Chapter III Humanitarian and special economic assistance

893

Chapter III

Humanitarian and special economic assistance

In 2010, devastating natural disasters, the crippling impact of the world financial and economic crisis on the most vulnerable countries, and continuing con-flict situations in many parts of the world resulted in large-scale humanitarian crises. Some 385 disasters took the lives of over 297,000 people and affected 217 million others, causing an estimated $124 billion in economic damages. The United Nations, through the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Af-fairs (ocha), mobilized and coordinated humanita-rian assistance to respond to those international emergencies, launching consolidated and flash ap-peals for Afghanistan, the Central African Repub-lic, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mon-golia, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Pakistan, Somalia, the Sudan, Uganda, West Africa, Yemen and Zimbabwe. Ocha received contributions for natural disaster assistance totalling $6.4 billion. The Central Emergency Response Fund continued to en-sure the rapid provision of assistance to populations affected by sudden-onset disasters and underfunded emergencies.

In Haiti, where the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti was already working to promote long-term post-disaster socio-economic recovery, stability and reconstruction, a severe earthquake in January caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and injuries and widespread damage. The United Nations, through ocha, mobilized the international humanitarian re-sponse. Two international conferences were held on Haiti—the international donors’ conference in March and the World Summit for the Future of Haiti in June. In other development activities, the Joint Inspection Unit issued a report on UN system support to Africa containing 17 recommendations on enhancing coor-dination, cooperation and coherence of that support.

Efforts continued to implement the Hyogo Decla-ration and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015—the 10-year plan for reducing disaster risks adopted at the World Conference on Disaster Reduc-tion in 2005. A midterm review of the Framework for Action began, which was intended to inform its con-tinued implementation and post-2015 international cooperation in disaster risk reduction.

During the year, the Economic and Social Council worked to strengthen UN humanitarian assistance coordination, especially those humanitarian opera-tions conducted in highly hazardous or insecure and

unsafe environments, and to improve preparedness for humanitarian emergencies. The “cluster leadership approach”—a mechanism for improving humanita-rian response effectiveness and strengthening part-nerships—was evaluated and recommendations were made to improve its implementation.

The new ocha strategic framework 2010–2013 focused on providing a more enabling environment for humanitarian action, creating a more effective humanitarian coordination system and strengthen-ing ocha management and administration.

Humanitarian assistance

CoordinationHumanitarian affairs segment of the Economic and Social Council

The humanitarian affairs segment of the Eco-nomic and Social Council (13–15 July) [A/65/3/Rev.1] considered, in accordance with Council decision 2010/208, the theme “Strengthening of the coordi-nation of humanitarian assistance”. It convened two panels: conducting humanitarian operations in highly hazardous or insecure and unsafe environments; and strengthening preparedness for humanitarian emer-gencies and the coordinated provision of humanita-rian assistance, in particular addressing the needs of affected populations and the factors that increase susceptibility to humanitarian emergencies. On 28 April, the Council decided to hold an informal event on 13 July to discuss transition from relief to development, focusing on the experience of Haiti (decision 2010/209).

The Council considered the Secretary-General’s May report [A/65/82-E/2010/88] on strengthening the coordination of UN emergency humanitarian assis-tance, submitted in response to General Assembly resolutions 46/182 [YUN 1991, p. 421], 63/147 [YUN 2008, p. 1000] and 64/76 [YUN 2009, p. 886], and Coun-cil resolution 2009/3 [ibid., p. 883]. The report summa-rized humanitarian trends and challenges, especially disasters associated with natural hazards and com-plex emergencies; examined progress in the coordi-nation of humanitarian assistance; and analysed the themes of the Council’s humanitarian affairs segment (see above).

894 Part Three: Economic and social questions

In 2009, the Centre for Research on the Epidemiol-ogy of Disasters reported 328 disasters associated with natural hazards, spread across 111 countries, and af-fecting 113 million people. That marked a significant divergence from the annual average of 392 disasters recorded for the period 2000–2008, which experts attributed to climate cycle variations and drought in South Asia. Tropical storms in Asia and the Carib-bean affected some 10.9 million people, while erratic rain patterns affected some 800,000 people in West Africa and poor rainfall 10.3 million people in Chad and the Niger. More than 3 million people struggled to meet basic food needs in Southern Africa as a re-sult of the poor 2008/2009 agricultural season and low purchasing power. In the Horn of Africa, climatic variability, insecurity and limited access to humanita-rian assistance affected some 23 million people. Com-plex emergencies such as prolonged conflict and food insecurity in Afghanistan, the Palestinian territory of Gaza, Somalia and Yemen and the humanitarian situation in the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan’s Darfur region affected tens of millions of people. Some situ-ations saw an improvement between June 2009 and May 2010—Zimbabwe moved from a humanitarian crisis towards gradual recovery, and Iraq saw reduced levels of violence and improved Government capacity; however, high numbers of internally displaced people remained a concern. Globally, an estimated 27 million persons were internally displaced by armed conflict. By the end of 2009, 10.4 million refugees had received assistance from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (unhcr), almost as many as in 2008.

The first half of 2010 was marked by massive earth-quakes: in Haiti on 12 January, killing over 220,000 people, injuring another 300,000 and leaving 1.5 mil-lion displaced, with economic damage estimated at $7.8 billion; in Chile on 27 February, affecting over 2 million people and causing 486 deaths, with dam-age estimated at $30 billion; and in Qinghai province in China on 14 April, resulting in 2,200 people dead, 12,135 injured and another 70 missing. In March, a tropical cyclone affected some 370,000 people in Southern Africa, particularly in Madagascar.

At the time of the report, the consolidated appeals process had requested $7.1 billion for 2010 to pro-vide 48 million people with humanitarian assistance, compared with 43 million people in 2009.

Regarding progress in the coordination of humanita-rian assistance, the cluster approach [YUN 2006, p. 1057] was used in almost all countries with humanitarian co-ordinators. An independent evaluation assessing its op-erational effectiveness and main outcomes, completed in early 2010, concluded that the cluster approach was a worthwhile investment, but improved implementation by humanitarian organizations was needed. Recom-

mendations included ensuring that clusters at the field level were adequately coordinated with community and national structures and capacities; better incorporating multidimensional and cross-cutting issues in humanita-rian responses; and improving inter-cluster coordina-tion. Efforts continued to harmonize and consolidate needs assessments and strengthen information man-agement capacities and collection. The Inter-Agency Standing Committee Task Force on Needs Assessment produced a guidance package with key indicators for assessments; a web-based toolbox consolidating needs assessment tools and guidance documents to facilitate easy access for practitioners in the field; and a multisec-toral tool consolidating core humanitarian information for country teams, referred to as the “humanitarian dashboard”. Funding mechanisms continued to focus on further improving their effectiveness and account-ability. A draft performance and accountability frame-work and piloting reporting outcomes by cluster were developed for the Central Emergency Response Fund (cerf) and the consolidated appeals process. To better administer those funds, ocha established a dedicated unit in Geneva.

The third meeting of the Global Humanitarian Platform (Geneva, February) provided an opportu-nity for the humanitarian community to take stock of progress in terms of partnership. Among the top-ics discussed was the need for a “new humanitarian business model” that would reduce the international footprint and invest more in national and local capac-ity development. To address the issue of Secretariat emergency rules and procedures for rapid humanita-rian response, as an interim measure, the Secretariat piloted a roster for ocha to facilitate field recruit-ment, and adopted special measures allowing the rapid recruitment of additional external candidates on fixed-term appointments. As to the need to equip staff in field operations, ocha established a small, centralized rapid deployment stock; however, it was seeking further delegation of authority for procure-ment and was working to establish more systematic cooperation with the Department of Field Support. The Secretary-General concluded with recommenda-tions for the consideration of Member States.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL ACTION

On 15 July [meeting 36], the Economic and Social Council adopted resolution 2010/1 [draft: E/2010/L.15] without vote [agenda item 5].

Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations

The Economic and Social Council,Reaffirming General Assembly resolution 46/182 of

19 December 1991 and the guiding principles contained in the annex thereto, and recalling other relevant resolutions

Chapter III: Humanitarian and special economic assistance 895

of the Assembly and relevant resolutions and agreed conclu-sions of the Economic and Social Council,

Reaffirming also the principles of neutrality, human-ity, impartiality and independence for the provision of humanitarian assistance and the need for all actors engaged in the provision of such assistance in situations of complex emergencies and natural disasters to promote and fully re-spect these principles,

Recalling its decision to consider the theme “Strengthen-ing of the coordination of humanitarian assistance” at the humanitarian affairs segment of its substantive session of 2010,

Recalling also its decision to convene two panels, on the themes “Humanitarian assistance operations in highly hazardous or insecure and unsafe environments” and “Strengthening preparedness for humanitarian emergencies and the coordinated provision of humanitarian assistance, in particular addressing the humanitarian needs of the af-fected populations and the factors that increase susceptibil-ity to humanitarian emergencies”, and its decision to hold an informal event on the theme “From relief to recovery: lessons learned from the experience of Haiti”,

Expressing grave concern at the increase in the number of people affected by humanitarian emergencies, including those associated with natural hazards and complex emer-gencies, at the increased impact of natural disasters and at the displacement resulting from humanitarian emergencies,

Reiterating the need to mainstream a gender perspec-tive into humanitarian assistance in a comprehensive and consistent manner,

Expressing deep concern at the increasing challenges posed to Member States and the United Nations humanitarian response capacity by the consequences of natural disasters, including those related to the continuing impact of climate change, and by the global food crisis and continuing food insecurity,

Acknowledging that the current financial and economic crisis has the potential to increase the need for resources for humanitarian assistance in developing countries,

Condemning the increasing number of attacks and other acts of violence against humanitarian personnel, facilities, assets and supplies, and expressing deep concern about the negative implications of such acts for the provision of humanitarian assistance to affected populations,

Noting with grave concern that violence, including gen-der-based violence, particularly sexual violence, and vio-lence against children, continues to be deliberately directed against civilian populations in many emergency situations,

Recognizing that building and strengthening national and local preparedness, prevention, resilience, mitigation and response capacity is critical to a more predictable and effective response,

Recognizing also the clear relationship between emer-gency relief, rehabilitation and development, and reaffirm-ing that, in order to ensure a smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation and development, emergency assistance must be provided in ways that will be supportive of recovery and long-term development and that emergency measures should be seen as a step towards sustainable development,

Noting the contribution, as appropriate, of relevant re-gional and subregional organizations in the provision of humanitarian assistance within their region at the request of the affected State,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;2. Stresses that the United Nations system should make

efforts to enhance existing humanitarian capacities, knowl-edge and institutions, including, as appropriate, through the transfer of technology and expertise to developing countries, and encourages the international community to support efforts of Member States aimed at strengthening their capacity to prepare for and respond to disasters;

3. Urges Member States to develop, update and strengthen disaster preparedness and risk reduction mea-sures at all levels, in accordance with the Hyogo Frame-work for Action, in particular priority 5 thereof, taking into account their own circumstances and capacities and in coordination with relevant actors, as appropriate, and en-courages the international community and relevant United Nations entities, including the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, to give increased priority to supporting national and local efforts in this regard;

4. Encourages Member States to create and strengthen an enabling environment for the capacity-building of na-tional and local authorities, national societies of the Inter-national Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and na-tional and local non-governmental and community-based organizations in providing timely humanitarian assistance, and encourages the international community, the relevant entities of the United Nations system and other relevant in-stitutions and organizations to support national authorities in their capacity-building programmes, including through technical cooperation and long-term partnerships, based on recognition of their important role in providing humanita-rian assistance;

5. Welcomes the initiatives undertaken at the regional and national levels in relation to the implementation of the Guidelines for the Domestic Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery As-sistance adopted at the thirtieth International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, held in Geneva from 26 to 30 November 2007, and encourages Member States and, where applicable, regional organizations to take fur-ther steps to strengthen operational and legal frameworks for international disaster relief, taking into account, as appropriate, these Guidelines;

6. Encourages efforts to enhance cooperation and co-ordination between United Nations humanitarian enti-ties, other relevant humanitarian organizations and donor countries and the affected State, with a view to planning and delivering emergency humanitarian assistance in ways that are supportive of early recovery as well as sustainable rehabilitation, reconstruction and development efforts;

7. Also encourages efforts to provide education in humanitarian emergencies, including in order to contribute to a smooth transition from relief to development;

8. Requests the Emergency Relief Coordinator to continue his/her efforts to strengthen the coordination of humanitarian assistance, and urges relevant United Na-tions organizations and other relevant intergovernmental organizations, as well as other humanitarian and develop-ment actors, including civil society, to continue to work with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat to enhance the coordination, effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian assistance;

9. Encourages United Nations humanitarian organiza-tions and other relevant organizations, while strengthening


the coordination of humanitarian assistance in the field, to continue to work in close coordination with national Governments, taking into account the primary role of the affected State in the initiation, organization, coordination and implementation of such assistance within its territory;

10. Welcomes the continued efforts to strengthen the humanitarian response capacity in order to provide a timely, predictable, coordinated and accountable re-sponse to humanitarian needs, and requests the Secretary- General to continue efforts in this regard, in consultation with Member States, including by strengthening the sup-port provided to and improving the identification, selection and training of United Nations resident/humanitarian co-ordinators and by improving coordination mechanisms for the provision of humanitarian assistance at the field level;

11. Encourages the United Nations to strengthen fur-ther its ability to recruit and deploy staff quickly and flex-ibly and to procure emergency relief material rapidly and cost-effectively in order to support Governments and United Nations country teams in the coordination and provision of international humanitarian assistance;

12. Urges all actors engaged in the provision of humanitarian assistance to fully commit to and duly re-spect the guiding principles contained in the annex to General Assembly resolution 46/182, including the prin-ciples of humanity, neutrality and impartiality, as well as the guiding principle of independence, as recognized by the Assembly in its resolution 58/114 of 17 December 2003;

13. Calls upon all States and parties in complex humanitarian emergencies, in particular in armed con-flict 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 delivery of supplies and equipment, in order to allow such personnel to efficiently perform their task of assisting affected civilian populations, including refugees and inter-nally displaced persons;

14. Calls upon all parties to armed conflicts to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, human rights law and refugee law;

15. Calls upon all States and parties to comply fully with the provisions of international humanitarian law, in-cluding all the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, in particular the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, in order to protect and assist civilians in occupied territories, and in this re-gard urges the international community and the relevant organizations of the United Nations system to strengthen humanitarian assistance to civilians in such situations;

16. Recognizes the benefits of the engagement of and coordination with relevant humanitarian actors to the ef-fectiveness of humanitarian response, and encourages the United Nations to continue to pursue efforts to strengthen partnerships at the global level with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, relevant humanitarian non-governmental organizations and other participants in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee;

17. Urges Member States to continue to take the steps necessary to ensure the safety and security of humanita-rian personnel, premises, facilities, equipment, vehicles

and supplies located within their borders and in other ter-ritories under their effective control, recognizes the need for appropriate collaboration between humanitarian actors and the relevant authorities of the affected State in matters related to the safety and security of humanitarian person-nel, requests the Secretary-General to expedite his efforts to enhance the safety and security of personnel involved in United Nations humanitarian operations, and urges Mem-ber States to ensure that perpetrators of crimes commit-ted against humanitarian personnel in their territory or in other territories under their effective control do not operate with impunity and are brought to justice as provided for by national laws and by obligations under international law;

18. Encourages Member States, as well as relevant re-gional and international organizations, in accordance with their specific mandates, to support adaptation to the effects of climate change and to strengthen disaster risk reduc-tion and early warning systems in order to minimize the humanitarian consequences of natural disasters, including those related to the continuing impact of climate change, takes note of the 2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Risk and poverty in a changing climate—Invest today for a safer tomorrow, and encourages relevant entities to continue their research on the humanitarian implications of natural disasters;

19. Emphasizes the fundamentally civilian character of humanitarian assistance and, in situations in which military capacity and assets are used to support the implementation of humanitarian assistance, reaffirms the need for their use to be undertaken with the consent of the affected State and in conformity with international law, including interna-tional humanitarian law, as well as humanitarian principles;

20. Requests Member States, relevant United Nations organizations and other relevant actors to ensure that all aspects of humanitarian response address the specific needs of women, girls, men and boys, taking into consideration age and disability, including through improved collection, analysis and reporting of sex- and age-disaggregated data, taking into account, inter alia, the information provided by States;

21. Urges Member States to continue to prevent, in-vestigate and prosecute acts of gender-based violence, in-cluding sexual violence, in humanitarian emergencies, calls upon Member States and relevant organizations to strengthen support services to victims of such violence, and calls for a more effective response in this regard;

22. Notes that the current global financial and eco-nomic crisis has the potential to affect the ability of devel-oping countries to respond to humanitarian emergencies, and stresses the need to take measures to ensure adequate resources for international cooperation in the provision of humanitarian assistance;

23. Encourages Member States, the private sector, civil society and other relevant entities to make contributions and to consider increasing and diversifying their contri-butions to humanitarian funding mechanisms, including consolidated and flash appeals, the Central Emergency Re-sponse Fund and other funds, based on and in proportion to assessed needs, as a means of ensuring flexible, predict-able, timely, needs-based and, where possible, multi-year, non-earmarked and additional resources to meet global humanitarian challenges, encourages donors to adhere to the Principles and Good Practice of Humanitarian Donor-


ship, and reiterates that contributions for humanitarian assistance should be provided in a way that is not to the detriment of resources made available for international cooperation for development;

24. Calls upon United Nations humanitarian organiza-tions, in consultation with Member States, as appropriate, to strengthen the evidence base for humanitarian assistance by further developing common mechanisms to improve the quality, transparency and reliability of, and make further progress towards, common humanitarian needs assess-ments, to assess their performance in assistance and to ensure the most effective use of humanitarian resources by these organizations;

25. Requests the Secretary-General to reflect the pro-gress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the present resolution in his next report to the Economic and Social Council and to the General Assembly on the strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanita-rian assistance of the United Nations.

Humanitarian reform agenda

In 2010, ocha worked to respond quickly and effectively to humanitarian emergencies and to de-velop stronger, more decisive humanitarian leader-ship. The new ocha strategic framework 2010–2013 focused on providing a more enabling environment for humanitarian action, creating a more effective humanitarian coordination system and strengthening ocha management and administration. To support implementation of the strategic framework, the Senior Management Team established cross-ocha Manage-ment Task Teams (mtts) for each strategic objective. The mtts developed a mid-year performance report to assess progress in the first half of 2010, and re-evaluate priorities for the second half of the year and for 2011. Ocha also reviewed its Emergency Services Branch, established the Performance and Accountability Framework for the cerf, and used the recommenda-tions from the Cluster Evaluation Phase 2 to draft Inter-Agency Standing Committee (iasc) operational guidance on inter-cluster coordination, identifying Colombia, Nepal and Pakistan as priority countries in which to launch inter-cluster support missions. It also adopted a new response-preparedness policy, strengthening its capacity to respond to crisis situa-tions, as well as its central role in supporting other partners in emergency response.

In other developments, ocha enhanced its Roster Management System, keeping a pool of qualified, pre-screened candidates available for rapid field deploy-ment. Over 600 people were placed on the Roster in 2010, and 120 field posts filled. Ocha was developing a comprehensive human resources strategy for 2011 and beyond, focusing on training and developing a flexible team. Ocha worked with the Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and of Political Affairs to finalize guidelines for field-level integrated planning, and by the end of the year, 15 countries had developed

or were developing an integrated strategic framework. The organization also led the iasc review of protec-tion from sexual exploitation and abuse, and planned to support an iasc task force to ensure guidance on community-based complaint mechanisms and vic-tim assistance. Two policy briefs were produced by the Policy and Development Studies Branch on the impact of water scarcity and energy, demonstrating how interconnected global challenges could drive humanitarian vulnerabilities. Ocha approved a new internal evaluation policy along with a four-year im-plementation plan to measure performance and im-pact. It also developed new procedures for implement-ing evaluation recommendations.

Global Cluster Approach Evaluation. Follow-ing the 2005 Humanitarian Response Review [YUN 2005, p. 991], iasc established the “cluster approach” as a mechanism to improve humanitarian response effectiveness and to strengthen partnerships between all humanitarian actors [YUN 2006, p. 1057]. The first of a two-phase evaluation of the approach took place in 2007 [YUN 2007, p. 915], and the second, based on a 2008 framework [YUN 2008, p. 996], was completed in early 2010 [A/65/82-E/2010/88]. The evaluation concluded that the cluster approach coordination mechanisms had contributed to better identification of response gaps, reduced duplications, more effective coverage of needs, predictable leadership in sectoral re-sponse, and stronger and more inclusive partnerships between the United Nations and non-UN actors.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ACTION

On 15 December [meeting 67], the General Assembly adopted resolution 65/133 [draft: A/65/L.45 & Add.1] without vote [agenda item 69 (a)].

Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations

The General Assembly,Reaffirming its resolution 46/182 of 19 December 1991

and the guiding principles contained in the annex thereto, other relevant General Assembly and Economic and Social Council resolutions and agreed conclusions of the Council,

Noting the reports of the Secretary-General on the strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanita-rian assistance of the United Nations and on the Central Emergency Response Fund,

Reaffirming the principles of neutrality, humanity, im-partiality and independence for the provision of humanita-rian assistance, and reaffirming also the need for all actors engaged in the provision of humanitarian assistance in situations of complex emergencies and natural disasters to promote and fully respect these principles,

Deeply concerned about the humanitarian impact of such global challenges as the global financial and economic cri-sis, the food crisis and continuing food insecurity, includ-ing their effect on the increasing vulnerability of popula-tions and their negative impact on the effective delivery of humanitarian assistance,


Emphasizing the need to mobilize adequate, predictable, timely and flexible resources for humanitarian assistance based on and in proportion to assessed needs, with a view to ensuring fuller coverage of the needs in all sectors and across humanitarian emergencies, and recognizing, in this regard, the achievements of the Central Emergency Re-sponse Fund,

Reiterating the need for Member States, relevant United Nations organizations and other relevant actors to main-stream a gender perspective into humanitarian assistance, including by addressing the specific needs of women, girls, boys and men in a comprehensive and consistent manner,

Expressing its deep concern at the increasing challenges faced by Member States and the United Nations humanita-rian response capacity as a result of the consequences of natural disasters, including those related to the continuing impact of climate change, and reaffirming the importance of implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communi-ties to Disasters, inter alia, by providing adequate resources for disaster risk reduction, including investment in disaster preparedness, and by working towards building back better in all phases from relief to development,

Concerned about the challenges posed by the magnitude of some humanitarian emergencies, including some of the most recent natural disasters, in particular to the capacity and coordination of the humanitarian response system,

Recognizing that building national and local prepared-ness and response capacity is critical to a more predictable and effective response,

Emphasizing that enhancing international cooperation on emergency humanitarian assistance is essential, and reaffirming its resolution 64/251 of 22 January 2010 on international cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development,

Emphasizing also the fundamentally civilian character of humanitarian assistance, and reaffirming the need in situa-tions in which military capacity and assets are used to support the implementation of humanitarian assistance, for their use to be undertaken with the consent of the affected State and in conformity with international law, including international humanitarian law, as well as humanitarian principles,

Condemning the increasing number of deliberate threats and violent attacks against humanitarian personnel and facilities and the negative implications for the provision of humanitarian assistance to populations in need,

Recognizing the high numbers of persons affected by humanitarian emergencies, including internally displaced persons, bearing in mind their particular needs, and welcom-ing in this regard the adoption and ongoing ratification pro-cess of the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, which marks a significant step towards strengthening the national and regional normative framework for the protection of and assistance to internally displaced persons in Africa,

Recognizing also the importance of the Geneva Conven-tions of 1949, which include a vital legal framework for the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, including the provision of humanitarian assistance,

Noting with grave concern that violence, including gen-der-based violence, particularly sexual violence, and vio-lence against children, continues to be deliberately directed against civilian populations in many emergency situations,

Noting with appreciation the efforts made by the United Nations to improve humanitarian response, including by strengthening humanitarian response capacities, improving humanitarian coordination, enhancing predictable and ad-equate funding and strengthening the accountability of all stakeholders, and recognizing the importance of strength-ening emergency administrative procedures and funding to allow for an effective response to emergencies,

Recognizing that in strengthening the coordination of humanitarian assistance in the field, United Nations or-ganizations should continue to work in close coordination with national Governments,

1. Welcomes the outcome of the thirteenth humanita-rian affairs segment of the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2010;

2. Requests the Emergency Relief Coordinator to continue her efforts to strengthen the coordination of humanitarian assistance, and calls upon relevant United Nations organizations and other relevant intergovernmen-tal organizations, as well as other humanitarian and devel-opment actors, to continue to work with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat to enhance the coordination, effectiveness and efficiency of humanitarian assistance;

3. Calls upon the relevant organizations of the United Nations system and, as appropriate, other relevant humanitarian actors to continue efforts to improve the humanitarian response to natural and man-made disas-ters and complex emergencies by further strengthening humanitarian response capacities at all levels, by continu-ing to strengthen the coordination of humanitarian assis-tance at the field level, including in support of national au-thorities of the affected State, as appropriate, and by further enhancing transparency, performance and accountability;

4. Recognizes the benefits of engagement and coordina-tion with relevant humanitarian actors to the effectiveness of humanitarian response, and encourages the United Na-tions to continue to pursue efforts to strengthen partner-ships at the global level with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, relevant humanitarian non-governmental organizations and other participants in the Inter-Agency Standing Committee;

5. Requests the Secretary-General to strengthen the support provided to United Nations resident/humanitarian coordinators and to United Nations country teams, includ-ing by providing necessary training, identifying resources and improving the identification of and the selection pro-cess for United Nations resident/humanitarian coordina-tors, and enhancing their performance accountability;

6. Reaffirms the importance of implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, and looks forward to the midterm review of the Hyogo Frame-work for Action, the third session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, to be held in Geneva from 8 to 13 May 2011, and the 2011 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction;

7. Calls upon Member States and the international community to increase resources for disaster risk reduction measures, including in the areas of prevention, mitigation and preparedness for effective response and contingency planning, in order to, inter alia, further strengthen na-tional and local capacities to prepare for and respond to


humanitarian emergencies, and encourages closer coopera-tion between national stakeholders and humanitarian and development actors in this regard;

8. Urges Member States, the United Nations and other relevant organizations to take further steps to provide a co-ordinated emergency response to the food and nutrition needs of affected populations, while aiming to ensure that such steps are supportive of national strategies and pro-grammes aimed at improving food security;

9. Expresses concern at the challenges related to, inter alia, safe access to and use of fuel, firewood, alternative en-ergy, water and sanitation, shelter and food and health-care services in humanitarian emergencies, and takes note with appreciation of initiatives at the national and international levels that promote effective cooperation in this regard;

10. Encourages the international community, includ-ing relevant United Nations organizations and the Interna-tional Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to support efforts of Member States aimed at strengthening their capacity to prepare for and respond to disasters and to support efforts, as appropriate, to strengthen systems for identifying and monitoring disaster risk, including vulner-ability and natural hazards;

11. Welcomes the initiatives at the regional and national levels related to the implementation of the Guidelines for the Domestic Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance, adopted at the Thirtieth International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, held in Geneva from 26 to 30 November 2007, and encourages Member States and, where applicable, regional organizations, to take further steps to strengthen operational and legal frameworks for international disaster relief, taking into account the Guidelines, as appropriate;

12. Encourages States to create an enabling environ-ment for the capacity building of local authorities and of national and local non-governmental and community-based organizations in order to ensure better preparedness in providing timely, effective and predictable humanita-rian assistance, and encourages the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to provide support to such efforts, including, as appropriate, through the transfer of technology and expertise to developing countries and through support to programmes aimed at enhancing the coordination capacities of affected States;

13. Calls upon United Nations humanitarian entities, other relevant humanitarian organizations, development partners, the private sector, donor countries and the af-fected State to enhance cooperation and coordination, with a view to planning and delivering humanitarian assistance in ways that are supportive of early recovery as well as of sustainable rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts;

14. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the affected countries and relevant humanitarian and development actors, to carry out an assessment of steps taken by the United Nations and relevant partners to support ef-forts to strengthen local, national and regional humanita-rian response capacity and to include his findings as well as recommendations for enhancing United Nations support in this regard in his report to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session;

15. Encourages efforts to provide education in humanitarian emergencies, including in order to contribute to a smooth transition from relief to development;

16. Calls upon relevant United Nations organizations to support the improvement of the consolidated appeals process, inter alia, by engaging in the preparation of needs analyses and common humanitarian action plans, includ-ing through a better analysis of gender-related allocations, in order to further the development of the process as an instrument for United Nations strategic planning and pri-oritization, and by involving other relevant humanitarian organizations in the process, while reiterating that consoli-dated appeals should be prepared in consultation with af-fected States;

17. Requests Member States, relevant humanitarian or-ganizations of the United Nations system and other relevant humanitarian actors to ensure that all aspects of humanita-rian response, including disaster preparedness and needs as-sessment, take into account the specific needs of the affected population, recognizing that giving appropriate considera-tion to, inter alia, gender, age and disability is part of a com-prehensive and effective humanitarian response, and in this regard encourages efforts to ensure gender mainstreaming in the delivery of humanitarian assistance;

18. Calls upon United Nations humanitarian organiza-tions, in consultation with Member States, as appropriate, to strengthen the evidence base for humanitarian assistance by further developing common mechanisms to improve the quality, transparency and reliability of, and make further progress towards, common humanitarian needs assessments, including through improved collection, analysis and report-ing of sex-, age- and disability-disaggregated data, to assess their performance in assistance and to ensure the most ef-fective use of humanitarian resources by these organizations;

19. Calls upon donors to provide adequate, timely, pre-dictable and flexible resources based on and in proportion to assessed needs, including for underfunded emergencies, and to continue to support diverse humanitarian funding channels, and encourages efforts to adhere to the Principles and Good Practice of Humanitarian Donorship;

20. Welcomes the important achievements of the Central Emergency Response Fund in ensuring a more timely and predictable response to humanitarian emergen-cies, stresses the importance of continuing to improve the functioning of the Fund in order to ensure that resources are used in the most efficient, effective, accountable and transparent manner possible, and looks forward to review-ing the five-year evaluation of the Fund in 2011;

21. Calls upon all Member States and invites the pri-vate sector and all concerned individuals and institutions to consider increasing their voluntary contributions to the Central Emergency Response Fund, and emphasizes that contributions should be additional to current commitments to humanitarian programming and should not be to the detriment of resources made available for international cooperation for development;

22. Reiterates that the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs should benefit from adequate and more predictable funding, and calls upon all Member States to consider increasing voluntary contributions;

23. 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;


24. Calls upon States to adopt preventive measures and effective responses to acts of violence committed against civil-ian populations in armed conflicts and to ensure that those re-sponsible are promptly brought to justice, in accordance with national law and their obligations under international law;

25. Urges all Member States to address gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies and to ensure that their laws and institutions are adequate to prevent, promptly investigate and prosecute acts of gender-based violence, and calls upon States, the United Nations and all relevant humanitarian organizations to improve coordina-tion, harmonize response and strengthen capacity, with a view to reducing such violence, and in support services to victims of such violence;

26. Recognizes the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement as an important international framework for the protection of internally displaced persons, encourages Member States and humanitarian agencies to continue to work together, in collaboration with host communities, in endeavours to provide a more predictable response to the needs of internally displaced persons, and in this regard calls for continued and enhanced international support, upon request, for capacity-building efforts of States;

27. Calls upon all States and parties in complex humanitarian emergencies, in particular in armed con-flict 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 delivery of supplies and equipment, in order to allow such personnel to efficiently perform their task of assisting affected civilian populations, including refugees and inter-nally displaced persons;

28. Welcomes the progress made towards further en-hancing the United Nations security management system, and supports the approach taken by the Secretary-General to focus the security management system on enabling the United Nations system to deliver on its mandates, pro-grammes and activities by effectively managing the risks to which personnel are exposed, including in the provision of humanitarian assistance;

29. Requests the Secretary-General to report on ac-tion taken to further the efforts of the United Nations to strengthen its ability to recruit and deploy staff quickly and flexibly, procure emergency relief materials and services rapidly, cost-effectively and locally, where applicable, and quickly disburse funds in order to support Governments and United Nations country teams in the coordination of international humanitarian assistance;

30. Reaffirms the importance of humanitarian assis-tance of the United Nations system, and welcomes the upcoming twentieth anniversary, at its sixty-sixth session, of its resolution 46/182;

31. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, through the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2011, on progress made in strengthening the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Na-tions and to submit a report to the Assembly on the detailed use of the Central Emergency Response Fund.

UN and other humanitarian personnel

In response to General Assembly resolution 64/77 [YUN 2009, p. 1459], the Secretary-General, in Sep-tember [A/65/344 & Corr.1], provided updates on the safety and security of UN and other humanitarian personnel over the preceding year and on the ef-forts by the UN Department of Safety and Security to implement that resolution. He expressed concern over the number of UN and associated personnel af-fected by security incidents, especially the continuing trend of politically and criminally motivated target-ing of humanitarian relief workers. He reiterated his call to Member States to support the Saving Lives Together framework, and requested that Member States ratify or accede to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel, adopted by the Assembly in resolution 60/42 [YUN 2005, p. 1420].

The Assembly, in resolution 65/132 of 15 Decem-ber, called on Governments and parties in complex humanitarian emergencies to cooperate fully with the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies and organizations and to ensure the safe and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel (see p. 1474).

To address the increased risk to UN staff resulting from malicious acts, natural disasters and other emer-gencies, the Secretary-General, in February [A/64/662], proposed the establishment of a dedicated emergency preparedness and support unit in the Office of the As-sistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Man-agement. The unit would address the coordination of medical, psychological, welfare and administrative issues faced by surviving staff and affected families; and assist duty stations, country offices and security management teams to develop, implement, maintain and test emergency medical and mass casualty man-agement plans and to develop, implement, coordinate and facilitate a comprehensive support system consist-ing of risk-based preparedness, emergency response and post-emergency response. Resource requirements for the proposed unit amounted to an additional $3,145,100 gross for the 2010–2011 biennium.

In March [A/64/7/Add.22], the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (acabq) recommended against the establishment of the unit, citing concern at adding another layer of bureaucracy. Acabq supported a limited strengthening of certain functions within the Office of Human Resources Man-agement, and recommended accordingly the appropria-tion of $1,571,800 for the 2010–2011 biennium.

By section II of its resolution 64/260 of 29 March, the Assembly endorsed acabq conclusions and ap-proved an additional $2,745,000 for the 2010–2011 biennium, representing a charge against the contin-gency fund (see p. 1437).


Resource mobilizationCentral Emergency Response Fund

In 2010, the Central Emergency Response Fund (cerf), a cash-flow mechanism for the initial phase of humanitarian emergencies established in 1992 [YUN 1992, p. 584], continued to allow for the rapid provi-sion of assistance to populations affected by sudden-onset disasters and underfunded emergencies. The Fund was upgraded by General Assembly resolution 60/124 [YUN 2005, p. 991] as a $500 million standby fund, with $450 million for grants and $50 million for loans to ensure that all involved in emergencies received support as quickly as possible. The cerf Advisory Group, established to provide the Secretary-General with policy guidance and advice on the use and impact of the Fund, met in July and November. In 2010, donors raised $428.7 million for the Fund, and over $415 million was distributed to 469 projects in 45 countries and territories.

Report of Secretary-General. In his August report on cerf [A/65/290], covering the period from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2010, the Secretary- General indicated that $448.3 million was allo-cated from the Fund to implement life-saving ac-tivities in 52 countries and territories, comprising $294.6 million through the rapid response window and $153.7 million through the underfunded win-dow. Fifteen humanitarian agencies received funds to address emergency needs, with many projects being carried out in partnership with non-governmental organizations (ngos). A breakdown of the rapid re-sponse grants showed that projects in response to conflict-related emergencies received the highest allo-cations at $294 million, followed by natural disaster-related allocations of $121.6 million, and floods and storms, $23.5 million. Africa received the highest per-centage of funding with 57 per cent, followed by Asia and the Caucasus with 25 per cent, Latin America and the Caribbean with 15 per cent, and the Middle East with 3 per cent. The largest allocation for any natural disaster in the Fund’s history, $38.5 million, was allocated to the Haiti earthquake response. The Fund’s loan mechanism, a cash-flow instrument avail-able when funds expected from donors were not re-ceived, made a $2.6 million loan to ocha in October 2009 to bridge a funding gap for field emergency coordination activities in Chad, Colombia, Somalia, West Africa and Zimbabwe. Following the transfer of outstanding pledges, the loan was fully reimbursed in January 2010.

The majority of the recommendations issued in the two-year independent evaluation of cerf [YUN 2008, p. 998] were implemented, with the most signifi-cant improvements to the Fund’s operational frame-work reflected in an April Secretary-General bulletin

[ST/SGB/2010/5] on refining the operational guid-ance on the use, management and administration of the Fund. The iasc Working Group established the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Humanitarian Financing Working Group in late 2009, consolidat-ing the cerf Inter-Agency Group, the cerf Part-nership Task Force and the iasc Good Humanita-rian Donorship Contact Group into one entity. The Secretary-General concluded that the Fund continued to prove its value as a versatile collective emergency response tool whose ability to adapt and improve was demonstrated by the changes implemented since the two-year evaluation.

Advisory Group meetings. At its July meeting [A/65/584], the cerf Advisory Group welcomed the is-suance on 23 April of the revised Secretary-General’s bulletin on the Fund (see above), which included an increase in the implementation period for rapid-response projects from three to six months, and took note of the approval by the Controller of an umbrella letter of understanding between the Fund, UN agen-cies and the International Organization for Migra-tion. The Group welcomed the findings of the single country pilot using the cerf draft performance and accountability framework undertaken in Kenya and encouraged the Fund secretariat to undertake three more country reviews in 2010. The Group also en-dorsed the approach for a five-year evaluation, which would provide actionable recommendations through a Secretary-General’s report to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth (2011) session).

In November [A/65/693], the Group discussed the lack of utility of the Fund’s $50 million loan facil-ity, the balance of which stood at $75 million, having accrued some $25 million in interest, and requested the Fund’s secretariat to review the use of the loan facility for its next meeting. The Group endorsed the final version of the performance and accountability framework, and looked forward to reviewing the re-sults of reviews in Chad, Mauritania and Sri Lanka. It noted that, since its last discussion of the manage-ment response matrix of the two-year evaluation of the Fund in November 2009, 26 of the 33 operational recommendations had been implemented, and one re-jected. The Group endorsed the closure of the matrix and requested the secretariat to continue to update it on progress made on outstanding recommendations. The Group also requested the secretariat to continue to promote a uniform understanding of the life-saving criteria by all recipients of the Fund and provide an update at the next meeting; analyse the Fund’s use in protracted crises; provide feedback to the Group on actions to take in response to a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (fao) evaluation; and prepare an analysis on the timeliness of the Fund’s disbursements to UN agencies and then to ngos.


Consolidated appeals

The consolidated appeals process (cap), an inclu-sive and coordinated programme cycle for analysing context, assessing needs and planning prioritized humanitarian response, was the humanitarian sec-tor’s main strategic planning and programming tool. In 2010, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners issued consolidated and flash appeals seeking $11.3 billion in assistance to Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, the Democratic Re-public of the Congo (drc), Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Pakistan, Somalia, the Sudan, Uganda, West Africa, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

The latest available data indicated that 64 per cent ($7.2 billion) of requirements had been met.

United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security

The United Nations Trust Fund for Human Se-curity, established in March 1999, continued to support projects involving transition to peace and sustainable development in fragile and conflict- affected communities; refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants; climate-related threats; urban violence; poverty reduction and social inclusion; and economic, environmental and social components of health-related insecurities. In response to Gen-eral Assembly resolution 60/1 [YUN 2005, p. 48], the Secretary-General, in March [A/64/701], provided updates on developments related to the advancement of human security since the General Assembly 2005 World Summit [YUN 2005, p. 48], including the activi-ties of the Trust Fund.

The Trust Fund played a critical role in channel-ling financial resources to field-based projects on the application of the human security concept in the UN system. At December 2009, it had allocated approxi-mately $323 million to 187 projects in over 60 coun-tries. The highest percentage of funding went to Af-rica (32.3 per cent), followed by Eastern Europe and Central Asia (29 per cent), Asia and the Pacific (23.3 per cent), Latin America and the Caribbean (7.7 per cent), the Middle East and Arab States (2.9 per cent) and global projects (4.8 per cent). Examples of Trust Fund projects included a project in the Ituri region of the drc addressing post-conflict recovery; a project in the highlands of Shan State in Myanmar focusing on improving livelihoods and strengthening food secu-rity of former poppy farmers and poor and vulnerable families; and multi-agency projects in areas of Bela-rus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident aimed at improving living standards and safety for affected populations.

The Assembly, in resolution 64/291 of 16 July, requested the Secretary-General to seek the views of Member States on the notion of human security, and to submit a report at its sixty-sixth (2011) session (see p. 806).

Humanitarian ActivitiesAfricaCentral African Republic

The UN Consolidated Appeal for the Central Afri-can Republic in 2010 sought $149.9 million, of which 48 per cent ($72.5 million) was received.

While progress was made over the previous year, the humanitarian situation in the country remained fragile. In 2010, rebel groups both within and outside the peace process—in particular the Convention des patriotes pour la justice et la paix—carried out at-tacks which resulted in new displacements, primarily in the north-eastern areas of the country. Increased and expanded attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army severely constrained humanitarian access in the east, where humanitarian operations were scaled down due to security concerns. Farmers missed out on the agricultural season in June and July due to displace-ment and security concerns, which led to significant food security issues in the north-east. An initial appeal had sought $113.6 million for 135 projects. In July, humanitarian partners issued revised require-ments, adapted to better respond to the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country.

Chad

The UN Consolidated Appeal for Chad in 2010 sought $544.1 million, of which 60 per cent ($326.3 million) was received.

In 2010, Chad saw significant changes after the signing of a peace agreement with the Sudan in Janu-ary, leading to the deployment of the Chado-Suda-nese mixed security force along the border and the opening of the border for trade. Security incidents significantly decreased, although armed banditry and organized criminality remained a threat to the stability of eastern Chad. While incidents affecting the humanitarian community significantly decreased as well, kidnappings of humanitarian workers and for-eign nationals remained a concern. In addition to the continued protection and assistance needs in eastern Chad related to refugees, internally displaced persons (idps), returnees and vulnerable host populations, the country experienced a critical food and nutrition crisis caused by the 2009 drought in the Sahelian belt. The number of vulnerable people increased to more than 2.5 million, with some 320,000 refugees and 180,000 idps and returnees lacking access to basic social


services and experiencing scarcity of natural resources, including water and land access. Over the previous two years, about 43,000 idps had returned to their villages of origin, and the Government estimated that another 30,000 would return home soon. A joint ef-fort by Chadian authorities, UN agencies and the humanitarian community was launched through the Early Recovery Cluster, resulting in a common strategy for durable solutions for idps.

Congo

The UN Consolidated Appeal for the Republic of the Congo, which sought $59.2 million in 2010, re-ceived 61 per cent ($36.3 million) of the requirement.

Following armed clashes in Equateur Province of the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (drc) in October 2009, an influx of refugees fleeing that country compounded an existing humanitarian crisis in the Congo. Despite the limited means, some 35,000 refugees received non-food items; infrastruc-ture and housing were constructed; 16 new health centres were built; 17,000 refugee students enrolled at primary schools; and more than 70,000 food ra-tions were distributed. Potable water was delivered, and steps were taken to give the refugees a degree of self-sufficiency through the provision of supplies, seeds, agricultural equipment and fishing gear; but the situation remained challenging.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The UN Consolidated Appeal for the drc, which sought $827.6 million in 2010, received 63 per cent ($521 million) of the requirement.

The country continued to face a widespread humanitarian crisis in 2010, as armed conflict and vio-lence persisted in the east and north-east regions, with the radicalization and fragmentation of certain groups and a new crisis that erupted in Equateur province in 2009, following a dispute over natural resources. Hundreds of thousands of civilians were forced to flee due to abuses by the warring parties, including rape, murder, looting, destruction of property and forced recruitment of children. As at September, more than 1.7 million people were displaced. The country as a whole continued to be affected by food insecurity, high malnutrition rates, lack of access to adequate health care, the persistence of diseases, and problems of access to safe drinking water, as well as natural disasters and unresolved refugee problems such as the expulsion of Congolese migrants from Angola. The humanitarian community increased its efforts, and achieved some positive results, such as 2.2 million people gaining ac-cess to safe drinking water, 550,000 persons benefit-ting from emergency shelter, and some 850,000 per-sons receiving non-food aid.

Kenya

The UN Consolidated Appeal for Kenya’s Emer-gency Humanitarian Response Plan (ehrp), which sought $603.5 million in 2010, received 66 per cent ($399.3 million) of the requirement.

Kenya’s 2010 ehrp focused on preparedness for El Niño floods, recovery from climate change-induced drought, food insecurity and assistance to refugees. Food security improved following the 2009 short rains and 2010 long rains, leading to gradual im-provement in pasture and water availability, livestock and crop production. The food-insecure caseload for food aid decreased from 3.8 million to 1.2 million in October; however, the recovery was uneven, and malnutrition in women and children remained a seri-ous public health concern. Climate change increased the frequency of hazards such as drought, floods and livestock diseases, forcing pastoralists out of their main production system, and creating resource-based conflicts and related displacements. Kenya’s refugee population continued to increase, reaching 412,193 people by September—an additional 80,000 people—while the sizes of refugee camps remained the same. The country’s idp situation improved with the resettlement of 789 households, leaving around 30,000 idps from the country’s post-election violence yet to be resettled.

Somalia

The UN Consolidated Appeal for Somalia, which sought $596.1 million in 2010, received 67 per cent ($399.9 million) of the requirement.

