian personnel or United Nations and its associated personnel, to afford them the necessary medical assistance and to allow independent medical teams to visit and examine the health of those detained, and urges them to take the necessary measures to ensure the speedy release of United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations operation who have been arrested or detained in violation of their immunity, in accordance with the relevant conventions referred to in the present resolution and applicable international humanitarian law;

Encourages all States to become parties to and respect fully their obligations under the relevant international instruments, including the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel;

Calls upon all States to consider becoming parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;13

Reaffirms the obligation of all humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel to observe and respect the national laws of the country in which they are operating, in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations;

Requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to ensure that United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations operation are properly informed about the conditions under which they are called upon to operate, including relevant customs and traditions in the host country, and the standards that they are required to meet, including those contained in relevant domestic and international law, and that adequate training in security, human rights and international humanitarian law is provided so as to enhance their security and effectiveness in accomplishing their functions, and reaffirms the necessity for all other humanitarian organizations to provide their personnel with similar support;

Also requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures to ensure that United Nations and other personnel carrying out activities in fulfilment of the mandate of a United Nations humanitarian assistance operation are properly informed about and operate in conformity with relevant codes of conduct, including the core principles of conduct defined by the Task Force on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in Humanitarian Crises set up within the Inter-Agency Standing Committee;

Further requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary measures, falling within his responsibilities, to ensure that security matters are an integral part of the planning for existing and newly mandated United Nations operations and that such precautions extend to all United Nations and its associated personnel;

Requests the Office of the United Nations Security Coordinator to continue to play a central role in promoting increased cooperation and collaboration among agencies, funds and programmes in the planning and implementation of measures aimed at improving staff security training and awareness;

Emphasizes the need to give further consideration to the safety and security of locally recruited humanitarian personnel, who account for the majority of casualties;

Stresses the need to ensure that all United Nations staff members receive adequate security training, including physical and psychological training, prior to their deployment to the field, the need to attach a high priority to the improvement of stress and trauma counselling services available to United Nations staff members, including through the implementation of a comprehensive security and stress and trauma management training, support and assistance programme for United Nations staff throughout the system, before, during and after missions, and the need to make available to the Secretary-General the means for that purpose;

Underlines the need to allocate adequate and predictable resources to the safety and security of United Nations personnel, including through the Consolidated Appeals Process, and encourages all States to contribute to the Trust Fund for Security of Staff Members of the United Nations System;

Welcomes the appointment of a full-time United Nations Security Coordinator at the level of Assistant Secretary-General, and reaffirms the need to further strengthen security coordination and management and to sustain the initiatives aimed at increasing the efficacy of the security management system;

Also welcomes the establishment of an Inter-Agency Security Management Network, and encourages all relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes to continue to participate at an appropriate level;

Recognizes the need for a strengthened and unified security management system for the United Nations, both at the headquarters and the field levels, and requests the United Nations system, as well as Member States, to take all appropriate measures to that end;

Also recognizes the need for enhanced coordination and cooperation, both at the headquarters and the field levels, between the United Nations security management system and non-governmental organizations on matters relating to the safety and security of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel, with a view to addressing mutual security concerns in the field;

Takes note with appreciation of the work being done by the Ad Hoc Committee, established in accordance with resolution 56/89 of 12 December 2001 and open to all Member States or members of the specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to consider the recommendations made by the Secretary-General in his report on measures to strengthen and enhance the protective legal regime for United Nations and its associated personnel;

Calls upon all States to consider becoming parties to and to respect fully their obligations under the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the Specialized Agencies, which have been ratified so far by one hundred and forty-six States and one hundred and seven States, respectively;

Recalls the essential role of telecommunication resources in facilitating the safety of humanitarian personnel and United Nations and its associated personnel, calls upon States to consider signing and ratifying the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations of 18 June 1998, and encourages them, pending the entry into force of the Convention, to facilitate and expedite, consistent with their national laws and regulations, the use of communications equipment in such operations, and emphasizes the importance of States facilitating communications, inter alia, through limiting and, whenever possible, lifting the restrictions placed on the use of communications equipment by United Nations and its associated personnel;

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to it at its fifty-eighth session a comprehensive and updated report on the safety and security situation of humanitarian personnel and protection of United Nations personnel and on the implementation of the present resolution, including the progress made by the Secretary-General in pursuing accountability and assessing responsibility for all individual security incidents that involve United Nations and its associated personnel at all levels throughout the United Nations system, as well as an account of the measures taken by Governments and the United Nations to prevent and respond to such incidents, also taking into account the information requested from the Secretary-General in resolution 57/28 of 19 November 2002.

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Who created this mandate?

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What does this mandate say?

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