Somalia started the year with an estimated 2.65 mil-lion people in crisis, but the combination of two good rainy seasons and the easing of the 2009 economic crisis, as well as a new methodology for counting peo-ple in crisis, reduced that number in the second half of the year to 2 million people. The nutrition situation improved slightly as well, from a 16.6 per cent global acute malnutrition rate at the beginning of the year to 15.2 per cent in August, although the number re-mained alarmingly high and above the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold. Displacement figures remained relatively constant through the year, with approximately 1.4 million idps midway through 2010. Humanitarian access was extremely challenging, especially in southern Somalia, as eight agencies were expelled and 23 humanitarian facilities or assets at-tacked between January and August. The World Food Programme (wfp) stopped its general food distribu-tions, hospital feeding and other programmes, which left the Nutrition Cluster to partially maintain the delivery of supplementary feeding programmes in the south. At mid-year, the humanitarian strategy for So-malia shifted due to reduced access to the highest-need


areas, reduced humanitarian funding, and increased scrutiny and expectation for humanitarian operations. As a consequence, most clusters prioritized life-saving actions and livelihood support.

Sudan

The UN Consolidated Appeal for Sudan, which sought $1.84 billion in 2010, received 66 per cent ($1.22 billion) of the requirement.

In 2010, the humanitarian operation in the Sudan was the largest in the world, with the bulk of humanita-rian needs concentrated in Darfur and southern Sudan, where volatile operating environments at times pre-vented the delivery of critical assistance. The combina-tion of persistent insecurity, weak to non-existent basic services, and, in many areas, a harsh physical environ-ment meant that the country continued to rank among the most serious humanitarian situations in the world. With regard to implementing the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement [YUN 2005, p. 301], benchmarks such as border demarcation, agreements on wealth-sharing arrangements and citizenship issues saw little progress, although positive steps were made toward establishing coherent coordination structures, developing and syn-chronizing contingency plans across the country, and pre-positioning humanitarian supplies—such as food and non-food items—before the rainy season. Over the year, humanitarian partners provided food aid to 8.9 million people and emergency non-food items to 2.4 million people. Constraints in humanitarian ac-cess in Darfur and incidents concerning humanitarian workers remained a concern. Aid dependence became an issue requiring attention by the humanitarian com-munity, especially for idps living in camps. Key elements of focus included improved vulnerability targeting and greater investment in areas such as agriculture, environ-ment, education, governance and livelihoods.

Uganda

The UN Consolidated Appeal for Uganda, which sought $184.4 million in 2010, received 54 per cent ($99.1 million) of the requirement.

Confidence in the sustainability of the country’s peace resulted in significant homeward movements by idps, and by November, some 92 per cent of the formerly 1.8 million displaced people in the Acholi and Teso regions had returned home or identified new villages to settle. Natural disasters continued to pose a serious threat, as eastern and western Uganda experienced landslides and floods at the beginning of March that left an estimated 300 people dead and sev-eral thousand displaced. Vulnerability to disease out-breaks remained a concern, as a cholera epidemic hit four Karamoja districts in April, infecting 1,419 people and killing 34. In October, the country experienced

its second polio outbreak in two years. In August, the Humanitarian Country Team decided that the situa-tion in Uganda no longer warranted a consolidated ap-peals process for 2011, and instead recommended that an inter-agency working group, with the participation of the Office of the Prime Minister, should develop a humanitarian profile of the country as a tool to guide humanitarian decision-making in 2011, and to sup-port the Government’s Peace, Recovery and Develop-ment Plan.

West Africa

The UN Consolidated Appeal for West Africa, which sought $774.9 million in 2010 to assist Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, the Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo, received 54 per cent ($421.5 million) of requirements.

In 2010, the West African region remained con-fronted with a wide range of threats to livelihoods and protection, ranging from food insecurity to political vol-atility, bad governance, transnational crime activities—including human trafficking—chronic poverty, and long-term impacts of climate change, often exceeding the populations’ coping capacities and deepening their vulnerability. In terms of food security, over 10 million people were affected by the food crisis in the Sahel, the result of a devastatingly poor 2009–2010 agropastoral season and insufficient rainfall the previous year. The Niger was the hardest-hit, with over 7 million food-insecure people, requiring the launch of an emergency humanitarian action plan. Natural disasters increased in both frequency and impact, as droughts affected over 10 million people in the Sahel and floods affected 1.45 million others. Moreover, cholera outbreaks and dengue fever epidemics hit several countries in the re-gion, affecting thousands of people. Governments and partners in the sub-region struggled to minimize the impact on vulnerable populations caused by a succes-sion of events, including a coup d’état (Niger), pre-election violence (Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Nigeria) and inter-ethnic conflict (northern Ghana, Togo). The re-gion continued to witness protracted refugee situations and idps due to past conflicts and continued instability. Durable solutions were being sought for some 149,810 refugees in the region. In response, the humanitarian community pursued the strengthening of its capacity for early warning, emergency response, disaster pre-paredness and coordination, and reviewed its funding requirements.

Zimbabwe

The UN Consolidated Appeal for Zimbabwe, which sought $478.4 million in 2010, received 47 per cent ($226.2 million) of the requirement.


The humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe re-mained fragile due to the degradation of infrastruc-ture in the health, water and sanitation, and food security sectors, in addition to the country’s under-lying economic and political challenges. Food inse-curity was still significant in rural and urban areas. By mid-year, rates of chronic and acute malnutrition stood at 35 and 2.4 per cent, respectively. Malaria was the latest disease outbreak to afflict the country. On the positive side, partners in the health, water, sanitation and hygiene (wash) clusters played a key role in curbing disease outbreaks through initiatives such as the Health and wash Emergency Response Units and a nationwide measles vaccination campaign that reached 95 per cent of targeted children by June. Humanitarian access improved, as did the capacity of civil society organizations and national and local government structures. A prolonged dry spell and uneven distribution of rainfall affected crop produc-tion, with only 1.5 of the required 2 million metric tonnes of cereal production recorded. Government programmes, food aid and private imports covered a substantial portion of the cereal deficit, and a newly liberalised market shifted the challenge from access to foods to affordability.

AsiaAfghanistan

The UN Consolidated Appeal for the Afghanistan Humanitarian Action Plan, which sought $774.5 mil-lion in 2010, received 65 per cent ($505.3 million) of the requirement.

During the first half of 2010, the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan continued to deteriorate. The average number of security incidents in the first four months was 52 per cent higher than the same period in 2009, resulting from a combination of fac-tors, including increased international military troop presence, security force operations in the south, and significant armed opposition activities in the south-east and east. Between January and June, civilian casualties increased by 31 per cent compared to 2009, and the number of civilians assassinated and executed surged by more than 95 per cent. The spread of the conflict from the south and the east to more stable provinces in the north-west and west shrank humanitarian space and resulted in loss of livelihood, destruction of property and personal assets. As at May, idps numbered 328,588; however, 65,673 Af-ghans were able to voluntarily return to Afghanistan from Pakistan with unhcr assistance in March. Nat-ural disasters compounded the coping difficulties of an already fragile population, as increased precipita-tion resulted in floods and avalanches in February and March. From July and August, more than 220,000 individuals were affected by f lash f loods alone.

An April earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale caused damage in the north.

Iraq

The Iraq Humanitarian Action Plan, which sought $187.7 million in 2010, received 27.2 per cent ($51.1 million) of the requirement. The Appeal for the Re-gional Response Plan for Iraqi Refugees sought $367.3 million, of which it received 48.8 per cent ($179.4 million) of the requirement.

In 2010, the country’s significant humanitarian needs remained, but many of the humanitarian activi-ties planned for the year did not begin, including in the food, shelter and education sectors. While gradual stabilization continued, Iraq faced uncertainty due to ongoing political negotiations and the Government formation process that followed the general elections in March (see p. 364). Bomb attacks and other forms of violence continued, with a 16 per cent increase in civilian casualties in the first four months of the year, compared to the final four months of 2009. Of par-ticular concern were the continued attacks targeting religious sites, ceremonies and the general public. Lo-cal integration was not possible for the vast majority of Iraqi refugees, and resettlement to third countries remained the most durable solution for a large num-ber of them.

The 2010 Humanitarian Action Plan employed a three-track approach: targeting humanitarian and protection assistance to most vulnerable groups; in-creasing access to create a more effective humanitarian response; and advocating with the Government and other State and non-State actors to meet humanita-rian commitments and tackle underlying causes of humanitarian needs.

Kyrgyzstan

The UN Flash Appeal for Kyrgyzstan, which sought $94.2 million, received 73 per cent ($68.6 million) of the requirement.

On 10 June, a rise in tension between the ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz communities in the multi-ethnic city of Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan culminated in armed confrontation of several thousand youth in the city centre. Over the course of several days, the violence continued in the city and spread to the sur-rounding district of Kara Suu and neighbouring Jalal-Abad province. By 16 June, 187 deaths and 1,966 injuries had been recorded. An estimated 375,000 people fled the conflict in Osh and Jalal-Abad, of which some 75,000 sought refuge in Uzbekistan, and an estimated 40,000 idps were in acute need of shel-ter, food, water and protection. A further estimated 260,000 idps living with host families required sup-port to facilitate their stay, and several thousand


people injured in the violence were in need of health care and psycho-social support. Five months after the initial outbreak of violence, the humanitarian needs of the affected population still required a coordinated response by the international community, and the Humanitarian Country Team requested a six-month extension of its initial Flash Appeal.

Nepal

The Nepal Humanitarian Transition Appeal, which sought $125 million in 2010, received 56.2 per cent ($70.3 million) of the requirement.

The peace process in Nepal continued to face chal-lenges, as over three years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement [YUN 2006, p. 449], the political stalemate among the three main political parties remained unresolved. Criminal activity flour-ished in a climate of political instability and weak law and order. Political uncertainty, frequent droughts and floods and high food price inflation contributed to increased food insecurity, causing hunger and mal-nutrition, affecting 3.5 million people. Some 770,000 beneficiaries received food, or cash for assets; 85,000 children aged 6–59 months received micronutrient supplements; and 3.6 million received vitamin A and de-worming medicine. Wfp distributed 21,140 met-ric tonnes of food in food-insecure districts and fao provided 103,111 farming households with essential seeds and fertilizers for the summer crop season. The Emergency Response Fund supported wash activities in five diarrhoea- and flood-prone districts, and an additional 190,000 households in 18 disaster-prone districts were identified for wash campaigns. The humanitarian strategy for Nepal was designed to re-spond to current and predicable humanitarian needs, and remained valid as at the mid-year review.

Occupied Palestinian Territory

The UN Consolidated Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which sought $603.4 million in 2010, received 55 per cent ($329.7 million) of the requirement.

Developments in the overall political and security environment, which remained volatile, had not fun-damentally altered the humanitarian situation, and the response was constrained by various obstacles and deteriorating funding levels. After months of proxim-ity talks between the Palestine Liberation Organiza-tion and the Government of Israel, efforts to achieve political progress were challenged by the expiration, on 26 September, of the partial freeze on settlement construction and the increased risk of violence by groups opposed to the peace process and attacks on civilians, or clashes between Israeli and the Palestin-ian Authority security forces. On the positive side, the

Palestinian economy showed signs of improvement, with reduced deficits, positive growth and stable in-flation as a result of ongoing reforms and significant external assistance, but the severe restrictions placed on the movement of goods and persons between the West Bank and Gaza affected Palestinians’ ability to contribute more significantly to their recovery. The year also marked a slight improvement in the quan-tity and diversity of goods being allowed into Gaza to support humanitarian reconstruction, due in part to sustained advocacy by humanitarian partners. On 20 June, following the flotilla incident (see p. 439), Israel announced a series of measures designed to ease the flow of goods and humanitarian staff into Gaza, but did not change the fundamental parameters of the blockade. At the time of the mid-year review of the appeal, 61 per cent of Gaza’s households and 25 per cent of households in the West Bank remained food insecure, with at least 300,000 Palestinian refugees in Gaza living in conditions of abject poverty.

Pakistan

The Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan sought $661.2 million in 2010 and received 50.2 per cent ($332.2 million) of the requirement.

In 2010, the situation in north-west Pakistan con-tinued to be characterized by small to medium-scale population movements, including new displacements, as well as steady return. Fresh hostilities in differ-ent Federal Administered Tribal Areas (“agencies”) resulted in new population outflows, and since De-cember 2009, more than 300,000 idps from Orakzai and Kurram agencies had fled to the neighbouring districts of Kohat and Hangu. In two districts of the south, a further 230,000 people remained displaced, and hundreds of thousands of idps remained in the Peshawar Valley, where the humanitarian commu-nity was carrying out an extensive vulnerability as-sessment.

The Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan was ex-tended an additional five months through December. Its strategic objectives included delivery of life-saving assistance to the people displaced or affected by the insecurity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the north-west, and in the Federally Administered Tribal Area; improved protection of civilians affected by the crisis in those areas; support to returnees and vulnerable families unable to leave their areas of origin and early recovery action; and stronger coordination, monitor-ing and reporting structures within the humanitarian community and with Government partners.

Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka Common Humanitarian Action Plan sought $289.6 million in 2010 and received 53.1 per cent ($153.8 million) of the requirement.


In 2010, significant progress was made on releases and returns from idp camps, with over 246,000 people released from camps by the end of May, while during the first five months of the year, an estimated 1,000 refugees and 10,000 idps from previous caseloads re-turned to the Northern Province. Large-scale efforts were under way to re-establish essential services and livelihoods throughout the former conflict-affected areas, but 60,000 idps still remained in camps, while 68,000 were accommodated with host families. A food security assessment conducted in March highlighted that six months after the first significant returns, com-munities faced continued food insecurity, particularly in northern districts where the previous two harvests had been minimal or lost. A three-month extension of food assistance was provided in those areas, with future emphasis placed on supporting self-sufficiency and income generation for the October planting sea-son. Adequate provision of water supply and sanitation facilities was another significant need, with thousands of wells in disrepair in the north and toilets damaged or destroyed. Widespread damage to health facilities and schools, combined with a shortage of health workers and teachers, severely hampered the provision of basic health and educational services.

Syrian Arab Republic

The year 2010 marked the third consecutive year of drought in the north-eastern region of the Syrian Arab Republic. According to Government and UN estimates, 1.3 million inhabitants were affected and 800,000 severely affected, over 95 per cent of whom lived in three governorates in the north and west. The effects of the drought were exacerbated by the impact of high food and fuel prices, as well as the global fi-nancial crisis. Direct consequences of the drought included decreased food intake, reduced capacity to restore livelihoods, massive internal displacement to-wards cities and alarming school dropout rates in some areas. Following the Government’s request, the United Nations country team prepared in August 2009 the UN/Syria Drought Response Plan [YUN 2009, p. 899]. The plan was linked to the agricultural calendar, aim-ing to address emergency humanitarian needs and reduce the drought’s impact on the most vulnerable people until the crops were harvested in May and June of 2010. In February, the UN and its partners sought a revised amount of $43.7 million in donor funding for continued humanitarian activities for the period from December 2009 through June/July 2010.

Yemen

The UN Consolidated Appeal for the Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, which sought $186.1 million in 2010, received 65 per cent ($121.3 million) of the requirement.

During the year, the conflict in the northern gov-ernorate of Sa’ada subsided, although it did not com-pletely stabilize. The year saw a ceasefire agreement in February and a signed timeline for enforcing its truce points in August, although implementation was slow, with continued clashes. At the time of the mid-year re-view of the Plan, the number of idps had risen to an estimated 342,000, far above the 150,000 figure that many agencies had previously used for planning pur-poses. In addition to idps, hundreds of thousands of people across northern Yemen were also suffering from the effects of the conflict through lack of access to ba-sic services and relief. Some 2.7 million people or 12 per cent of the country’s population, were identified as severely food insecure. Wfp targeted 1.7 million of them for assistance, along with an additional 242,000 children and pregnant and lactating women suffering from moderate to acute malnutrition. Due to the over-all levels of insecurity, humanitarian organizations had only limited sustained access to many of those people, particularly in northern governorates, although many idps received assistance through local ngos. Despite op-erational constraints and limited funds, 342,019 idps received humanitarian assistance in all conflict-affected governorates at the time of the mid-year review.

Latin America and the CaribbeanHaiti

The UN Flash Appeal for Haiti, which sought $1.5 billion in 2010, received 73 per cent ($1.1 bil-lion) of the requirement.

During 2010, humanitarian actors focused their efforts on responding to the massive emergency situ-ation caused by the earthquake which struck the country on 12 January, killing some 222,000 peo-ple and injuring some 300,000 others, while erod-ing the capacity of the local government. The earth-quake displaced around 2.1 million people, of whom 1.3 million went to spontaneous settlements in the affected areas, and 600,000 to host families outside the affected areas. It damaged an estimated 250,000 homes and 30,000 commercial buildings, and com-pletely destroyed 105,000 homes, as well as numer-ous Government and other public buildings. The total damage and loss were estimated at $7.8 billion. In November, more than 1.3 million people remained displaced, spread across 1,354 settlement sites. At the time of the mid-year review of the Appeal, an esti-mated 1.5 million children and youth under 18 were directly and indirectly affected by the earthquake, and 3,978 schools damaged or destroyed. Approxi-mately 52 per cent of households and 69 per cent of families living in large camps suffered from food in-security, and the migration of over 600,000 people from earthquake-affected areas to host families and communities increased the strain on rural house-


holds. Malnutrition remained at pre-existing levels, and chronic malnutrition remained a significant chal-lenge. The humanitarian response, however, was ef-fective at providing emergency aid to the displaced and vulnerable in the earthquake-affected areas. Wa-ter was made available daily to 1.1 million people; 4.3 million people received food rations; 1.5 million people received emergency shelter; 2.1 million peo-ple received non-food items; 11,000 latrines were installed and maintained; 116,000 people benefited from short-term employment; and 11,000 children received treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

Special economic assistance

African economic recovery and development

New Partnership for Africa’s Development

The General Assembly in 2002, by resolution 57/7 [YUN 2002, p. 910], endorsed the Secretary-General’s recommendation [ibid., p. 909] that the New Partner-ship for Africa’s Development (nepad), adopted in 2001 by the Assembly of Heads of State and Gov-ernment of the Organization of African Unity [YUN 2001, p. 900], should be the framework within which the international community should concentrate its efforts for Africa’s development. During 2010, efforts continued to focus on UN and international support for nepad and its implementation.

Implementation and support for NEPAD

Report of Secretary-General (March). In re-sponse to a request of the Committee for Programme and Coordination (cpc) [YUN 2005, p. 1004], the Secretary-General in March submitted a report [E/AC.51/2010/3] on UN system support for nepad, which detailed work undertaken by various UN sys-tem entities since May 2009. The report was organ-ized around clusters corresponding to the Partnership’s priorities and strategies: infrastructure development; governance; peace and security; agriculture, food secu-rity and rural development; industry, trade and market access; environment, population and urbanization; so-cial and human development; science and technology; and communication, advocacy and outreach. In addi-tion, four selected policy issues in the implementation of nepad were examined: strengthening of the cluster system and enhancement of United Nations/African Union (au) cooperation; support for mobilization of financial resources for nepad implementation; cross- cutting issues, such as the global economic and finan-cial crisis and gender; and institutional support. The re-port also identified challenges and constraints faced by the UN system in supporting the nepad programme.

The Secretary-General observed that the UN system had demonstrated greater commitment in support of the priority areas of the au/nepad programme through the nine clusters established under the Regional Co-ordination Mechanism (rcm) of the UN agencies working in Africa, and that development actors were increasingly present at the country level, providing multifaceted assistance to African countries. He made recommendations for the continued alignment and harmonization of cluster activities and priorities with au and nepad strategic plans; support by UN agencies for national leadership and ownership; a monitoring and evaluation framework on the impact of UN sup-port to nepad projects; and the transformation of the secretariat of the Regional Coordination Mechanism into a joint secretariat of the au Commission/nepad and UN system organizations.


On 16 March [meeting 75], the General Assembly adopted resolution 64/258 [draft: A/64/L.38, Rev.1 & Add.1] without vote [agenda item 63 (a)].

New Partnership for Africa’s Development: progress in implementation and international support

The General Assembly,Recalling its resolution 57/2 of 16 September 2002 on

the United Nations Declaration on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development,

Recalling also its resolution 57/7 of 4 November 2002 on the final review and appraisal of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and resolutions 58/233 of 23 December 2003, 59/254 of 23 December 2004, 60/222 of 23 December 2005, 61/229 of 22 December 2006, 62/179 of 19 December 2007 and 63/267 of 31 March 2009 entitled “New Partnership for Africa’s Development: progress in implementation and international support”,

Recalling further the 2005 World Summit Outcome, including the recognition of the need to meet the special needs of Africa, and recalling also its resolution 60/265 of 30 June 2006,

Recalling the political declaration on Africa’s develop-ment needs, adopted at the high-level meeting on Africa’s development needs on 22 September 2008,

Bearing in mind that African countries have primary responsibility for their own economic and social develop-ment and that the role of national policies and development strategies cannot be overemphasized, and bearing in mind also the need for their development efforts to be supported by an enabling international economic environment, and in this regard recalling the support given by the Interna-tional Conference on Financing for Development to the New Partnership,

Emphasizing that a favourable national and interna-tional environment for Africa’s growth and development is important for progress in the implementation of the New Partnership,


Stressing the need to implement all commitments by the international community regarding the economic and social development of Africa,

1. Welcomes the seventh consolidated report of the Secretary-General;

2. Reaffirms its full support for the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development;

3. Reaffirms its commitment to the full implementation of the political declaration on Africa’s development needs, as reaffirmed in the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development, adopted as the outcome document of the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for De-velopment to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, held in Doha from 29 November to 2 Decem-ber 2008;

4. Recognizes the progress made in the implementation of the New Partnership as well as regional and international support for the New Partnership, while acknowledging that much needs to be done in its implementation;

5. Reaffirms the resolve to provide assistance for pre-vention and care, with the aim of ensuring an hiv/aids-, malaria- and tuberculosis-free Africa, by addressing the needs of all, in particular the needs of women, children and young people, and by achieving as closely as possible the goal of universal access by 2010 to comprehensive hiv/aids prevention programmes, treatment, care and support in African countries, to accelerate and intensify efforts to expand access to affordable and quality medicines in Africa, including antiretroviral drugs, inter alia, by encouraging pharmaceutical companies to make drugs available, and to ensure strengthened global partnership and increased bilat-eral and multilateral assistance, where possible on a grant basis, to combat hiv/aids, malaria, tuberculosis and other infectious diseases in Africa through the strengthening of health systems;

6. Expresses concern over the multiple, interrelated and mutually exacerbating current global crises, and expresses concern, in particular, that the global financial and eco-nomic crisis, climate change, the food crisis and volatile energy prices pose serious challenges to the fight against poverty and hunger, which could further undermine the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in Africa;

7. Expresses grave concern that Africa is among the hardest hit by the impact of the world financial and eco-nomic crisis, and therefore reaffirms that it will continue to support the special needs of Africa and take action to mitigate the multidimensional impacts of the crisis on the continent;

8. Expresses concern at Africa’s disproportionately low share in the volume of international trade, which stands at only 2 per cent, its low share of official development assis-tance, the increased debt burden of some African countries, rising unemployment rates and the falls in capital inflows, and the significant fall in remittances to the continent as a result of the world financial and economic crisis, which negatively impact the hard-earned socio-economic and po-litical gains that Africa has achieved in recent years;

9. Reaffirms the need to enhance the voice and partici-pation of developing countries in international economic decision-making and norm-setting, including African coun-tries, and notes recent steps being taken in this regard, and

emphasizes in this context that the current world economic and financial crisis and efforts to address it should not lead to further marginalization of the African continent;

10. Also reaffirms the commitment by all States to es-tablish a monitoring mechanism to follow up on all com-mitments related to the development of Africa, as contained in the political declaration on Africa’s development needs, and in this context requests the President of the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session to initiate informal con-sultations, led by Member States, with the participation of relevant stakeholders, taking into account the report of the Secretary-General, with a view to reaching an agreement on this issue, building on existing mechanisms;

11. Reaffirms its full support for the implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on hiv/aids, adopted at the twenty-sixth special session of the General Assembly on 27 June 2001, and the Political Declaration on hiv/aids, adopted by the Assembly on 2 June 2006;

IActions by African countries and organizations

12. Welcomes the progress made by the African coun-tries in fulfilling their commitments in the implementa-tion of the New Partnership to deepen democracy, human rights, good governance and sound economic management, and encourages African countries, with the participation of stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector, to continue their efforts in this regard by develop-ing and strengthening institutions for governance, creating an environment conducive to involving the private sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises, in the New Partnership implementation process and to attracting for-eign direct investment for the development of the region;

13. Notes with appreciation the efforts exerted by the African Union and the regional economic communities in the area of economic integration, as well as ongoing efforts by the African Union in the operationalization of the pro-vision contained in General Assembly resolutions 59/213 of 20 December 2004, 61/296 of 17 September 2007 and 63/310 of 14 September 2009, and stresses the key role of the United Nations system in supporting the African Un-ion, in the social, economic and political fields and in the area of peace and security;

14. Welcomes the commendable progress that has been achieved in implementing the African Peer Review Mechanism, in particular the completion of the peer review process in twelve countries, and welcomes the progress in implementing the national programmes of action resulting from these reviews, and in this regard urges African States that have not yet done so to consider joining the Mecha-nism process and to strengthen the Mechanism process for its efficient performance;

15. Welcomes and appreciates the continuing and increasing efforts of African countries in mainstreaming a gender perspective and the empowerment of women in the implementation of the New Partnership;

16. Recognizes the need for African countries to con-tinue to coordinate, in accordance with their respective na-tional strategies and priorities, all types of external support in order to integrate effectively such assistance into their development processes;

17. Encourages African countries to accelerate the achievement of the objective of food security in Africa,


and welcomes the commitment made by African leaders to raise the share of agriculture and rural development in their budget expenditures, and in this regard reaffirms its support for, inter alia, the Comprehensive Africa Agricul-ture Development Programme and the outcome of the post-Abuja meeting of the International Technical Com-mittee of the Food Security Summit, held in Addis Ababa in May 2007;

18. Recognizes the important role that African regional economic communities can play in the implementation of the New Partnership, and in this regard encourages African countries and the international community to give regional economic communities the support necessary to strengthen their capacity;

19. Welcomes the progress made and the decisions taken towards the integration of the New Partnership into the African Union structures and processes;

20. Also welcomes the collaboration between the Afri-can Private Sector Forum and the United Nations Global Compact, and encourages the strengthening of this part-nership in conjunction with the African Union Commis-sion in support of the development of the African private sector and the promotion of public-private partnership pro-jects and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, in line with the relevant executive decisions of the African Union;

21. Encourages African countries to further enhance public awareness of the objectives and goals of the New Partnership and its programmes through, inter alia, effec-tive and comprehensive continent-wide communication and outreach strategies;

22. Also encourages African countries to strengthen and expand local and transit infrastructure and to continue sharing best practices with a view to strengthening regional integration;

II

Response of the international community23. Welcomes the efforts by development partners to

strengthen cooperation with the New Partnership;24. Recognizes the important role that South-South

and triangular cooperation can play in supporting Africa’s development efforts, including implementation of the New Partnership;

25. Welcomes the various important initiatives estab-lished between African countries and their development partners in recent years, such as the Africa Partnership Forum, the New Asian-African Strategic Partnership, the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, the European Union-Africa Strategic Partnership, the Group of Eight-Africa Partnership, the Millennium Challenge Account, the Emergency Plan for aids Relief of the President of the United States of America, the Africa-Turkey Coop-eration Summit, the Africa-South America Summit, the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the comprehensive health-care initiative sponsored by the Government of Cuba, the Republic of Korea-Africa Forum, the special technical assistance programme for Africa of Pakistan, the Viet Nam-Africa cooperation partnership, the India-Africa Forum, the programme for cooperation in agriculture between Chile and Kenya, the United Re-public of Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda, and the Singa-

pore Cooperation Programme for African countries, and emphasizes in this regard the importance of coordination in such initiatives on Africa and the need for their effective implementation;

26. Urges continued support of measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable de-velopment in Africa including, as appropriate, debt relief, improved market access, support for the private sector and entrepreneurship, fulfilment of commitments on official development assistance and increased flows of foreign direct investment, and transfer of technology;

27. Recognizes that Africa, which contributes the least to climate change, is one of the regions most vulnerable and most exposed to its adverse impact, and in this regard calls upon the international community, in particular developed countries, to support Africa in its adaptation and sustain-able development efforts through, inter alia, the transfer and deployment of technology, capacity-building and the provision of adequate and predictable new resources;

28. Reiterates the need for all countries and relevant multilateral institutions to continue efforts to enhance co-herence in their trade policies towards African countries, and acknowledges the importance of efforts to fully inte-grate African countries into the international trading sys-tem and to build their capacity to compete through initia-tives such as aid for trade and, given the global economic and financial crisis, the provision of assistance to address the adjustment challenges of trade liberalization;

29. Calls for a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the external debt problems of African countries, includ-ing cancellation or restructuring, as appropriate, and on a case-by-case basis, for heavily indebted African countries not part of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative that have unsustainable debt burdens, and emphasizes the importance of debt sustainability;

30. Recognizes that the negative impact of the world financial and economic crisis on development is still un-folding and entails the possibility of undoing the progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals and that it may threaten debt sustainability in some developing countries, inter alia, through its impact on the real econ-omy and through the increase in borrowing undertaken in order to mitigate the negative impacts of the crisis;

31. Calls for the fulfilment of pledges by the Group of Eight countries to double by 2010 official development assistance to Africa, and in this regard calls upon the inter-national community to honour its commitments;

32. Acknowledges efforts by developed countries to in-crease resources for development, including commitments by some developed countries to increase official develop-ment assistance, and calls for the fulfilment of all official development assistance commitments, including the com-mitments by many developed countries to achieve the tar-get of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official de-velopment assistance to developing countries by 2015 and to reach the level of at least 0.5 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance by 2010, as well as the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national in-come for official development assistance to least developed countries, and urges those developed countries that have not yet done so to make concrete efforts in this regard in accordance with their reiterated commitments;


33. Welcomes the efforts of some developed countries, which are on target to meet the commitments made in terms of increased official development assistance;

34. Also welcomes recent efforts and initiatives to en-hance the quality of aid and to increase its impact, includ-ing the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Ac-cra Agenda for Action, and the resolve to take concrete, effective and timely action in implementing all agreed commitments on aid effectiveness, with clear monitoring and deadlines, including by further aligning assistance with countries’ strategies, by building institutional capacities, by reducing transaction costs and eliminating bureaucratic procedures, by making progress on untying aid, by enhanc-ing the absorptive capacity and financial management of recipient countries and by strengthening the focus on development results;

35. Recognizes the need for the international commu-nity to align its efforts more specifically towards supporting the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Pro-gramme, and in this regard takes note of the Rome Decla-ration on World Food Security;

36. Also recognizes the need for the international com-munity to make continued efforts to increase the flow of new and additional resources for financing for development from all sources, public and private, domestic and foreign, to support the development of African countries;

37. Invites all of Africa’s development partners, in par-ticular developed countries, to support African countries in promoting and maintaining macroeconomic stability, to help African countries to attract investments and pro-mote policies conducive to attracting domestic and foreign investment, for example by encouraging private financial flows, to promote investment by their private sectors in Africa, to encourage and facilitate the transfer of the tech-nology needed to African countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mu-tually agreed, and to assist in strengthening human and institutional capacities for the implementation of the New Partnership, consistent with its priorities and objectives and with a view to furthering Africa’s development at all levels;

38. Stresses that conflict prevention, management and resolution and post-conflict consolidation are essential for the achievement of the objectives of the New Partnership, and welcomes in this regard the cooperation and support granted by the United Nations and development partners to the African regional and subregional organizations in the implementation of the New Partnership;

39. Welcomes the continued efforts of the United Na-tions Peacebuilding Commission in assisting post-conflict countries in Africa and the strengthening of the relationship between the Peacebuilding Commission and the African Un-ion, and appreciates in this regard the visit by the Chair of the Organizational Committee of the Peacebuilding Commis-sion and the Chairs of the country-specific configurations to African Union headquarters on 9 November 2009;

40. Requests the United Nations system to continue to provide assistance to the African Union and the New Part-nership secretariat and to African countries in developing projects and programmes within the scope of the priorities of the New Partnership and to place greater emphasis on monitoring, evaluation and dissemination of the effective-ness of its activities in support of the New Partnership;

41. Welcomes the Basic Education in Africa Pro-gramme of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which seeks to prioritize education and which supports holistic and comprehensive reform;

42. Invites the Secretary-General, as a follow-up to the 2005 World Summit, to urge the United Nations develop-ment system to assist African countries in implementing quick-impact initiatives through, inter alia, the Millen-nium Villages Project, and requests the Secretary-General to include in his report an assessment of those quick-impact initiatives;

43. Requests the Secretary-General to promote greater coherence in the work of the United Nations system in sup-port of the New Partnership, on the basis of the agreed clusters, and in this regard calls upon the United Nations system to continue to mainstream the special needs of Africa in all its normative and operational activities;

44. Also requests the Secretary-General to take mea-sures to strengthen the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa in order to enable it to effectively fulfil its mandate, including monitoring and reporting on progress related to meeting the special needs of Africa;

45. Further requests the Secretary-General to submit a comprehensive report on the implementation of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session on the basis of inputs from Governments, organizations of the United Nations system and other stakeholders in the New Partnership.

CPC action. Cpc, at its f iftieth session (7 June–2 July) [A/65/16], welcomed the Secretary-General’s report on nepad (see p. 908). The Com-mittee recommended that the Assembly request UN system organizations to coordinate closely with the au Commission and its nepad structures, including the rcm, and stressed the lead role of the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa in promoting regional cooperation for the development of Africa. It also wel-comed the political declaration on South-South coop-eration adopted by the 2009 High-level United Na-tions Conference on South-South Cooperation [YUN 2009, p. 876], and reiterated the need for the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa to pursue the principles underpinning South-South cooperation in addressing the challenges faced by African countries.

Report of Secretary-General (July). In response to Assembly resolution 64/258 (see p. 908), the Secretary-General submitted, in July, his comprehen-sive report [A/65/167] assessing the progress achieved to implement and support nepad, which highlighted the policy measures taken by African countries and organizations in that regard, the response of the in-ternational community and the support provided by the UN system during the previous year. Efforts continued to implement various infrastructure pro-grammes, in particular the short-term action plan and the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, in close collaboration with the African De-velopment Bank. In the area of transport infrastruc-ture, the nepad Planning and Coordinating Agency


(npca) developed the nepad East-West corridor, and a feasibility study was conducted to provide an inte-grated transport infrastructure solution from Senegal to Nigeria. In the energy sector, nepad prepared a regional programme for energy poverty alleviation based on the off-grid electrification concept that was successfully implemented in China and India. Substantial progress was also made in implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (caadp), and at the time of the report, eight countries had allocated more than 10 per cent of their budgets to agriculture. Other achievements included coordinating a consortium to strengthen the harmonization of drug registration with partner organizations; the graduation of 11 master’s students in community health nursing and psychiatric nursing through the human resource development initiative; setting up 100 nepad e-Schools in 16 countries; and piloting a two-year business incubation project for African women entrepreneurs.

The report also discussed the activities of the Regional Coordination Mechanism of UN entities and organizations working in Africa in support of the au and nepad, as well as progress achieved with the Millennium Villages Project and the peer review pro-cess. In that regard, 12 countries were peer-reviewed by the African Peer Review Forum by June. The Secretary-General concluded that progress had been achieved in implementing nepad projects, in moving forward the African Peer Review mechanism, and in increasing official development assistance to Africa. He recommended that development partners scale up their financial and technical assistance and that the international community ensure that multilateral trade agreements prioritized Africa’s needs and incor-porated development provisions. African countries were encouraged to provide the au Commission and npca with adequate human and financial resources; enhance the capacity of the regional economic com-munities as vehicles for implementing nepad regional projects; implement the caadp compacts, prioritizing investment in agriculture; increase spending on agri-culture and rural development to 10 per cent of public expenditure; and improve women’s access to educa-tion, farming land, fertilizers, credit and markets, and increase their participation in decision-making processes. The Secretary-General called on developed countries and multilateral development agencies to as-sist the npca and African countries in the formulation of country-specific strategies for improving invest-ment climates, and on donors to mobilize additional resources for climate change.

JIU report. In February, the Secretary-General transmitted to the Assembly the Joint Inspection Unit (jiu) report [A/65/62] entitled “Towards a more coherent United Nations system support to Africa”. The review evaluated the system-wide cooperation

framework, drawing on and sharing lessons learned, as well as identifying best coordination practices and collaboration methods, with regard to UN system support to Africa. Jiu made 17 recommendations, 14 addressed to the executive heads of the UN system or-ganizations and 3 for consideration by their governing bodies, aimed at enhancing coordination, coopera-tion and coherence of UN system support to Africa.

Jiu concluded that, since the proliferation of man-dates and programmes generated structural overlaps and dispersion of effort and resources, the mandates regarding UN system support to Africa should be reviewed. There was a need for better communica-tion and information-sharing among the various or-ganizations, entities, departments and offices having a stake in support of Africa, and for better system-wide coordination and cooperation. In that context, the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (ceb) should include in its agenda sup-port to the au and its nepad programme as a regular standing item. The rcm and its cluster system faced constraints and challenges with respect to commit-ment and leadership; coordination; accountability; monitoring and evaluation; resource mobilization and capacity-building; communication, outreach and advocacy; and alignment with au and nepad priorities, including regional integration. Given the proactive strategic coordinator role expected from the Economic Commission for Africa (eca), its capacities and those of the rcm should be strengthened.

Jiu also recommended the establishment of a high-level steering committee for overseeing the activities of the rcm and its clusters; better aligning the rcm and its clusters with the needs and priorities of the au and its nepad programme; aligning the planning, programming and budget cycles of the programmes of UN system organizations in support of the au and its nepad programme; fully implementing and op-erationalizing the “Umbrella Agreement” between the regional commissions and the United Nations Development Programme (undp) to facilitate and enhance communication, coordination and coopera-tion between eca and rcm on one side and undp and the Regional Directors Teams (rdts) in Africa on the other; participation of all UN system organizations in the rcm; enhancing coherence at the subregional level by leveraging the capacities of eca and its five sub-regional offices in Africa; establishing a system-wide subregional coordination mechanism; and ensuring that the regional economic communities in Africa were closely involved in the work of the rcm.

African Governments should be more involved in the development, implementation and monitoring of the United Nations Development Assistance Frame-works. The capacities and resources of the two rdts in Africa should be strengthened to ensure their ef-fective functioning. UN system organizations should


better align the planning, programming and budget cycles of their country programmes in Africa to fa-cilitate joint programming, the establishment of joint monitoring and evaluation frameworks, and simpli-fied reporting arrangements at the country level. The Secretary-General should review resource mobiliza-tion, funding mechanisms and modalities within the UN system for ensuring the financial sustainability of UN system support to Africa.

In August [A/65/62/Add.1], the Secretary-General submitted to the Assembly his comments and those of ceb on the jiu report. He reported that UN sys-tem entities generally supported the report’s main rec-ommendations. They noted the observation that the growing number of agencies operating in Africa and the multiplicity of coordinating, steering and work-ing committees and groups were posing challenges to the UN system’s ability to carry out its work with efficiency and clarity.

Economic Commission for Africa. In February, the Economic Commission for Africa and the au Commission issued a report [E/ECA/COE/29/16] on UN system-wide support to the au and its nepad pro-gramme in the context of the rcm. The report noted that finalizing the integration of nepad into the au Commission’s structures and processes would ensure continuity and better coordination in the implemen-tation of rcm activities.

Follow-up to high-level meeting on Africa’s development needs

In response to General Assembly resolutions 63/1 [YUN 2008, p. 1009] and 64/258 (see p. 908), the Secretary-General in July submitted a report [A/65/165] on a monitoring mechanism to review commitments towards Africa’s development needs. The report showed that while monitoring mechanisms or processes pro-vided extensive coverage of commitments made by Af-rican Governments and agencies and their development partners, there were a number of limitations to those mechanisms, including their focus on a limited number of commitments; inadequate coverage of other develop-ment partners; limited coverage of non-State agencies, such as ngos; and inadequate involvement of African Governments and stakeholders in those mechanisms, thus undermining their ownership and legitimacy. The report outlined the nature, scope, priorities and institu-tional arrangements for an improved monitoring mech-anism that would involve periodic reviews, either under the aegis of the Assembly in the context of its agenda item on nepad, or as a subsegment of the Development Cooperation Forum (dcf) [YUN 2007, p. 833] dedicated exclusively to issues on Africa.

The Secretary-General suggested that the Assembly consider establishing a review process wherein com-

mitments to Africa’s development by both African Governments and their development partners and their implementation would be reviewed every two years at formal review meetings of the Assembly be-ginning at its sixty-eighth (2013) session, or at the dcf, beginning in 2014; deciding that the objective of each review meeting would be to assess the extent to which commitments to promote Africa’s development had been implemented and were generating results; and ensuring participation by major regional and subregional institutions in organizing components of the review meetings.

On 24 December, the General Assembly decided that the agenda item on “nepad: progress in imple-mentation and international support” would remain for consideration during its resumed sixty-fifth (2011) session (decision 65/544).

Social dimensions of NEPAD

The Commission for Social Development, at its forty-eighth session (New York, 13 February 2009 and 3–12 and 19 February 2010) [E/2010/26- E/CN.5/2010/9], recommended to the Economic and Social Council for adoption a resolution on the social dimensions of nepad. In resolution 2010/11 (see be-low), the Council decided that the Commission for Social Development should continue to give promi-nence to and raise awareness of the social dimensions of nepad during its forty-ninth (2011) session. It re-quested the Secretary-General to submit a report on the subject to the aforementioned session.


On 22 July [meeting 45], the Economic and Social Council, on the recommendation of the Commission for Social Development [E/2010/26], adopted resolu-tion 2010/11 without vote [agenda item 14 (b)].

Social dimensions of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development

The Economic and Social Council,Recalling the outcomes of the World Summit for Social

Development, held in Copenhagen from 6 to 12 March 1995, and of the twenty-fourth special session of the General As-sembly entitled “World Summit for Social Development and beyond: achieving social development for all in a globalizing world”, held in Geneva from 26 June to 1 July 2000,

Reaffirming the United Nations Millennium Declara-tion of 8 September 2000, the United Nations Declara-tion on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development of 16 September 2002 and General Assembly resolution 57/7 of 4 November 2002 on the final review and appraisal of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and support for the New Partnership for Africa’s Development,

Taking note of the conclusions of the African Union Ex-traordinary Summit on Employment and Poverty Alleviation in Africa, held in Ouagadougou on 8 and 9 September 2004,


Recognizing the commitments made with regard to meeting the special needs of Africa at the 2005 World Sum-mit and reaffirmed in the political declaration on Africa’s development needs adopted at the high-level meeting held at United Nations Headquarters on 22 September 2008,

Remaining concerned that Africa is the only continent currently not on track to achieve any of the goals set out in the Millennium Declaration by 2015, and in this regard emphasizing that concerted efforts and continued support are required to fulfil the commitments to address the spe-cial needs of Africa,

Expressing deep concern that attainment of the social development objectives may be hindered by the financial and economic crisis, as well as by challenges brought about by the food and energy crises and climate change,

Recognizing that capacity-building, knowledge-sharing and best practices are essential for the successful implemen-tation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, and recognizing also the need for continued support from the international community, New Partnership for Africa’s Development partners and United Nations agencies,

Bearing in mind that African countries have primary re-sponsibility for their own economic and social development, that the role of national policies and development strategies cannot be overemphasized and that the development efforts of such countries need to be supported by an enabling inter-national economic environment, and in this regard recall-ing the support given by the International Conference on Financing for Development to the New Partnership,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;2. Welcomes the progress made by African countries

in fulfilling their commitments in the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development to deepen democracy, human rights, good governance and sound economic management, and encourages African countries, with the participation of stakeholders, including civil soci-ety and the private sector, to intensify their efforts in this regard by developing and strengthening institutions for governance and by creating an environment conducive to attracting foreign direct investment for the development of the region;

3. Also welcomes the progress that has been made in implementing the African Peer Review Mechanism, as re-flected, in particular, by the number of countries that have signed up to participate in the Mechanism, the completion of the peer review process and the progress in implementing the recommendations of those reviews in some countries and the completion of the self-assessment process, the host-ing of country support missions and the launching of the national preparatory process for the peer review in others, and urges African States that have not yet done so to join the Mechanism, as a matter of priority, and to strengthen the peer review process so as to ensure its efficient performance;

4. Welcomes in particular the organization of the first session of the African Union Conference of Ministers in charge of Social Development, held in Windhoek from 27 to 31 October 2008, and recalls in this regard the African Common Position on Social Integration and the Social Policy Framework for Africa, both of which have been endorsed by Africa’s Heads of State;

5. Welcomes the efforts made by African countries and regional and subregional organizations, including the Af-rican Union, to mainstream a gender perspective and the

empowerment of women in the implementation of the New Partnership, including through the implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa;

6. Emphasizes that the African Union and the regional economic communities have a critical role to play in the implementation of the New Partnership, and in this re-gard encourages African countries, with the assistance of their development partners, to increase and coordinate ef-fectively their support for enhancing the capacities of those institutions and to promote regional cooperation and social and economic integration in Africa;

7. Also emphasizes that progress in the implementation of the New Partnership depends also on a national and international environment favourable to Africa’s growth and development, including measures to promote a policy environment conducive to private sector development and entrepreneurship;

8. Further emphasizes that democracy, respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development, transparent and accountable governance and administration in all sectors of society, and effective participation by civil society, including non-governmental and community-based organizations, and by the private sector are among the indispensable foundations for the realization of social and people-centred sustainable development;

9. Emphasizes that the increasing unacceptably high levels of poverty and social exclusion faced by most African countries require a comprehensive approach to the develop-ment and implementation of social and economic policies, inter alia, to reduce poverty, to promote economic activity, growth and sustainable development, to ensure employ-ment creation and decent work for all, to promote educa-tion, health and social protection and to enhance social in-clusion, political stability, democracy and good governance and the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, so as to ensure the achievement of Africa’s social and economic objectives;

10. Recognizes that, while social development is pri-marily the responsibility of Governments, international cooperation and assistance are essential for the full achieve-ment of that goal;

11. Also recognizes the contribution made by Member States to the implementation of the New Partnership in the context of South-South cooperation, and encourages the international community, including the international financial institutions, to support the efforts of African countries, including through trilateral cooperation;

12. Welcomes the various important initiatives under-taken by Africa’s development partners in recent years, and in this regard emphasizes the importance of coordination in such initiatives on Africa by ensuring the effective imple-mentation of existing commitments, including through the African Union/New Partnership for Africa’s Development African Action Plan 2010–2015: Advancing Regional and Continental Integration in Africa;

13. Recognizes the Regional Coordination Mechanism of United Nations agencies and organizations working in Africa in support of the African Union and its New Part-nership for Africa’s Development Programme of Action, which aims to ensure coordination and coherence in the delivery of support for greater effectiveness and impact


through increased joint programming and joint implemen-tation of activities;

14. Urges continuous support for measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable devel-opment in Africa, with special emphasis on the Millennium Development Goals related to poverty and hunger, health, education, empowerment of women and gender equality, including, as appropriate, debt relief, improved market ac-cess, support for the private sector and entrepreneurship, enhanced official development assistance, increased foreign direct investment and transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, empowerment of women in all aspects, in-cluding economic and political aspects, the promotion of social protection systems and the conclusion of the current round of negotiations of the World Trade Organization;

15. Recognizes that the implementation of the commit-ments made by Governments during the First United Na-tions Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997–2006) has fallen short of expectations, and welcomes the procla-mation of the Second Decade (2008–2017) by the General Assembly in its resolution 62/205 of 19 December 2007 in order to support, in an efficient and coordinated manner, the internationally agreed development goals related to poverty eradication, including the Millennium Development Goals;

16. Encourages all development partners to implement the principles of aid effectiveness, as recalled in the Doha Declaration on Financing for Development adopted on 2 December 2008 by the Follow-up International Confer-ence on Financing for Development to Review the Imple-mentation of the Monterrey Consensus;

17. Recognizes the need for national Governments and the international community to make continued efforts to increase the flow of new and additional resources for financing for development from all sources, public and pri-vate, domestic and foreign, to support the development of African countries;

18. Acknowledges the activities of the Bretton Woods institutions and the African Development Bank in African countries, and invites those institutions to continue their support for the implementation of the priorities and objec-tives of the New Partnership;

19. Encourages Africa’s development partners to con-tinue to integrate the priorities, values and principles of the New Partnership into their development assistance programmes;

20. Encourages African countries and their develop-ment partners to place people at the centre of government development action and to secure core investment spending in health, education and social safety nets;

21. Notes the growing collaboration among the enti-ties of the United Nations system in support of the New Partnership, and requests the Secretary-General to promote greater coherence in the work of the United Nations sys-tem in support of the New Partnership, on the basis of the agreed clusters;

22. Emphasizes the importance for the communica-tion, advocacy and outreach cluster to continue to muster international support for the New Partnership and to urge the United Nations system to demonstrate more evidence of cross-sectoral synergies in order to promote a comprehensive approach regarding successive phases of planning and im-plementation of social development programmes in Africa;

23. Invites the Secretary-General, as a follow-up to the 2005 World Summit, to urge the organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to assist African countries in implementing quick-impact initiatives, based on their na-tional development priorities and strategies, to enable them to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and, in this respect, acknowledges commitments made by development partners;

24. Encourages the international community to sup-port African countries in addressing the challenges of cli-mate change by providing the financial and technological resources and capacity-building needed to support adapta-tion and mitigation action;

25. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to take measures to strengthen the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, and requests the Office to collaborate with the De-partment of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat and to include the social dimensions of the New Partner-ship in its comprehensive reports to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session;

26. Requests the Commission for Social Development to discuss in its annual programme of work those regional programmes that promote social development so as to en-able all regions to share experiences and best practices, with the agreement of the countries concerned, and in this regard requests that the programmes of work of the Com-mission include the priority areas of the New Partnership, as appropriate;

27. Decides that the Commission for Social Devel-opment should continue to give prominence to and raise awareness of the social dimensions of the New Partnership at its forty-ninth session;

28. Requests the Secretary-General, in collaboration with the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa, taking into consideration General Assembly resolution 62/179 of 19 December 2007 entitled “New Partnership for Africa’s Development: progress in implementation and international support”, to submit to the Commission for Social Develop-ment at its forty-ninth session, under agenda item 3, a report on the social dimensions of the New Partnership.

Report of Secretary-General. In response to Council resolution 2010/11 (see p. 913), the Secretary-General in November submitted a report [E/CN.5/2011/4] on the social dimensions of nepad, which presented initiatives and activities being un-dertaken. The report assessed progress in the areas of sustainable growth, eradicating poverty and hunger, education and health, gender and the Comprehen-sive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, along with infrastructure development, trade and regional integration. The Secretary-General noted that the global financial and economic crisis affected the implementation and attainment of nepad priori-ties in several ways, including reduced fiscal space of countries and poor Government revenues due to the decline in commodity prices; slowed lending and in-vestment in African countries due to the increased cost of finance; a significant decline in foreign direct investment; an expansion of the ranks of the work-ing poor and informal employment due to a lower


demand for African commodities and products; and reductions in purchasing power. Overcoming those challenges would require that African Governments double efforts to mobilize domestic resources and reverse the flow of resources to developed countries; that regional and national development institutions were adequately resourced; and that donor countries delivered on their aid commitments.

Liberia

In response to General Assembly resolution 63/136 [YUN 2008, p. 1018], the Secretary-General in Septem-ber submitted a report [A/65/357] on humanitarian as-sistance and reconstruction of Liberia, covering the period from September 2008 to August 2010. The report provided a status update and an analysis of the challenges to the delivery of humanitarian relief and rehabilitation assistance by the United Nations and its partners to Liberia. The Secretary-General noted that immediate humanitarian needs were decreasing, and the main challenges facing the country were reconstruction and stability. Unhcr continued to assist 11,000 people; over 64,000 refugees remained in countries of asylum, while more than 169,000 had returned to Liberia.

African countries emerging from conflict

On 19 July [E/2010/SR.40], the Chair of the Peace-building Commission addressed the Economic and Social Council on the question of African countries emerging from conflict. In the four countries on its agenda, namely Burundi (see p. 146), the Central Af-rican Republic (see p. 154), Guinea-Bissau (see p. 229) and Sierra Leone (see p. 217), the Commission’s en-gagement was based on the principles of national ownership of the peacebuilding process, partnerships in support of national efforts, and mutual account-ability for results. The Chair briefed the Council on post-conflict recovery in those countries and said that, since June 2009, seven African post-conflict countries had benefited from the newly introduced Peacebuild-ing Recovery Facility.

On 19 July, the Council decided to consider the matter at its 2011 substantive session and invited the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission to continue to inform it of the economic and social challenges of peacebuilding in the African countries on the Com-mission’s agenda (decision 2010/231).

Other economic assistanceHaiti

In response to Economic and Social Council reso-lution 2009/4 [YUN 2009, p. 904], the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti reported in July [E/2010/102 & Corr.1]

on its findings during its visit in June. The aim of the visit was to see, after the 12 January earthquake (see p. 320), how the economic and social situation had evolved on the ground and how international assis-tance had permitted a transition from recovery to re-construction, in line with the aid efficiency principles adopted at the ministerial preparatory conference on Haiti (Montreal, Canada, 25 January) and endorsed at the international donors’ conference “Towards a New Future for Haiti” (New York, 31 March) (see below). The Group adjusted its working methods after the earthquake, following the March conference and the World Summit for the Future of Haiti in June (see p. 917).

As at late May, there were some 1.6 million idps in the country, at 1,342 sites, most of them in the area of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Preferring to be near water, health-care services and cash-for-work or food-for-work programmes in the camps, some people had chosen not to return to their neighbourhoods. As a re-sult, widespread humanitarian assistance was needed. Efforts had been made to improve the situation in the camps and to provide transitional shelters. Also vital was large-scale rubble removal, for which there was little expertise and capacity. Enhanced recovery measures to that end were needed. While noting that the holding of the first meeting of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, co-chaired by Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive and former United States Presi-dent William Jefferson Clinton, demonstrated the common willingness of many stakeholders to move forward in a coordinated and transparent way, the Advisory Group recognized that the high number of ngos in the country at times led to counterproductive initiatives, and emphasized the importance of work-ing within the framework of the Government’s Ac-tion Plan for National Recovery and Development of Haiti. The Group also recommended the use of the aid-tracking portal established by the Government and undp by all partners, including ngos. A Haiti Reconstruction Fund was established and 12 pro-jects were submitted to the Fund by the UN country team, with a budget of over $200 million. The Group stressed the need for all countries that had pledged funds to disburse them fully and rapidly, and reiter-ated its appeal to international stakeholders to work with the Government and to consider increasing their support.

International conferences. At the interna-tional donors’ conference on the theme “Towards a New Future for Haiti” (New York, 31 March), 55 Governments and multilateral institutions pledged $5.6 billion for Haiti’s recovery and development, comprising $4.6 billion for aid programmes and $1 billion for debt relief. Sectors receiving the most support were social and territorial rebuilding. The Secretary-General urged “full and generous sup-


port” for the Government’s Action Plan for National Recovery and Development. Of the funds pledged, $5.26 billion was for the financing of specific projects of the Plan, a figure exceeding the estimated $4 billion needed over the following 18 months. The funds would be managed by the Haiti Reconstruction Fund through the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission. In 2010, donors disbursed 36.1 per cent ($1.66 billion) for the combined 2010–2011 time-frame, leaving 63.9 per cent ($2.93 million) to be disbursed in 2011.

The World Summit for the Future of Haiti (Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, 2 June) followed up on the action taken by the international community at the March donors’ conference. It was organized around the four pillars of the Action Plan—ending the emer-gency response and moving towards reconstruction; providing urgent humanitarian aid; reconstruction and rebuilding; and social development reconstruc-tion—and discussed the list of related investment projects. Representatives of Governments and in-ternational agencies stated their support for private investment, the role of civil society organizations in achieving the objectives of the Action Plan, and the strengthening of institutional capacities of the central administration and local governments. Participants recommended that special effort be made to provide budgetary support to the Government, which faced an $80 million deficit for 2010.


On 23 July [meeting 46], the Economic and Social Council adopted resolution 2010/28 [draft: E/2010/L.27], without vote [agenda item 7 (d)].

Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti

The Economic and Social Council,Recalling its resolutions 2004/52 of 23 July 2004,

2005/46 of 27 July 2005, 2006/10 of 26 July 2006, 2007/13 of 25 July 2007, 2008/10 of 23 July 2008 and 2009/4 of 23 July 2009 and its decisions 2004/322 of 11 November 2004, 2009/211 of 20 April 2009 and 2009/267 of 15 De-cember 2009,

1. Welcomes the report of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti and the recommendations contained therein;

2. Also welcomes the special event on Haiti held by the Economic and Social Council on 24 June 2010 and the relevant follow-up at its substantive session;

3. Expresses its deepest sympathy and solidarity to all those affected by the devastating earthquake of 12 January 2010 in Haiti and to their families;

4. Expresses its concern over the exceptionally devastat-ing impact of the earthquake on Haiti, welcomes the pledges for support made at the International Donors’ Conference entitled “Towards a New Future for Haiti”, held in New York on 31 March 2010, and at the World Summit for the Future of Haiti, held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on 2 June 2010, and encourages the international commu-nity to continue providing support for the short- and long- term needs for the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti;

5. Affirms the leading role of the Government of Haiti in all aspects of the recovery, reconstruction and develop-ment plans for the country;

6. Recognizes that political stability and socio- economic recovery are essential to the long-term develop-ment of Haiti, and welcomes the efforts and support pro-vided by the United Nations and the international commu-nity in both fields, in line with Haitian national priorities, the recent Government decrees on the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for 28 November 2010 and the Government’s Action Plan for National Recovery and Development of Haiti;

7. Commends the creation of the Interim Haiti Re-covery Commission, co-chaired by the Prime Minister of Haiti, Mr. Jean-Max Bellerive, and the former President of the United States of America, Mr. William Jefferson Clinton, aimed at conducting strategic planning and co-ordination and implementing resources from bilateral and multilateral donors, non-governmental organizations and the business sector, with all necessary transparency and ac-countability, and looks forward to continued support from donors and other national, regional and international or-ganizations, partners and stakeholders in connection with the implementation of the mandate of the Commission;

8. Welcomes the creation of the Haiti Reconstruction Fund, calls for support from donors and other partners, and urges them to fulfil, without delay, their pledges made earlier in the year at the International Donors’ Conference entitled “Towards a New Future for Haiti” in New York and at the World Summit for the Future of Haiti in Punta Cana;

9. Also welcomes the joint establishment by the Gov-ernment of Haiti and the United Nations Development Programme of an aid tracking portal as a tool to ensure transparency in the provision of support for development in Haiti, and invites all development partners, including non-governmental organizations, to use it;

10. Stresses the need for renewed efforts and commit-ment at the local, national, regional and international levels to assist the Government of Haiti to rebuild the institu-tional and infrastructural capacity of the State, at both the central and the decentralized levels, to deliver services and coordinate donor assistance;

11. Recognizes the need to promote effectiveness, soli-darity, efficiency, coherence and coordination among the Government of Haiti and donors, the United Nations sys-tem, the international financial institutions, including the World Bank and regional and subregional development banks, other regional and subregional organizations and in-stitutions and relevant civil society organizations, including non-governmental organizations active in Haiti and other partners participating in the recovery, reconstruction and development efforts;

12. Also recognizes the support provided by various regional and subregional cooperative initiatives, including those undertaken by the Andean Development Corpora-tion, the Association of Caribbean States, the Bank of the South, the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our Amer-ica, the Caribbean Community, the Central American In-tegration System, the European Union, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Inter-American Institute for Co-operation on Agriculture, the International Organization of la Francophonie, the Organization of American States, the Pan American Health Organization, PetroCaribe and


the Union of South American Nations, based, inter alia, on solidarity, complementarity, cooperation, development, friendly relations and effectiveness, aimed at supporting Haiti’s efforts towards reconstruction in accordance with its national development priorities;

13. Decides to extend the mandate of the Advisory Group until the substantive session of 2012 of the Council, with the purpose of closely following and providing advice on Haiti’s long-term development strategy to promote post-disaster socio-economic recovery, stability and reconstruc-tion, with particular attention to the need to ensure coher-ence and sustainability in international support for Haiti, based on the long-term national development priorities, as contained in the Government’s Action Plan for National Recovery and Development of Haiti, and stresses the need to avoid overlap and duplication with respect to existing mechanisms;

14. Expresses its satisfaction to the Secretary-General for the support provided to the Advisory Group, requests that he continue to strengthen the support for the activities of the Group adequately, from within existing resources, and invites Member States to enhance their support for the work of the Group, including through voluntary contributions;

15. Recommends that full use continue to be made of the United Nations capacity to mobilize international efforts and aid and that the leadership role of the United Nations in this respect be recognized and promoted on the ground;

16. Requests the Advisory Group, in accomplishing its mandate, to continue to cooperate with the Secretary- General and his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti, the United Nations Devel-opment Group, the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, the Haiti Reconstruction Fund, relevant United Nations funds and programmes, the specialized agencies, the Bret-ton Woods institutions, regional organizations and insti-tutions, including the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Community and the Inter-American Development Bank, and other major stakeholders;

17. Invites additional members to participate in the work of the Advisory Group, taking into account the need to include those that can make a positive contribution to its objectives;

18. Requests the Advisory Group to report on its activi-ties in support of the recovery, reconstruction and develop-ment of the country, with recommendations, as appropri-ate, to the Council for its consideration at its organizational and substantive sessions of 2011.

Communication. On 20 December [E/2011/8], the Bahamas informed the Council of its wish to become a member of the Advisory Group.

Recovery and reconstruction

Report of Secretary-General. In his August report [A/65/335] on humanitarian assistance and re-habilitation for selected countries and regions, the Secretary-General highlighted that from the outset of the humanitarian response in Haiti, as well as dur-ing the recovery and reconstruction phases, the UN

country team had integrated and implemented early recovery activities in consultation with the Govern-ment. Given the challenges Haiti faced before the disaster, recovery efforts addressed wider needs and aimed at “building back better”. The Organization’s vision was to help the Government build a more de-centralized and deconcentrated Haiti so as to with-stand natural disasters and protect lives. The post-disaster needs assessment, led by the Government and supported by the United Nations and the World Bank, determined the extent of the damages, losses and recovery and reconstruction needs, as well as medium- to long-term recovery and reconstruction needs across a range of sectors. The cash-for-work programme, introduced eight days after the earth-quake to provide short-term employment and inject money into the local economy had, as at 1 July, pro-vided employment for more than 116,000 workers, 40 per cent of whom were women. Support for the recovery of the private sector was also planned. Ef-forts to support disaster risk management focused on strengthening the national risk and disaster man-agement system and the Direction de la Protection Civile. Together with other agencies, the United Na-tions initiated a rapid multi-hazard analysis to sup-port humanitarian activities and long-term recovery efforts. The information produced was integrated into national centres for data management and the Geographic Information System. The United Na-tions also contributed technical expertise to the de-bris removal and recycling strategies. In the light of the brain drain that occurred since the earthquake, undp proposed a three-year programme for expatri-ates to return home for periods ranging from two weeks to three months to lend their skills and ser-vices. In response to the destruction of the Minis-try of Justice and Public Security, the United Na-tions identified immediate needs and provided basic equipment to the justice, prison and police sectors, and training and capacity-building to the police and judiciary.



Humanitarian assistance, emergency relief, rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction in

response to the humanitarian emergency in Haiti, including the devastating effects of the earthquake


and the guiding principles contained in the annex thereto, other relevant General Assembly and Economic and Social Council resolutions and agreed conclusions of the Council,

Recalling its resolution 64/250 of 22 January 2010,


Taking note with appreciation of the informal meetings on Haiti convened by the President of the General Assem-bly since January 2010,

Conscious of the huge loss of human life and the large number of people wounded and people affected by the se-vere impacts of the disaster on, inter alia, food security and the education, shelter and health sectors, as well as of the continued needs arising from the vulnerability of the affected populations,

Conscious also of the huge material losses sustained in respect of homes, schools, hospitals, Government facilities and basic infrastructures in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and elsewhere in the country, and expressing concern over the medium- and long-term social, economic and development impacts of the disaster on the affected country,

Concerned about the vulnerable situation of internally displaced persons in Haiti, in particular women, children, the elderly and persons with disabilities, and conscious of the need to find a durable and sustainable solution to their situation, by supporting efforts of the Government of Haiti to establish conditions, as well as provide the necessary means, which allow internally displaced persons to return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity, to their homes or places of habitual residence, or to resettle voluntarily in another part of the country,

Welcoming the efforts undertaken by the United Nations to address the issue of sexual and gender-based violence, including in camps of internally displaced persons,

Recognizing the continued need for support from the in-ternational community to address the humanitarian emer-gency in Haiti, especially the cholera epidemic, as well as the importance of contributing to stability and enhancing recovery and reconstruction efforts, including through an early recovery approach, in order to permit the transition from relief and recovery to development in Haiti,

Acknowledging the efforts of the people and Government of Haiti, the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti and the United Nations system, as well as of the Interna-tional Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and civil society organizations, including faith-based organizations, in providing humanitarian assistance and supporting early recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction,

Welcoming the leadership of the Secretary-General in ensuring a speedy response by the United Nations system to the tragic events, and commending the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat for its coordinating role in supporting the Government of Haiti in ensuring a coherent international response to the humanitarian emergency,

Welcoming also the efforts of the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti to mobilize international support for emer-gency relief operations, rehabilitation, recovery and recon-struction, as well as of the Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti,

Underlining the importance of continued humanitarian leadership and coordination of all humanitarian actors, including civil society organizations, in support of the Government of Haiti,

Reiterating the need for a continued high level of sup-port for and commitment to the humanitarian relief, early recovery, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development efforts, including in the medium and long term, that re-

flect the spirit of international solidarity and cooperation in addressing the disaster,

Noting the enormous effort and the solidarity of the in-ternational community, reflecting the importance of the fullest coordinated response and taking into account the national development priorities of Haiti, including the Action Plan for National Recovery and Development of Haiti, that will be required to rebuild the affected areas in order to alleviate the grave situation arising from this natural disaster,

Welcoming the pledges for support made at the Interna-tional Donors’ Conference entitled “Towards a New Future for Haiti”, held in New York on 31 March 2010, and at the World Summit for the Future of Haiti, held in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, on 2 June 2010, and encouraging the international community to continue providing support for the short- and long-term needs for the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti,

Welcoming also the establishment of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission and the Haiti Reconstruction Fund, which play a significant role in the reconstruction efforts in Haiti,

Reiterating the need for the United Nations system to ensure that the humanitarian, early recovery and recon-struction assistance provided is timely, adequate, effective and coherent and coordinated among all humanitarian and development actors, in coordination with and in support of the Government of Haiti, and in accordance with the princi-ples of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence,

1. Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General sub-mitted pursuant to resolution 64/250;

2. Affirms the leading role of the Government of Haiti in all aspects of the humanitarian response and in the rehabilitation, recovery, reconstruction and develop-ment plans for the country;

3. Underlines the overall coordinating role of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in as-sisting the Government of Haiti in ensuring a coherent inter-national response to the humanitarian emergency in Haiti;

4. Calls upon Member States, the United Nations sys-tem and relevant humanitarian organizations, including the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, to continue to cooperate with the Government of Haiti for the provision of humanitarian assistance to the affected population, and emphasizes the importance of improved coordination in this regard, including with civil society organizations, which include faith-based organizations;

5. Urges the international community to provide in-creased and prompt support to the efforts of the Govern-ment of Haiti, led by the Ministry of Public Health and Population and supported by humanitarian actors, to re-spond to the cholera epidemic, and in this context stresses the importance of addressing the continuing challenges posed to the health system and to the water and sanitation sectors, including in the reconstruction process;

6. Stresses the need to enhance efforts towards recon-struction and social, environmental and economic recovery, including as a means to address the humanitarian situation in Haiti;

7. Underlines the urgency of taking actions that lead to a durable and sustainable solution to the situation of internally displaced persons in Haiti, in particular women,


children and persons with disabilities, and bearing in mind their particular needs, and in this regard urges humanita-rian and development actors to support the Government of Haiti, upon request, in addressing, inter alia, the issues of land rights, rubble removal and the promotion of liveli-hoods for the affected population;

8. Recognizes the important role of the United Nations system in supporting efforts to address the issue of sexual and gender-based violence in Haiti, including with regard to internally displaced persons, and encourages the United Nations system and invites humanitarian and development actors to promote gender mainstreaming in all assistance and recovery processes for Haiti;

9. Reiterates its appeal to all Member States and all rel-evant organs and bodies of the United Nations system, as well as the international financial institutions and develop-ment agencies, to provide speedy, sustainable and adequate support for the relief, early recovery, rehabilitation, recon-struction and development efforts of Haiti;

10. Calls for support for the Haiti Reconstruction Fund from donors and other partners, and urges them to fulfil, without delay, their pledges made earlier in 2010 at the International Donors’ Conference entitled “Towards a New Future for Haiti”, held in New York, and at the World Summit for the Future of Haiti, held in Punta Cana;

11. Commends the creation of the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission, co-chaired by the Prime Minister of Haiti, Mr. Jean-Max Bellerive, and the former Presi-dent of the United States of America, Mr. William Jeffer-son Clinton, aimed at conducting strategic planning and coordination and implementing resources from bilateral and multilateral donors, civil society organizations and the private sector, with all necessary transparency and ac-countability, and looks forward to continued support from donors and other national, regional and international or-ganizations, partners and stakeholders in connection with the implementation of the mandate of the Commission;

12. Requests the Secretary-General and all relevant organs and bodies of the United Nations system, as well as the international financial institutions and development agencies, to assist Haiti, whenever possible, through con-tinued effective humanitarian, technical and financial as-sistance that contributes to overcoming the humanitarian emergency and to the rehabilitation and recovery of the economy and the affected population, as well as to the re-construction, in conformity with the priorities identified at the national level, including through projects that promote capacity-building and facilitate the transition from relief to development;

13. Requests the Secretary-General, in this regard, to consult with Member States, including through the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti, relevant United Nations organs and bodies, including the Peacebuilding Commis-sion and the Economic and Social Council, regarding ways to achieve enhanced coordination of reconstruction and development efforts in Haiti;

14. Requests the relevant organs and bodies of the United Nations system and other relevant international organizations to increase their support and assistance in strengthening the capacity of Haiti for cholera response and disaster preparedness, as well as in reducing its vulnerability to natural disasters and in integrating disaster risk reduc-

tion and management in its development strategies and programmes, in accordance with the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters;

15. Requests the Secretary-General to keep Member States regularly informed on the humanitarian assistance efforts in Haiti and to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session on the implementation of the present resolution and on the progress made in the relief, rehabili-tation and reconstruction efforts of the affected country, under the sub-item entitled “Strengthening of the coordi-nation of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations”.

Third States affected by sanctions

In response to General Assembly resolution 64/115 [YUN 2009, p. 1322], the Secretary-General submitted an August report [A/65/217] that highlighted develop-ments concerning General Assembly and Economic and Social Council activities in the area of assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions; arrangements in the Secretariat related to assistance to those States; and operational changes as a result of the shift in focus towards targeted sanctions in the Security Council and its sanctions committees.

The Assembly took action with regard to the Secretary-General’s report in resolution 65/31 of 6 December (see p. 1350).

Disaster response

In 2010, an increased number of disasters asso-ciated with natural hazards—such as earthquakes, floods, cyclones and droughts—were recorded, with some 385 disasters that took the lives of over 297,000 people, affected 217 million others, and caused an estimated $124 billion in economic damages. The number of people affected increased significantly from 2009, owing to several large-scale disasters. The year was the deadliest in at least two decades and was further testimony to the growing intensity of extreme events. Moreover, natural disasters had continued to occur in countries that were already suffering from conflict, compounding the humanitarian situation for the concerned populations. Donor contributions for natural disasters totalled over $6.4 billion—100 per cent of funds requested.

The first half of the year was marked by several massive earthquakes. In Haiti, 3 million people were affected by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake in January, that killed over 220,000 people, injured 300,000 and displaced 1.5 million. In February, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile, affecting over 2 million peo-ple and causing 486 deaths. In April, a 7.1 magni-


tude earthquake in China caused 2,200 deaths and injured 12,135 people. An October earthquake in the Mentawai islands in Indonesia was followed by a tsunami that killed 460 people and displaced 15,353 more. Erratic rain patterns affected millions of people in several regions of the world. In March, tropical cy-clone Hubert affected some 370,000 people in South-ern Africa, particularly in Madagascar; and the 2010 monsoon season caused the worst floods in Pakistan’s history, affecting more than 20.5 million people, de-stroying more than 1.8 million homes and devastat-ing over 2.4 million hectares of crops. In October, some 2 million people were affected by Typhoon Megi, which struck the Philippines, and Cyclone Giri, which struck Myanmar, affecting 260,000 people and leaving 100,000 homeless. Heavy rains and floods in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea contrib-uted to the country’s deteriorating food security situa-tion. The Niger, already beset by a prolonged drought and associated acute food shortages, suffered further from flash floods in July, and Benin experienced the worst flooding in 50 years from torrential rains. The rise in global surface temperatures became evident as well, as the Russian Federation experienced a devas-tating summer heat wave that affected millions and triggered massive forest and peat fires.

On 9 July, in resolution 64/290 (see p. 745), the General Assembly urged Member States to provide quality education in emergency situations and to en-sure that disaster risk and safety considerations were factored into all phases of planning, design, construc-tion and reconstruction of educational facilities.

International cooperation

In January, the General Assembly considered the Secretary-General’s 2009 report on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development [YUN 2009, p. 907].


On 22 January [meeting 69], the General Assembly, adopted resolution 64/251 [draft: A/64/L.43 & Add.1] without vote [agenda item 70 (a)].

International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters,

from relief to development

The General Assembly,Reaffirming its resolution 46/182 of 19 December 1991,

the annex to which contains the guiding principles for the strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanita-rian assistance of the United Nations system, as well as all its resolutions on international cooperation on humanita-rian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from re-lief to development, and recalling the resolutions of the

humanitarian segments of the substantive sessions of the Economic and Social Council,

Recognizing the importance of the principles of neutral-ity, humanity, impartiality and independence for the provi-sion of humanitarian assistance,

Reaffirming the Hyogo Declaration, the Hyogo Frame-work for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Na-tions and Communities to Disasters and the common state-ment of the special session on the Indian Ocean disaster: risk reduction for a safer future, as adopted by the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, from 18 to 22 January 2005,

Noting with appreciation the holding of the second ses-sion of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, in Geneva from 16 to 19 June 2009, taking note of the “2009 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction”, and looking forward to the forthcoming Hyogo Framework for Action midterm review,

Emphasizing that the affected State has the primary re-sponsibility in the initiation, organization, coordination and implementation of humanitarian assistance within its territory and in the facilitation of the work of humanita-rian organizations in mitigating the consequences of natu-ral disasters,

Emphasizing also the responsibility of all States to un-dertake disaster preparedness, response and early recovery efforts in order to minimize the impact of natural disasters, while recognizing the importance of international coopera-tion in support of the efforts of affected countries which may have limited capacities in this regard,

Expressing its deep concern at the increasing challenges to Member States and to the United Nations humanita-rian response capacity to deal with the consequences of natural disasters, given the effects of global challenges, in-cluding the impact of climate change, the global financial and economic crisis, and the humanitarian implications of the global food crisis,

Also expressing its deep concern that rural and urban poor communities in the developing world are the hardest hit by the effects of increased disaster risk,

Acknowledging the impacts of rapid urbanization in the context of natural disasters and that urban disaster pre-paredness and responses require appropriate disaster risk reduction strategies, including in urban planning, early recovery strategies implemented from the initial stage of relief operations, as well as rehabilitation and development strategies,

Noting that local communities are the first responders in most disasters, underlining the critical role played by in-country capacities in disaster risk reduction, including preparedness, response and recovery, and acknowledging the need to support efforts of Member States to develop and enhance national and local capacities which are fun-damental to improving the overall delivery of humanitarian assistance,

Recognizing the high numbers of persons affected by nat-ural disasters, including in this respect internally displaced persons, and the need to address the humanitarian needs arising from internal displacement throughout the world owing to sudden-onset natural disasters,

Reaffirming the importance of international cooperation in support of the efforts of the affected States in dealing


with natural disasters in all their phases, in particular in preparedness, response and the early recovery phase, and of strengthening the response capacity of countries affected by disaster,

Recognizing the progress made by the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Man-agement and Emergency Response (UN-spider) in its mission, encouraging Member States to provide all support necessary, on a voluntary basis, to UN-spider, including financial support, to enable it to carry out its workplan for 2010–2011, and reiterating the importance of enhancing international coordination and cooperation at the global level in disaster management and emergency response through greater access to and use of space-based services for all countries and by facilitating capacity-building and institutional strengthening for disaster management, in particular in developing countries,

Noting with appreciation the important role played by Member States, including developing countries, that have granted necessary and continued generous assistance to countries and peoples stricken by natural disasters,

Recognizing the significant role played by national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, as part of the Interna-tional Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, in disaster preparedness and risk reduction, disaster response, rehabili-tation and development,

Emphasizing the importance of addressing vulnerabil-ity and integrating risk reduction into all phases of natural disaster management, post-natural disaster recovery and development planning,

Recognizing that efforts to achieve economic growth, sustainable development and internationally agreed de-velopment goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, can be adversely affected by natural disasters, and noting the positive contribution that those efforts can make in strengthening the resilience of populations to such disasters,

Emphasizing, in this context, the important role of development organizations in supporting national efforts to mitigate the consequences of natural disasters,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;2. 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;

3. Calls upon States to fully implement the Hyogo Declaration and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, in particular those commitments related to assistance for developing countries that are prone to natural disasters and for disaster-stricken States in the transition phase towards sustainable physical, social and economic re-covery, for risk-reduction activities in post-disaster recovery and for rehabilitation processes;

4. Calls upon Member States, the United Nations system and other relevant humanitarian and develop-ment actors to accelerate the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, emphasizes the promotion and strengthening of disaster preparedness activities at all levels, in particular in hazard-prone areas, and encourages them to

increase funding and cooperation for disaster risk reduction activities, including disaster preparedness;

5. 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 natu-ral disasters and integrate disaster risk reduction strategies into development planning, and in this regard requests the international community to continue to assist developing countries as well as countries with economies in transition, as appropriate;

6. Acknowledges that global climate change, among other factors, contributes to the increase in intensity and frequency of natural disasters, which amplify natural dis-aster risk, and in this regard encourages Member States, as well as relevant regional and international organizations, in accordance with their specific mandates, to support adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change and to strengthen disaster risk reduction and early warning sys-tems in order to minimize the humanitarian consequences of natural disasters, including through the provision of technology and support for capacity-building in develop-ing countries;

7. Welcomes the initiatives at the regional and national levels related to the implementation of the Guidelines for the Domestic Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance adopted at the Thirtieth International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, held in Geneva from 26 to 30 November 2007, and encourages Member States and, where applicable, regional organizations to take further steps to strengthen operational and legal frameworks for international disaster relief, taking into account the Guidelines, as appropriate;

8. Also welcomes the effective cooperation among the affected States, relevant bodies of the United Nations sys-tem, donor countries, regional and international financial institutions and, as appropriate, other relevant organiza-tions, such as the International Red Cross and Red Cres-cent Movement, and civil society, in the coordination and delivery of emergency relief, and stresses the need to continue such cooperation and delivery throughout relief operations and medium- and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, in a manner that reduces vulnerabil-ity to future natural hazards;

9. Reiterates the commitment to support, as a matter of priority, the efforts of countries, in particular developing countries, to strengthen their capacities at all levels in order to prepare for and respond rapidly to natural disasters and mitigate their impact;

10. Urges Member States to develop, update and strengthen disaster preparedness and risk reduction mea-sures at all levels, in accordance with priority five of the Hyogo Framework for Action, taking into account their own circumstances and capacities and in coordination with relevant actors, as appropriate, and encourages the interna-tional community and relevant United Nations entities to continue to support national efforts in this regard;

11. Encourages Member States to consider elaborating and presenting to the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction secretariat their national platforms for disaster reduction in accordance with the Hyogo Framework for Action, and also encourages States to cooperate with each other to reach this objective;


12. Stresses that to increase further the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance, particular international coopera-tion efforts should be undertaken to enhance and broaden further the utilization of national and local capacities and, where appropriate, of regional and subregional capacities for disaster preparedness and response, which may be made available in closer proximity to the site of a disaster, and more efficiently and at lower cost;

13. Also stresses, in this context, the importance of strengthening international cooperation, particularly through the effective use of multilateral mechanisms, in the timely provision of humanitarian assistance through all phases of a disaster, from relief and recovery to develop-ment, including the provision of adequate resources;

14. Encourages all Member States to facilitate, to the extent possible, the transit of emergency humanitarian as-sistance and development assistance, provided in the con-text of international efforts, including in the phase from relief to development, in full accordance with the provi-sions of General Assembly resolution 46/182 and the annex therein, and in full respect of the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, and their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law;

15. Recognizes the goals and purposes for which the Central Register of Disaster Management Capacities was established following the adoption of resolution 46/182, takes note with concern of the findings of the independent review of the Register carried out in 2009, and requests the Secretary-General to provide recommendations on possible measures to address those findings, including on the struc-ture and format of the Register;

16. Reaffirms the role of the Office for the Coordi-nation of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat as the focal point within the overall United Nations system for advocacy for and coordination of humanitarian assistance among United Nations humanitarian organizations and other humanitarian partners;

17. Welcomes, so as to increase further the effective-ness of humanitarian assistance, the incorporation of ex-perts from developing countries that are prone to natural disasters into the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination system, and the work of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group in assisting such coun-tries in strengthening urban search and rescue capacities and establishing mechanisms for improving their coordina-tion of national and international response in the field, and recalls in this regard its resolution 57/150 of 16 December 2002 entitled “Strengthening the effectiveness and coordi-nation of international urban search and rescue assistance”;

18. Urges Member States, the United Nations system and other humanitarian actors to consider the specific and differentiated consequences of natural disasters both in rural and urban areas, when designing and implementing disaster risk reduction, preparedness, humanitarian assis-tance and early recovery strategies, giving special emphasis to addressing the needs of those living in rural and urban poor areas prone to natural disasters;

19. Recognizes that information and telecommunica-tion technology can play an important role in disaster re-sponse, encourages Member States to develop emergency response telecommunication capacities, and encourages the international community to assist the efforts of develop-

ing countries in this area, where needed, including in the recovery phase;

20. Encourages States that have not acceded to or rati-fied the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecom-munication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations, to consider doing so;

21. Encourages the further use of space-based and ground-based remote-sensing technologies, including as provided by UN-spider, as well as the sharing of geo-graphical data, for the prevention, mitigation and manage-ment of natural disasters, where appropriate, and invites Member States to continue to provide their support to the consolidation of the United Nations capability in the area of satellite-derived geographical information for early warning, preparedness, response and early recovery;

22. Encourages Member States, relevant United Na-tions organizations and international financial institutions to enhance the global capacity for sustainable post-disaster recovery in areas such as coordination with traditional and non-traditional partners, identification and dissemi-nation of lessons learned, development of common tools and mechanisms for recovery needs assessment, strategy development and programming, and incorporation of risk reduction into all recovery processes, and welcomes the ongoing efforts to this end;

23. Encourages Member States and the United Nations system to support national initiatives that address the possi-ble differentiated impacts of natural disasters on the affected population, including through the collection and analysis of data disaggregated, inter alia, by sex, age and disability, using, inter alia, the existing information provided by States;

24. Stresses the importance of the full and equal par-ticipation of women in decision-making and of gender mainstreaming in developing and implementing disaster risk reduction, preparedness, response and recovery strate-gies, and in this regard notes the recommendations of the International Conference on Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Beijing from 20 to 22 April 2009;

25. Encourages Member States and relevant regional and international organizations to identify and improve the dissemination of best practices for improving disaster preparedness, response and early recovery and to scale up successful local initiatives, as appropriate;

26. Requests the United Nations system to improve its coordination of disaster recovery efforts, from relief to de-velopment, inter alia, by strengthening institutional, coor-dination and strategic planning efforts in disaster recovery, in support of national authorities;

27. Calls upon relevant United Nations humanitarian and development organizations to continue efforts to ensure continuity and predictability in their response and to further improve coordination in recovery processes in support of the efforts of national authorities;

28. Calls upon the United Nations system and other humanitarian actors to improve the dissemination of tools and services to support enhanced disaster risk reduction;

29. Calls upon relevant United Nations humanitarian and development organizations, in consultation with Mem-ber States, to strengthen tools and mechanisms to ensure that early recovery needs and support are integrated into the planning and implementation of disaster preparedness, humanitarian response and development cooperation activities, as appropriate;


30. Acknowledges that early recovery should receive further funding, and encourages the provision of timely, flexible and predictable funding for early recovery, includ-ing through established humanitarian instruments;

31. Encourages the United Nations system and other relevant humanitarian and development actors to support humanitarian coordinators and resident coordinators, in order to strengthen their capacity, inter alia, to support the host Government in implementing preparedness mea-sures and to coordinate preparedness activities of country teams in support of national efforts, and also encourages the United Nations system and other relevant humanita-rian actors to further strengthen the ability to quickly and flexibly deploy humanitarian professionals to support Governments and country teams in the immediate after-math of a disaster;

32. Emphasizes the need to mobilize adequate, flexible and sustainable resources for recovery, preparedness and disaster risk reduction activities in order to ensure predict-able and timely access to resources for humanitarian as-sistance in emergencies resulting from disasters associated with natural hazards;

33. Welcomes the achievements of the Central Emer-gency Response Fund and its contribution to the promo-tion and enhancement of early humanitarian response, calls upon all Member States and invites the private sector and all concerned individuals and institutions to consider in-creasing voluntary contributions to the Fund, including, when possible, through multi-year and early commitments, and emphasizes that contributions should be additional to current commitments to humanitarian programming and not to the detriment of resources made available for inter-national cooperation for development;

34. Invites Member States, the private sector and all concerned individuals and institutions to consider volun-tary contributions to other humanitarian funding mecha-nisms;

35. Requests the Secretary-General to continue to im-prove the international response to natural disasters and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session, and to include in his report recommendations on how to improve actions for identifying and addressing the gaps from relief to development, within the United Nations system and at the national level, including in the area of durable and sustainable solutions, particularly in rehabilita-tion and reconstruction.

Report of Secretary-General. In response to Assembly resolution 64/251 (see p. 921), the Secretary- General, in a September report [A/65/356] on interna-tional cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, provided an overview of dis-asters associated with natural hazards and highlighted emerging trends, their humanitarian implications and key challenges during the period from 1 June 2009 to 31 May 2010. The report noted an increasing trend in the number of recorded disasters, owing to more fre-quent and intense weather-related hazards and greater numbers of people living in exposed coastal and ur-ban areas. Climate change was increasingly acknowl-edged as a major driver of disaster risk by increasing

the frequency and/or severity of weather- and climate-related hazards and by simultaneously increasing the vulnerability of communities to natural hazards. Rapid urbanization exacerbated the vulnerability of city dwellers, particularly the urban poor, to the impact of disasters, as more than half of the world’s population was living in urban areas. Key challenges in addressing disaster risk included strengthening the transition from relief to development; increasing the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance through im-proved use of information and analysis; strengthen-ing the use of vulnerability and climate information in humanitarian action; preparedness in information management; strengthening evidence-based decision-making in humanitarian operations; and the effective use of information in disaster response.

The Secretary-General encouraged Member States to emphasize the importance of early and multi-year commitments to cerf and other humanitarian fi-nancing mechanisms; to support implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services; and to consider the Inter-Agency Standing Committee operational guidelines on human rights and natural disasters in the implementation of contingency plan-ning, disaster preparedness and response, as well as early recovery and durable solutions. Member States, the UN system and other humanitarian actors should accelerate the implementation of the Hyogo Frame-work for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters [YUN 2005, p. 1015] to integrate early recovery into their work across all sectors and thematic areas and to im-prove the dissemination and application of tools and services for early recovery activities. The Secretary- General further recommended that the Central Reg-ister of Disaster Management Capacities be discon-tinued, in the light of the findings of the independ-ent and external review requested by the Assembly in resolution 62/92 [YUN 2007, p. 945].

INSARAG Hyogo Declaration. The Interna-tional Search and Rescue Advisory Group (insarag), a network of countries and organizations established in 1991, convened its first global meeting (Kobe, Ja-pan, 14–16 September 2010). The meeting, hosted by the Government of Japan and co-organized with ocha, produced the isarag Hyogo Declaration on the recognition and strengthening of international urban search and rescue operational standards.

UN-SPIDER programme. The Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (see p. 612) submit-ted a report [A/AC.105/981] on the 2010 activities of the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-spider). Major accomplishments included the provision of technical advisory support to 17 Member States; the formalization of cooperation agreements


for the establishment of five additional regional sup-port offices; support for responding to 29 disasters and for the organization of international and regional workshops and expert meetings; and the improvement of the UN-spider knowledge portal. On 10 Decem-ber, the General Assembly, in resolution 65/97 (see p. 614), noted the progress made in the implementa-tion of the 2010–2011 UN-spider work plan.

On 24 December, the Assembly decided that the agenda item on strengthening the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assis-tance would remain for consideration during its re-sumed sixty-fifth (2011) session (decision 65/544).

Disaster reductionInternational Strategy for Disaster Reduction

In response to General Assembly resolution 63/216 [YUN 2008, p. 1027], the Secretary-General submitted a September report [A/65/388] reviewing progress in the implementation of the International Strategy for Dis-aster Reduction (isdr), adopted by the programme forum of the International Decade for Natural Disas-ter Reduction (1990–1999) in 1999 [YUN 1999, p. 859] and endorsed by the Assembly in resolution 54/219 [ibid., p. 861]. It also presented preliminary findings of the midterm review of the Hyogo Framework for Ac-tion 2005–2015, the 10-year plan for reducing dis-aster risks, adopted at the 2005 World Conference on Disaster Reduction [YUN 2005, p. 1015]. The report revealed that risk reduction was still not hardwired into the “business process” of the development sec-tors, planning ministries and financial institutions; if the Framework’s goals were to be reached by 2015, strengthened political resolve would be needed. Ad-ditionally, the coincidence between the review of the Framework and that of the Millennium Develop-ment Goals (see p. 813) provided the opportunity for strengthening the linkages between the two agendas.

Preliminary results of the midterm review pointed to a broadly held view that the Hyogo Framework for Action was useful in guiding global efforts towards disaster risk reduction, especially in raising awareness and supporting the establishment of policies at all levels, as well as legislation. The need for stronger na-tional governance mechanisms was evident, however, and UN system implementation of the Framework was uneven. There was a greater focus on implementa-tion of the five priorities for action than on the three broader strategic goals. Major challenges in imple-menting the Framework included reaching vulnerable communities, framing risk reduction as an issue of ac-countability, and investing in disaster risk reduction.

The Secretary-General urged Member States to accelerate implementation of the Framework by

strengthening their national disaster risk reduction capacities and integrating disaster risk reduction into development agendas; join the global initiative “Making cities resilient 2010–2011: My city is get-ting ready” (see p. 928); consider adopting investment benchmarks as suggested at the 2009 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction [YUN 2009, p. 909]; and with isdr stakeholders, augment their financial con-tributions to the UN Trust Fund for Disaster Reduc-tion to ensure adequate and flexible support for the Framework’s implementation.

Ministerial conferences. At the second Ministe-rial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa (Nairobi, 10 April), ministers adopted the extended Africa Programme of Action for the Implementa-tion of the Africa Regional Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction. At the fourth Asian Ministerial Confer-ence on Disaster Risk Reduction (Incheon, Republic of Korea, 25–28 October), the Incheon Declaration of 2010 and the Incheon Regional Road Map were adopted, identifying the integration of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation as priority focus areas in the region until 2015.


On 20 December [meeting 69], the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Second (Economic and Financial) Committee [A/65/436/Add.3], adopted resolution 65/157 without vote [agenda item 20 (c)].

International Strategy for Disaster Reduction

The General Assembly,Recalling its decision 57/547 of 20 December 2002 and

its resolutions 44/236 of 22 December 1989, 49/22 A of 2 December 1994, 49/22 B of 20 December 1994, 53/185 of 15 December 1998, 54/219 of 22 December 1999, 56/195 of 21 December 2001, 57/256 of 20 December 2002, 58/214 and 58/215 of 23 December 2003, 59/231 and 59/233 of 22 December 2004, 60/195 and 60/196 of 22 December 2005, 61/198 and 61/200 of 20 December 2006, 62/192 of 19 December 2007, 63/216 and 63/217 of 19 December 2008 and 64/200 of 21 December 2009, as well as Economic and Social Council resolutions 1999/63 of 30 July 1999 and 2001/35 of 26 July 2001, and taking into consideration its resolution 57/270 B of 23 June 2003 on the integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields,

Reaffirming the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustain-able Development and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (“Johannes-burg Plan of Implementation”),

Reaffirming also the Hyogo Declaration and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, adopted by the World Conference on Disaster Reduction,

Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome,


Recalling also the High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals and its outcome document,

Reaffirming the role of the Hyogo Framework for Ac-tion in providing policy guidance on the implementation of the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits,

Recalling the “2009 Global Assessment Report on Dis-aster Risk Reduction”, launched in Manama in May 2009,

Recognizing that 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of the creation of the International Strategy for Disaster Re-duction as well as the midpoint of the Hyogo Framework for Action,

Expressing its deep concern at the number and scale of natural disasters and their increasing impact in recent years, which have resulted in massive loss of life and long-term negative social, economic and environmental consequences for vulnerable societies throughout the world and which hamper the achievement of their sustainable development, in particular in developing countries,

Expressing its deep concern also at the increasing chal-lenges facing the disaster response and preparedness capac-ity of Member States and the United Nations system as a result of the combined impacts of current global challenges, including the global financial and economic crisis, climate change and the food crisis,

Recognizing the clear relationship between sustainable development, poverty eradication, climate change, disaster risk reduction, disaster response and disaster recovery and the need to continue to deploy efforts in all these areas,

Recognizing also the urgent need to further develop and make use of the existing scientific and technical knowledge to build resilience to natural disasters, and emphasizing the need for developing countries to have access to appropri-ate, advanced, environmentally sound, cost-effective and easy-to-use technologies so as to seek more comprehensive solutions to disaster risk reduction and to effectively and efficiently strengthen their capabilities to cope with disaster risks,

Recognizing further the need to continue to develop an understanding of, and to address, socio-economic activities that exacerbate the vulnerability of societies to natural disas-ters and to build and further strengthen local authorities and community capabilities to reduce vulnerability to disasters,

Recognizing the need to continue to develop an under-standing of, and to address, the underlying risk factors, as identified in the Hyogo Framework for Action, including socio-economic factors, that exacerbate the vulnerability of societies to natural hazards, to build and further strengthen the capacity at all levels to cope with disaster risks and to enhance resilience against hazards associated with disasters, while also recognizing the negative impact of disasters on economic growth and sustainable development, in particu-lar in developing countries and disaster-prone countries,

Recognizing also the need to integrate a gender perspec-tive into the design and implementation of all phases of disaster risk management, with a view to reducing vulner-ability,

Taking into account the various ways and forms in which all countries, in particular the more vulnerable countries, are affected by severe natural hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides and volcanic eruptions and extreme weather events such as heat waves, severe droughts, floods,

storms and the El Niño/La Niña events, which have global reach,

Taking into account also that geological and hydrome-teorological hazards, vulnerabilities and resilience to their associated natural disasters and the reduction of such disas-ters must be addressed in a coherent and effective manner,

Bearing in mind the importance of addressing disaster risks related to changing social, economic and environ-mental conditions and land use, and the impact of hazards associated with geological events, weather, water, climate variability and climate change, in sector development plan-ning and programmes as well as in post-disaster situations,

Noting that disaster risk is an increasing problem in ur-ban areas where risk, population and economic assets are concentrated,

Noting also that reaching the most vulnerable and the poorest communities remains a major challenge in the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action and that, while much progress has been made at the policy level globally, regionally and nationally, the benefits of this are yet to be felt locally,

Stressing that the impacts of natural disasters are severely hampering efforts to achieve the internationally agreed de-velopment goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and emphasizing the importance of reducing vul-nerabilities to natural disasters,

Noting with appreciation the important role of the Spe-cial Representative of the Secretary-General for the imple-mentation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, according to the mandate, in strengthening the Strategy system, en-hancing the system-wide high-level leadership and coordi-nating disaster risk reduction,

1. Takes note of the reports of the Secretary-General on the implementation of resolutions 63/217 and 64/200;

2. Welcomes the progress made in the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, and stresses the need for a more effective integration of disaster risk reduction into sustainable development poli-cies, planning and programming, for the development and strengthening of institutions, mechanisms and capacities at the regional, national and local levels to build resilience to hazards, and for systematic incorporation of risk reduction approaches into the implementation of emergency prepar-edness, response and recovery programmes and long-term development plans, as a means to achieve the internation-ally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

3. Encourages Member States, the United Nations sys-tem, international financial institutions, regional bodies and other international organizations, including the Inter-national Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socie-ties, as well as civil society, including non-governmental organizations and volunteers, the private sector and the scientific community, to increase efforts to support, im-plement and follow up the Hyogo Framework for Action, and stresses the importance in this regard of the continued cooperation and coordination of stakeholders at all levels with respect to addressing effectively the impact of natural disasters;

4. Calls upon the United Nations system, and invites international financial institutions and regional and inter-national organizations, to integrate the goals of, and take


into full account, the Hyogo Framework for Action in their strategies and programmes, making use of existing coordi-nation mechanisms, and to assist developing countries with those mechanisms to design and implement, as appropriate, disaster risk reduction measures with a sense of urgency;

5. Recognizes that each State has the primary respon-sibility for its own sustainable development and for tak-ing effective measures to reduce disaster risk, including for the protection of people on its territory, infrastructure and other national assets from the impact of disasters, includ-ing the implementation of and follow-up to the Hyogo Framework for Action, and stresses the importance of in-ternational cooperation and partnerships to support those national efforts;

6. Also recognizes the importance of coordinating adaptation to climate change with relevant disaster risk reduction measures, invites Governments and relevant in-ternational organizations to integrate these considerations in a comprehensive manner into, inter alia, development plans and poverty eradication programmes and, in the least developed countries, into the preparation and implemen-tation of national adaptation programmes of action, and invites the international community to support the ongoing efforts of developing countries in this regard;

7. Welcomes the national, subregional and regional initiatives undertaken by Member States, in particular de-veloping countries, to achieve disaster risk reduction, and reiterates the need to further develop regional initiatives and risk reduction capacities of regional mechanisms where they exist, to strengthen them and to encourage the use and sharing of all existing tools, and requests the regional commissions, within their mandates, to support the efforts of Member States in this regard, in close coordination with implementing entities of the United Nations system;

8. Encourages the Global Facility for Disaster Reduc-tion and Recovery, a partnership of the International Strat-egy for Disaster Reduction system managed by the World Bank, to continue to support the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action;

9. Welcomes the upcoming third session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, to be held in Geneva from 8 to 13 May 2011, which serves as an important forum for Member States and other stakeholders to assess progress made in the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action, to enhance awareness of disaster risk reduction, to share experiences and to learn from good practices;

10. Recognizes the importance of integrating a gender perspective and empowering and engaging women in the design and implementation of all phases of disaster risk management, as well as in risk reduction strategies and pro-grammes, and encourages the secretariat of the Strategy to continue to increase the promotion of gender mainstream-ing and empowerment of women;

11. Encourages the international community to sup-port the active participation of developing countries in the Strategy system, the Hyogo Framework for Action midterm review process and the third session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction;

12. Encourages the United Nations system to make every effort to accelerate the full integration and main-streaming of risk reduction into all its programmes and activities to ensure that it contributes to the achievement

of the Hyogo Framework for Action as well as to the Mil-lennium Development Goals;

13. Expresses its appreciation to those countries that have provided financial support for the activities of the Strategy by making voluntary contributions to the United Nations Trust Fund for Disaster Reduction;

14. Encourages Governments, multilateral organiza-tions, international and regional organizations, interna-tional and regional financial institutions, the private sector and civil society to systematically invest in disaster risk reduction with a view to implementing the objectives of the Strategy;

15. Acknowledges the importance of the work of the United Nations in disaster risk reduction, the growing de-mands on the secretariat of the Strategy and the need for increased, timely, stable and predictable resources for the implementation of the Strategy, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to consider how best to support the implementation of the natural disaster reduction strategy, taking into account the important role played by the sec-retariat of the Strategy, with a view to ensuring adequate resources for the operation of the secretariat of the Strategy;

16. Emphasizes the importance of early warning sys-tems as part of effective disaster risk reduction at the local, national and regional levels, in order to reduce economic and social damages, including the loss of human life, and in this regard encourages Member States to integrate such systems into their national disaster risk reduction strate-gies and plans and encourages donors and the international community to enhance international cooperation in sup-port of such initiatives, as appropriate, through technical assistance, technology transfer on mutually agreed terms, capacity-building and training programmes;

17. Stresses the need to foster better understanding and knowledge of the causes of disasters, as well as to build and strengthen coping capacities through, inter alia, the transfer and exchange of experiences and technical knowledge, edu-cational and training programmes for disaster risk reduc-tion, access to relevant data and information, the strength-ening of institutional arrangements and the promotion of community participation and ownership through commu-nity-based disaster risk management approaches;

18. Emphasizes the need for the international com-munity to maintain its focus beyond emergency relief and to support medium- and long-term rehabilitation, recon-struction and risk reduction, and stresses the importance of implementing and adapting long-term programmes related to the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction in the most vulnerable regions, par-ticularly in developing countries prone to natural disasters;

19. Urges the international community to continue to address ways and means, including through develop-ment cooperation and technical assistance, to reduce the adverse effects of natural disasters, including those caused by extreme weather events, in particular in vulnerable de-veloping countries, including the least developed countries and countries in Africa, through the implementation of the Strategy, including the Hyogo Framework for Action, and encourages the institutional arrangement for the Strategy to continue its work in this regard;

20. Stresses the importance of the Hyogo Declaration and the Hyogo Framework for Action and the priorities for action that States, regional and international organizations,


international financial institutions and other concerned ac-tors, in their approach to disaster risk reduction, should take into consideration and implement, as appropriate, according to their own circumstances and capacities, bearing in mind the vital importance of promoting a culture of prevention in the area of natural disasters, including through the mo-bilization of adequate resources for disaster risk reduction, and addressing disaster risk reduction, including disaster preparedness at the community level, and the adverse ef-fects of natural disasters on efforts to implement national development plans and poverty reduction strategies with a view to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

21. Acknowledges that disaster risk reduction and in-creasing resilience to all types of natural hazard, includ-ing geological and hydrometeorological hazards, in devel-oping countries, in line with the Hyogo Framework for Action, can promote the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and that reducing vulnerabilities to these hazards is therefore a high priority for developing countries;

22. Expresses its deep concern at the number and scale of natural disasters and the increasing challenges posed by the consequences of such disasters, as well as the impact of cli-mate change, which impede progress towards the sustain-able development of all countries, in particular develop-ing countries, especially small island developing States, the least developed countries and landlocked developing countries, as well as other particularly vulnerable countries;

23. Stresses the need to strengthen the mainstreaming of disaster risk reduction into national development strate-gies and as a practice in the policies and programmes of the humanitarian and environmental sectors, planning ministries, financial institutions and other relevant bodies;

24. Also stresses that, in order to reduce vulnerability to natural hazards, risk assessments should be integrated into disaster risk reduction programmes at the national and local levels;

25. Encourages the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the parties to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to continue to address the adverse effects of climate change, especially in developing countries that are particularly vul-nerable, in accordance with the provisions of the Conven-tion, and also encourages the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to continue to assess the adverse effects of climate change on the socio-economic and natural disaster reduction systems of developing countries;

26. Notes with appreciation the launching of the Strat-egy campaign for 2010–2011, “Making Cities Resilient: My city is getting ready”, which aims to increase the re-silience of cities and urban areas by raising the awareness of citizens and local governments of risk reduction options and by mobilizing political commitment and support among local governments to include risk reduction aspects in urban development planning and critical infrastructure investments;

27. Welcomes the informal thematic debate of the General Assembly on disaster risk reduction to be held in New York on 9 February 2011;

28. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session, under the sub-item entitled “International Strategy for Disaster Re-duction” of the item entitled “Sustainable development”, a report on the implementation of the present resolution including his recommendations on the midterm review of the Hyogo Framework for Action.

Natural disasters and vulnerability

In response to General Assembly resolution 63/217 [YUN 2008, p. 1029], the Secretary-General submitted a report [A/65/388] on isdr implementation provid-ing information on measures taken to reduce vulner-ability to severe climate-related hazards. As part of its ongoing advocacy with the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change, the isdr secretariat enabled the participation of disaster risk reduction experts from 10 developing countries to assist their national delegations in climate change negotiations. In May 2010, the global launch of the “Making cit-ies resilient: My city is getting ready” campaign took place in Bonn, Germany, in collaboration with the Local Governments for Sustainability and World Mayors Council on Climate Change, in the frame-work of the Mayors Adaptation Forum at the Resil-ient Cities 2010 Congress. Meanwhile, the World Meteorological Organization (wmo) was establishing regional climate centres worldwide that would cre-ate regional climate products, including long-range forecasts; that would strengthen the capacity of wmo members in a given region to deliver better climate services to national users.

El Niño

In response to General Assembly resolution 63/215 [YUN 2008, p. 1031], the Secretary-General submitted a report [A/65/388] on isdr implementation providing information on international cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon. The report indicated that the International Research Centre on El Niño in Guayaquil, Ecuador [YUN 1998, p. 873] had contributed in the area of climate research, supporting applied studies with data collection for the periodic El Niño/La Niña Updates, coordinated by wmo. The Cen-tre developed a number of tools, including a new cli-mate database for the Western coast of South America (El Niño/Southern Oscillation-sensitive countries) and a regional climate information system for risk management in the agriculture sector.


On 20 December [meeting 69], the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Second Committee [A/65/436/Add.3], adopted resolution 65/158 without vote [agenda item 20 (c)].


International cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon

The General Assembly,Recalling its resolutions 52/200 of 18 December 1997,

53/185 of 15 December 1998, 54/220 of 22 December 1999, 55/197 of 20 December 2000, 56/194 of 21 Decem-ber 2001, 57/255 of 20 December 2002, 59/232 of 22 De-cember 2004, 61/199 of 20 December 2006 and 63/215 of 19 December 2008 and Economic and Social Council resolutions 1999/46 of 28 July 1999, 1999/63 of 30 July 1999 and 2000/33 of 28 July 2000,

Noting that the El Niño phenomenon has a recurring character and can lead to extensive natural hazards with the potential to seriously affect humankind,

Reaffirming the importance of developing strategies at the national, subregional, regional and international levels that aim to prevent, mitigate and repair the damage caused by natural disasters resulting from the El Niño phenomenon,

Noting that technological developments and interna-tional cooperation have enhanced the capabilities for the prediction of the El Niño phenomenon and thereby the potential for the preventive actions that may be taken to reduce its negative impacts,

Taking into account the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development and the Plan of Implementa-tion of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (“Johannesburg Plan of Implementation”), in particular paragraph 37 (i) thereof,

Reaffirming the Hyogo Declaration and the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the International Strategy for Disas-ter Reduction, in particular annex III to the report, entitled “International cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon”, and calls upon the international com-munity to make further efforts to assist countries affected by this phenomenon;

2. Recognizes the efforts made by the Governments of Ecuador and Spain, the World Meteorological Organiza-tion and the inter-agency secretariat of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction to support the Interna-tional Research Centre on El Niño at Guayaquil, Ecuador, and encourages them and other members of the interna-tional community to continue such contributions for the advancement of the Centre;

3. Welcomes the activities undertaken so far to strengthen the International Research Centre on El Niño, through collaboration with international monitoring cen-tres, including the national oceanographic institutions, and efforts to enhance regional and international recognition of and support for the Centre and to develop tools for deci-sion makers and Government authorities for reducing the impact of the El Niño phenomenon;

4. Notes the contribution of the International Research Centre on El Niño as a reference centre on climate services and climate-related disaster risk reduction, as well as in the area of climate research, including through the devel-opment of a new climatic database for El Niño/Southern Oscillation-sensitive countries, and encourages the sharing of best practices with climate centres located in other El Niño-affected regions;

5. Recognizes the technical and scientific support of the World Meteorological Organization in producing region-ally coordinated monthly and seasonal forecasts, in par-ticular its establishment of a consensus mechanism for the development of updates on El Niño/La Niña conditions, which receives contributions from several climate centres, including the International Research Centre on El Niño;

6. Encourages, in this regard, the World Meteorologi-cal Organization to continue to strengthen collaboration and the exchange of data and information with relevant institutions;

7. Calls upon the Secretary-General, the relevant United Nations organs, funds and programmes, in par-ticular those taking part in the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, and the international community to adopt, as appropriate, the measures necessary to further strengthen the International Research Centre on El Niño, and invites the international community to provide scien-tific, technical and financial assistance and cooperation for this purpose, as well as to strengthen, as appropriate, other centres devoted to the study of the El Niño phenomenon;

8. Underlines the importance of maintaining the El Niño/Southern Oscillation observation system, continuing research into extreme weather events, improving forecast-ing skills and developing appropriate policies for reducing the impact of the El Niño phenomenon and other extreme weather events, and emphasizes the need to further develop and strengthen these institutional capacities in all coun-tries, in particular developing countries;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to include in his re-port to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session on the implementation of the International Strategy for Disas-ter Reduction a section on the implementation of the present resolution.

Disaster assistanceDjibouti

The UN Drought Appeal for Djibouti, which sought $33.3 million to address the humanitarian needs of 120,000 people, received 58 per cent ($19.4 million) of the requirement.

In 2010, Djibouti experienced a fourth consecu-tive year of failed rainfall in terms of its quantity and regularity, leading to the depletion of water reserves, massive loss of livestock and the resulting destruc-tion of livelihoods and sources of income, increased malnutrition, especially among children under five, and associated health problems. The global acute mal-nutrition rate among children under five was 20 per cent. In addition, increasing violence and instability in south-central Somalia resulted in rising numbers of asylum seekers entering Djibouti. Consistently high food prices harmed the health of the population and increased the level of malnutrition, with reports of outbreaks of diseases, including cholera. The UN Drought Appeal for Djibouti sought funding for the following areas over 12 months: distribution of food assistance; improved potable water access; rebuilding of animal husbandry and agricultural activities; access to basic health services; and strengthened capacities of


national institutions in the implementation and coor-dination of emergency humanitarian relief.

El Salvador

Following the damages and losses in El Salvador resulting from Hurricane Ida and the low-pressure system off the Pacific in November 2009 [YUN 2009, p. 912], a flash appeal was launched, with initial efforts focusing on emergency aid to the affected population, especially the 15,000 people living in emergency col-lective centres following the disaster. The appealing agencies focused on coordinating the response of the humanitarian community through the activation of clusters, and despite a shortage of funding, some pro-jects were successfully implemented and assistance provided to the affected population. Some needs, however, still needed to be addressed. Priorities in-cluded: the provision of emergency and temporary shelter to the approximately 1,700 displaced people still living in collective centres and informal settle-ments; the provision of food assistance, health and wash services and the restoration of livelihoods of the displaced population, as well as decent living condi-tions to the affected population before the start of the rainy season in May. The Humanitarian Country Team was seeking housing solutions for the 20,674 people whose houses were damaged or destroyed.

The revised appeal for El Salvador sought $14.4 million to continue to support the Government of El Salvador through May 2010.

Report of Secretary-General. In response to resolution 64/74 [ibid.], the Secretary-General sub-mitted an August report [A/65/335] on humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation for selected countries, which contained an update on assistance delivered to El Salvador as a result of Hurricane Ida. As at July 2010, the UN system had invested $16 million to provide assistance to more than 120,000 people in the aftermath of the disaster and to support the Government’s response in key areas: food assistance, education, temporary shelter, agriculture, health care, water and sanitation, coordination and early recovery.

Guatemala

The UN Flash Appeal for Guatemala, which sought $17 million, received 49 per cent ($8.1 mil-lion) of the requirement.

In 2010, Guatemala experienced a protracted food insecurity crisis, which partially affected the approximately 2.7 million people living in the coun-try’s so-called dry corridor. Global acute malnutrition among children under five in the dry corridor and two neighbouring provinces was 11 per cent, and 13 per cent among women of childbearing age. The crisis stemmed from a combination of changes in global

markets and climate-related events, namely, atypical rainfall patterns brought about by El Niño in 2009, which caused high losses in hillside and subsistence agriculture production. The UN Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Appeal for Guatemala, which sought $34.2 million, received 24 per cent ($8.2 mil-lion) of the requirement.

On 29 May, tropical storm Agatha struck Guate-mala, resulting in more than 426 millimetres of rain in a short period of time and affecting 21 of the coun-try’s 22 departments. Two days earlier, on 27 May, the Pacaya volcano had erupted, which limited and delayed search-and-rescue operations as well as the provision of humanitarian relief. The Government declared a state of national calamity on 29 May, and a flash appeal was launched on 11 June to address the needs of 390,000 people affected by the emergency. Initial efforts focused on the provision of emergency aid (food and non-food items, safe water and health assistance) to the affected population.

Haiti

The UN Flash Appeal for the 12 January Haiti earthquake, which sought $1.5 billion, received 73 per cent ($1.1 billion) of the requirement.

At the time of the Flash Appeal on 15 January, thousands were feared dead, many more injured, and unknown numbers still buried under the rubble. The level of casualties sustained by civil servants and the damage to public buildings and services significantly reduced the capacity of national authorities to lead and coordinate the response. Damage to buildings and infrastructure was widespread and severe. Port-au-Prince’s critical infrastructure, such as electricity and water was disabled, and roads to and within the capital were partially blocked. Communication was disrupted, making it difficult to obtain a full picture of the situation which affected the speed and scale of the relief effort (see also p. 907).

MINUSTAH support. The Security Council, in resolution 1908(2010) of 19 January, endorsed the Secretary-General’s recommendations to increase the overall force levels of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (minustah) to support the immediate re-covery, reconstruction and stability efforts in Haiti (see p. 321).

Communication. On 19 January, Spain for-warded to the Secretary-General the conclusions [A/64/852-E/2010/101] adopted by the Council of the European Union (Foreign Affairs) on the earthquake in Haiti, welcoming the global response to the crisis, supporting the UN’s role in the international relief ef-fort, and requesting an eu-wide response to the post-emergency rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruc-tion for the long-term development needs of Haiti.



On 22 January [meeting 69], the General Assembly adopted resolution 64/250 [draft: A/64/L.42 & Add.1, as orally revised] without vote [agenda item 70 (a)].

Humanitarian assistance, emergency relief and rehabilitation in response to the

devastating effects of the earthquake in Haiti


and the guiding principles contained in the annex thereto, other relevant General Assembly and Economic and Social Council resolutions and agreed conclusions of the Council, including Council resolution 2008/36 of 25 July 2008,

Expressing sincere condolences and deep sympathy to the victims, their families and the Government and people of Haiti who suffered huge losses of life and socio-economic damage from the earthquake that struck Haiti on 12 Janu-ary 2010,

Conscious of the huge loss of human life and the large number of people wounded and people whose suffering from the health impact of the disaster is severe,

Conscious also of the huge material losses sustained in respect of homes and basic infrastructures in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and elsewhere in the country, and express-ing concern over the medium- and long-term social, eco-nomic and development impacts of the disaster on the af-fected country,

Acknowledging the efforts of the Government of Haiti, despite the losses it has suffered, to protect the lives of its nationals and to rapidly assist the affected population, and recognizing with deep appreciation the immediate emer-gency relief assistance and rescue operations provided on the ground by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti and the United Nations system, as well as by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and civil society,

Welcoming the leadership of the Secretary-General in ensuring a speedy response by the United Nations system to the tragic events, and commending the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat for its coordinating role in supporting the Government of Haiti in ensuring a coherent international response to the emergency,

Welcoming also the efforts of the United Nations Special Envoy for Haiti to mobilize international support for emer-gency relief operations, as well as of the Emergency Relief Coordinator and the Resident/Humanitarian Coordinator for Haiti,

Commending the prompt response, support, generous contributions and assistance provided by Member States, the international community, civil society, the private sector and individuals to the emergency relief and response to the impacts of the disaster,

Reiterating the need for a continued high level of sup-port for and commitment to the immediate humanitarian relief phase, early recovery, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development efforts, including in the medium and long terms, that reflect the spirit of international solidarity and cooperation in addressing the disaster,

Noting the enormous effort and solidarity of the interna-tional community, reflecting the importance of the fullest

coordinated response and taking into account the national development priorities of Haiti, that will be required to re-build the affected areas in order to alleviate the grave situ-ation arising from this natural disaster,

Reiterating the need for the United Nations system to respond swiftly to requests for assistance by the affected country and to ensure that the humanitarian assistance provided is timely, adequate, effective and coherent and co-ordinated among all humanitarian actors, in particular the Government of Haiti, and in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence,

1. Expresses its solidarity and support to the Government and people of Haiti, as well as to all Member States that have lost nationals in this catastrophe;

2. Pays special tribute to all the staff members of the United Nations and international peacekeepers who have given their lives in the line of duty, and encourages contin-ued search-and-rescue operations for all people still unac-counted for;

3. Expresses its appreciation to the members of the in-ternational community that have offered their prompt and generous support to the rescue efforts and emergency assistance for the affected population;

4. Appeals to all Member States and all relevant organs and bodies of the United Nations system, as well as the international financial institutions and development agen-cies, to provide speedy, sustainable and adequate support for the relief, early recovery, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development efforts of Haiti;

5. Calls upon the international community to provide assistance, as soon as possible, in response to the United Na-tions flash appeal for Haiti launched on 15 January 2010, and supports the overall coordinating role of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in assisting the Government of Haiti in ensuring a coherent international response to the humanitarian emergency in Haiti;

6. Requests the Secretary-General and all relevant or-gans and bodies of the United Nations system, as well as the international financial institutions and development agen-cies, to assist Haiti, whenever possible, through continued effective humanitarian, technical and financial assistance that contributes to overcoming the emergency and to the rehabilitation and recovery of the economy and the affected population, in conformity with the priorities identified at the national level;

7. Requests the Secretary-General, in this regard, to consult with Member States, relevant United Nations or-gans and bodies, including the Peacebuilding Commission and the Economic and Social Council, regarding ways to achieve enhanced coordination of reconstruction and de-velopment efforts in Haiti;

8. Requests the relevant organs and bodies of the United Nations system and other relevant international organizations to increase their support and assistance in strengthening the disaster-preparedness capacity of Haiti as well as reducing its vulnerability to natural disasters, and in integrating disaster risk reduction in its development strategies and programmes, in accordance with the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to keep Member States regularly informed on the humanitarian assistance


efforts in Haiti and to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session on the implementation of the present reso-lution and on the progress made in the relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts of the affected country, under the sub-item entitled “Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations”.

In response to Assembly resolution 64/250 (see p. 931), the Secretary-General reported on relief and reconstruction efforts in Haiti in August (see p. 918) and in December, the Assembly adopted resolution 65/135 (ibid.).

EU extraordinary meeting. On 19 January [A/64/852-E/2010/101], Spain transmitted to the Secre-tary General the conclusions adopted by the Council of the European Union (eu) (Foreign Affairs) at an extraordinary meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Haiti. The Council welcomed the European Commis-sion’s preliminary commitment of 30 million euros in humanitarian assistance and 92 million euros by its member States. Following the launch of the Flash Ap-peal, the eu signalled its intention to provide further humanitarian assistance. It called for an international conference on post-emergency needs, and welcomed the launching of a coordinated post-disaster needs assessment with the United Nations and the World Bank.

Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and other Caribbean countries

From 29 October to early November, the Carib-bean (Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands) was hit by Hurricane Tomas, which brought strong winds, more than 10 inches of rain and surges of 1 to 3 feet above normal tide levels, severely af-fecting more than 2,000 homes, causing landslides, interrupting water services in Saint Lucia, and caus-ing infrastructure damages, as well as electricity and communications disruption. The agriculture sector in Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines suffered major losses, especially to banana crops; in Barbados some 1,500 houses were damaged. An emergency appeal was issued by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on 22 November requesting 1,045,054 Swiss francs to assist up to 2,050 families in Barbados, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines for six months, of which 63 per cent was covered at the time of the request.



Emergency and reconstruction assistance to Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and

other countries affected by Hurricane Tomas

The General Assembly,Recalling its resolutions 49/22 A of 2 December 1994,

54/219 of 22 December 1999, 61/200 of 20 December 2006, 62/192 of 19 December 2007, 63/216 and 63/217 of 19 December 2008 and 64/200 of 21 December 2009,

Recalling also the report of the Secretary-General en-titled “Strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations”,

Deeply regretting the number of persons killed, missing and negatively affected as a result of Hurricane Tomas, which struck Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Gren-adines on 30 and 31 October and Haiti on 5 and 6 Novem-ber 2010,

Deeply concerned at the tremendous damage caused by Hurricane Tomas to crops, homes, basic infrastructure and tourist and other areas and the economies of Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and other affected countries, which could adversely affect the economic and social development plans of those countries,

Deeply concerned also about the vulnerability of Haitians who are still living in camps for internally displaced persons and informal settlements in the wake of the earthquake of January 2010 and as a result of increased cholera infec-tions in the aftermath of the flooding caused by Hurricane Tomas,

Disturbed by the devastation to the agricultural sectors of Haiti, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, in particular to the banana, tree crop and vegetable sectors and to livestock, caused by Hurricane Tomas, the short-term impact of the hurricane on the livelihoods of farm-ers and the medium-term impact on national economies resulting from the loss of revenue from agricultural exports,

Conscious that the Caribbean countries are vulnerable to cyclical weather patterns and prone to natural hazards because of their geographical location, features and small size, which impose additional challenges on their ability to achieve the Millennium Development Goals,

Noting with concern the loss of life, infrastructural dam-age and adverse developmental impacts caused by tropical storms and hurricanes, active and longer Atlantic hurricane seasons and the extreme vulnerability of the Caribbean region to such events,

Aware of the efforts of the Governments and peoples of Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and other affected countries to save lives and alleviate the suffering of the victims of Hurricane Tomas,

Bearing in mind the enormous effort that will be re-quired to ameliorate the serious situation caused by this natural disaster,

Welcoming the prompt response of the international community, the United Nations system, regional or-ganizations, international agencies, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and non- governmental organizations in providing relief to the af-fected populations,

Recognizing that the magnitude of the disaster and its medium- and long-term effects will require, as a comple-ment to the efforts already being made by the Govern-ments and peoples of Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and


the Grenadines and other affected countries, a demonstra-tion of international solidarity and humanitarian concern to ensure more broad-based and adequate multilateral cooperation in order to meet the immediate emergency situation in the affected areas and initiate the process of reconstruction,

1. Expresses its solidarity and support to the Govern-ments and peoples of Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and other affected countries;

2. Expresses its gratitude to the international community, the United Nations system, regional organizations, interna-tional agencies, the International Red Cross and Red Cres-cent Movement and non-governmental organizations that have provided emergency relief to the affected countries;

3. Appeals to all Member States and all organs and bodies of the United Nations system, as well as interna-tional financial institutions and development agencies, to provide speedy support for the relief, rehabilitation, recon-struction and assistance effort for Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and other affected countries;

4. Encourages the Governments of Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and other affected coun-tries, in conjunction with relevant partners, to develop fur-ther strategies aimed at preventing and mitigating natural disasters, in accordance with the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction;

5. Requests the Secretary-General and all organs and bodies of the United Nations system, as well as interna-tional financial institutions and development agencies, to assist Haiti, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and other affected countries, to the extent possible, through continued effective humanitarian, technical and financial assistance that contributes to overcoming the emergency and achieving the rehabilitation and recovery of the econo-mies and the affected populations and through reconstruc-tion and disaster risk reduction efforts that take into con-sideration the impact of climate change, in conformity with the priorities identified at the national level.

Mongolia

The UN Consolidated Dzud Appeal for Mongolia, which sought $18.1 million, received 19 per cent ($3.4 million) of the requirement.

An extremely harsh 2009–2010 winter in Mongo-lia resulted in increased maternal and child mortality, an unprecedented loss of livestock, and the collapse of thousands of people’s livelihoods and basic ser-vices. The disaster, known locally as “dzud” (a com-plex, long-lasting natural disaster in which a summer drought was followed by heavy snowfalls and unusu-ally low temperatures in winter, and then by a dan-gerous spring thaw), resulted in 15 of Mongolia’s 21 provinces being declared disaster zones, and another four being seriously affected. The affected population suffered from lack of access to health care, widespread food insecurity, loss of livelihoods, risk of a mass exo-dus of people from rural areas to the cities in search of alternative employment and psychological trauma for affected herders and their families. The thick snow cover also meant that livestock were unable to graze,

and by the end of April, more than 7.8 million head of livestock (some 17 per cent of all Mongolia’s live-stock) had perished. In May, almost 9,000 households (45,000 people) were left without animals.

Pakistan

The UN Flash Appeal for Pakistan Floods Relief and Early Recovery Response Plan, which sought $1.96 billion, received 70 per cent ($1.37 billion) of the requirement.

During the 2010 monsoon season, Pakistan expe-rienced the worst floods in its history. Heavy rainfall, flash floods and riverine floods combined to create a moving body of water equal in dimension to the land mass of the United Kingdom. The floods affected 78 of the 141 districts in Pakistan, covering one third of its geographical area and affecting more than 18 mil-lion people, with 1,980 confirmed deaths, 1.7 million homes and over 10,000 schools damaged or destroyed, 2.2 million hectares of standing crops damaged and half a million livestock lost. An initial response plan was launched on 11 August to address the immediate needs of flood-affected people, and a revised response plan in November, to address the residual relief and early recovery needs of flood-affected families for the following twelve months. The goal of the plan was to prevent excess morbidity and mortality and to enable flood-affected communities to return to their normal lives. Its strategic objectives were to ensure adequate public health through an integrated approach; provide food assistance and other social protection measures; support sustainable solutions through the provision of shelter assistance; restore on- and off-farm livelihoods; and restore basic community services.


On 19 August [meeting 110], the General Assembly adopted resolution 64/294 [draft: A/64/L.66] without vote [agenda item 70].

Strengthening emergency relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and prevention in the wake of

devastating floods in Pakistan

The General Assembly,Recalling its resolution 46/182 of 19 December 1991 and

other relevant General Assembly and Economic and Social Council resolutions,

Cognizant of the substantial loss of life as well as enor-mous socio-economic, infrastructure and environmental damage caused by the recent devastating floods in Pakistan,

Noting that the massive scale of destruction and loss of life caused by unprecedented floods, triggered by torrential rains, in an otherwise arid region reflects the adverse impact of climate change and the growing vulnerability of coun-tries to climate change,

Recognizing the urgency of undertaking a massive rescue and relief operation, and supporting the efforts for rehabili-tation and reconstruction,


Welcoming the assistance and contributions of the inter-national community, including Governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector, in the re-lief and rehabilitation efforts, which reflect the spirit of in-ternational solidarity and cooperation, to address and meet the challenges of the disaster, and in this context also appre-ciating the role of the people and Government of Pakistan,

Welcoming also the launch by the United Nations on 11 August 2010 of the Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan and the continuous engagement of the Secretary-General in the intensification of global relief efforts to meet the urgent and immediate needs of the affected people,

1. Expresses full solidarity and sympathy with the people of Pakistan affected by the floods;

2. Urges the international community, in particular donor countries, international financial institutions and relevant international organizations, as well as the private sector and civil society, to extend full support and assistance to the Government of Pakistan in its efforts to mitigate the adverse impacts of the floods and to meet the medium- and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction needs;

3. Requests the Secretary-General and the United Na-tions system agencies to further intensify their efforts to sensitize the international community to the humanitar-ian, recovery and reconstruction needs of Pakistan and to mobilize effective, immediate and adequate international support and assistance to Pakistan;

4. Also requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session on the imple-mentation of the present resolution under the item entitled “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance”.

Communications. On 15 September [A/65/375], Turkmenistan transmitted a letter to the Secretary-General detailing the humanitarian assistance it had provided to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Chernobyl aftermath

In accordance with General Assembly resolution 62/9 [YUN 2007, p. 963], the Secretary-General in September submitted a report [A/65/341] on optimiz-ing the international effort to study, mitigate and minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster [YUN 1986, p. 584]. The report presented a midterm review of the UN action plan for Cherno-byl recovery up to 2016 and recorded the activities undertaken by UN funds, programmes and special-ized agencies to promote recovery from the disaster. It emphasized the importance of the ongoing inter-agency cooperation, including the framework of the International Chernobyl Research and Information Network, and outlined the role of undp in coordinat-ing inter-agency efforts for implementing the Dec-ade of Recovery and Sustainable Development of the Affected Regions (2006–2016) [YUN 2007, p. 964].

The Secretary-General noted that Chernobyl-affected communities still required assistance in the form of community-based projects, information on living safe and productive lives in the affected ter-ritories, and new opportunities and partnerships to help meet recovery and development needs. He rec-ommended that coordination and cooperation among UN system organizations and bodies be guided by the developmental approach to Chernobyl, the UN action plan on Chernobyl to 2016 and the goal of bringing life in the affected communities back to normal. The Secretary-General noted that the twenty-fifth anni-versary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident would be marked in 2011 by a conference in April, in Ukraine, providing an opportunity for the international com-munity to remind people of the disaster and reinforce donor interest. Annexed to the report were updates on activities by the three most affected countries, Bela-rus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, to facilitate recovery of the affected region.


On 15 December [meeting 67], the General Assembly adopted resolution 65/131 [draft: A/65/L.25 & Add.1] without vote [agenda item 69 (c)].

Strengthening of international cooperation and coordination of efforts to study, mitigate and

minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster

The General Assembly,Reaffirming its resolutions 45/190 of 21 December 1990,

46/150 of 18 December 1991, 47/165 of 18 December 1992, 48/206 of 21 December 1993, 50/134 of 20 Decem-ber 1995, 52/172 of 16 December 1997, 54/97 of 8 De-cember 1999, 56/109 of 14 December 2001, 58/119 of 17 December 2003, 60/14 of 14 November 2005 and 62/9 of 20 November 2007, as well as its resolution 55/171 of 14 December 2000, on closure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and taking note of the decisions adopted by the organs, organizations and programmes of the United Nations system in the implementation of those resolutions,

Recalling Economic and Social Council resolutions 1990/50 of 13 July 1990, 1991/51 of 26 July 1991 and 1992/38 of 30 July 1992 and Council decision 1993/232 of 22 July 1993,

Conscious of the long-term nature of the consequences of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was a major technological catastrophe in terms of its scope and complexity and created humanitarian, environmental, social, economic and health consequences and problems of common concern, requiring for their solution wide and active international cooperation and coordination of efforts in this field at the international and national levels,

Expressing profound concern at the ongoing effects of the consequences of the accident on the lives and health of peo-ple, in particular children, in the affected areas of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, as well as in other affected countries,


Noting the consensus reached among members of the Chernobyl Forum on the environmental, health and socio-economic effects of the Chernobyl disaster, in particular, in providing a message of reassurance and practical advice to communities living in territories affected by the Chernobyl disaster,

Acknowledging the importance of the national efforts being undertaken by the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine to mitigate and minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster,

Recognizing the contribution of civil society organiza-tions, including the national Red Cross Societies of Bela-rus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine and the Interna-tional Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, in response to the Chernobyl disaster and in support of the efforts of the affected countries,

Welcoming with appreciation the developmental approach to tackling the problems caused by the Chernobyl disaster aimed at normalizing the situation of the individuals and communities concerned in the medium and long term,

Stressing the exceptional Chernobyl-related needs, in particular in the areas of health, environment and research, in the context of the transition from the emergency to the recovery phase of mitigation of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster,

Noting the coordinating role for Chernobyl issues of the United Nations Development Programme,

Welcoming with appreciation the progress of engineering projects in transforming the damaged reactor site into a stable and environmentally safe condition, noting in par-ticular that the design and construction of a new, safe con-finement for the reactor have entered their final phase but will require significant funds to complete,

Stressing the need for further coordination by the United Nations Development Programme and improved resource mobilization by the United Nations system to support the activities aimed at the recovery of Chernobyl-affected ter-ritories, inter alia, community-based development projects, support to investment promotion and the creation of new jobs and small businesses, advocacy work and the provi-sion of relevant policy advice as requested, and the widest possible dissemination of the findings of the Chernobyl Forum through the International Chernobyl Research and Information Network,

Stressing also the significance of the upcoming twenty-fifth anniversary of the accident for the further strength-ening of international cooperation to study, mitigate and minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General con-cerning the implementation of resolution 62/9, as well as relevant parts of the reports of the agencies and organiza-tions of the United Nations system,

1. Welcomes the contribution made by States and by organizations of the United Nations system to the develop-ment of cooperation to mitigate and minimize the conse-quences of the Chernobyl disaster, the activities of regional and other organizations and those of non-governmental organizations, as well as bilateral activities;

2. Notes with appreciation the efforts undertaken by the agencies of the United Nations system and other interna-tional organizations that are members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Chernobyl to continue implementing a developmental approach to study, mitigate and minimize

the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, in particular through the development of specific projects, and stresses the need for the Inter-Agency Task Force to continue its activities to that end, including through coordinating efforts in the field of resource mobilization;

3. Acknowledges the difficulties faced by the most affected countries in minimizing the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, and invites States, in particular donor States and all relevant agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system, in particular the Bretton Woods institutions, as well as non-governmental organiza-tions, to continue to provide support to the ongoing efforts of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine to miti-gate the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, includ-ing through the allocation of adequate funds to support medical, social, economic and environmental programmes related to the disaster;

4. Reaffirms that the United Nations should continue to play an important catalytic and coordinating role in the strengthening of international cooperation to study, mitigate and minimize the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster;

5. Requests the Secretary-General and the United Na-tions Coordinator of International Cooperation on Cher-nobyl, in the capacity of Administrator of the United Na-tions Development Programme and as Chair of the United Nations Development Group, to continue to take appropri-ate practical measures to strengthen coordination of the international efforts in that area;

6. Welcomes the efforts of the Government of Ukraine and the international donor community to complete con-struction of the Shelter facility and related nuclear safety projects at Chernobyl, in accordance with international standards, so as to transform the site into a stable and environmentally safe state, and urges all parties to en-sure that a strong, long-standing, high-level commitment remains in place to ensure the successful completion of this vital work;

7. Also welcomes the activities of the United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador, star ten-nis player, Ms. Maria Sharapova, who serves as an advo-cate for post-Chernobyl recovery efforts, and praises her personal commitment in supporting a number of recovery projects that aid local communities in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine;

8. Notes with satisfaction the completion of the Coop-eration for Rehabilitation Programme in Belarus and the realization of the ongoing Chernobyl Recovery and Devel-opment Programme in Ukraine, aimed at promoting better living conditions in and the sustainable development of the affected territories;

9. Welcomes the initiation in Belarus of a three-year project by the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Na-tions Population Fund aimed at enhancing human well-being and safety in the Chernobyl-affected areas and the area-based development project in the Chernobyl-affected areas in Belarus, as well as the nationwide extension of the area-based development approach that was piloted in the Chernobyl-affected region of Ukraine;

10. Notes with satisfaction assistance rendered by the International Atomic Energy Agency to Belarus, the Rus-sian Federation and Ukraine on remediation of agricul-


tural and urban environments, cost-effective agricultural countermeasures and the monitoring of human exposure in areas affected by the Chernobyl disaster;

11. Takes note with satisfaction of the progress made by the Governments of the affected countries in implement-ing national strategies to mitigate the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, calls upon United Nations agencies and multilateral and bilateral donors to continue to align their assistance with the priorities of the national strategies of the affected States, and stresses the importance of working together on their implementation in a common effort in the spirit of cooperation;

12. Welcomes the implementation of the International Chernobyl Research and Information Network, aimed at providing scientific information on the consequences of the accident, with practical advice for local communities in the affected territories of Belarus, the Russian Federa-tion and Ukraine through dissemination of the findings of the Chernobyl Forum, including by providing accurate information on the impact of radiation in accessible, non- technical language in the form of practical messages on healthy and productive lifestyles, to the populations af-fected by the accident in order to empower them to maxi-mize social and economic recovery and sustainable develop-ment in all its aspects;

13. Stresses the importance of the full implementation of the third decade after the Chernobyl disaster, 2006–2016, the Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Develop-ment of the Affected Regions, proclaimed in its resolution 62/9, which is focused on achieving the goal of a return to normal life for the affected communities as far as is possible within this time frame, and notes the ongoing midterm comprehensive review of the Decade;

14. Requests the United Nations Development Pro-gramme to coordinate, within existing resources, the efforts of the United Nations system and with other relevant actors on the implementation of the Decade;

15. Welcomes the initiative of Ukraine, co-sponsored by Belarus and the Russian Federation, to convene the in-ternational conference entitled “Twenty-five Years after the

Chernobyl Disaster: Safety for the Future” in April 2011 in Kyiv;

16. Calls upon the relevant United Nations bodies, the specialized agencies and other organizations of the United Nations system to actively engage in and fund, within exist-ing resources, the preparations for the conference;

17. Encourages Governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, major groups, the private sector and other donors to contribute to the preparatory process and the conference itself;

18. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure, as ap-propriate, the full involvement of resident coordinators and country teams in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine in preparations for the conference;

19. Requests the President of the General Assembly to convene, on 26 April 2011, a special commemorative meeting of the Assembly in observance of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe;

20. Requests the Secretary-General to continue his ef-forts in the implementation of the relevant General Assem-bly resolutions and, through existing coordination mecha-nisms, in particular the United Nations Coordinator of International Cooperation on Chernobyl, to continue to maintain close cooperation with the agencies of the United Nations system, as well as with regional and other relevant organizations, while implementing specific Chernobyl-related programmes and projects;

21. Requests the United Nations Coordinator of Inter-national Cooperation on Chernobyl to continue her work to realize the United Nations action plan on Chernobyl to 2016, aimed at implementation of the Decade, with the full involvement of the relevant United Nations agencies in col-laboration with the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine;

22. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-eighth session, under a sepa-rate sub-item, a report containing a comprehensive assess-ment of the implementation of all aspects of the present resolution and, in particular, of the action plan on Cher-nobyl to 2016.

Documents

Chapter III Humanitarian and special economic assistance