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United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs /OCHA/ in the Russian Federation

The world today is marked increasingly by insecurity, rather often than not caused by natural and man-made disasters.

Typically, the onset of a humanitarian emergency is characterized by confusion. Infrastructure may be destroyed or communication lines may go down, hampering local response. For the humanitarian organizations of the United Nations and their partners to bring aid to the victims effectively, there is a need for all to share information in real time and coordinate their activities.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) was established with a specific mandate to coordinate activities of operational agencies, mainly to ensure that there are no gaps or overlaps, and that a well-concerted relief effort is adequately and timely conducted. OCHA serves as a catalyst for principled humanitarian action from the moment a crisis is anticipated until rehabilitation and reconstruction are under way.

OCHA’s aim is to mobilize and coordinate effective and principled humanitarian action in order to: 

·alleviate human suffering in disasters and emergencies;

· promote preparedness and prevention efforts to reduce future vulnerability;

·facilitate sustainable solutions by addressing root causes; 

· advocate for the rights of people in need.

OCHA is part of the United Nations Secretariat in New York and was created as part of the Secretary-General’s Reform Programme. The Office has three core functions: first, policy development and coordination in support of the Secretary-General, ensuring that all humanitarian issues, including those which fall between gaps in existing mandates of agencies such as protection and assistance for internally displaced persons, are addressed; second, advocacy of humanitarian issues with political organs, notably the Security Council; and, third, coordination of humanitarian emergency response, by ensuring that an appropriate response mechanism is established so that populations in need receive proper protection and assistance.

OCHA has been present in the Russian Federation since 1999, and works on four issues related to the core functions outlined above: addressing the humanitarian consequences of the situation in the Republic of Chechnya of the Russian Federation (Chechnya); natural disaster monitoring and response; strengthening relations between the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies, and the Elimination of the Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM) and OCHA; and liaison on humanitarian action in regions of interest to the United Nations and the Russian Federation.

The office functions as the secretariat and chief adviser to the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) and to the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator (DHC) for the North Caucasus. The HC is appointed by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator (also Under-Secretary-General and Head of OCHA) after consultation with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee of organisations from the UN system, Red Cross Movement, and key non-governmental consortia.

OCHA in the Russian Federation (www.ocha.ru) for information on humanitarian action in the North Caucasus and in response to natural and man-made disasters in the Russian Federation

OCHA Online (www.un.org/depts/ocha ) for information on OCHA

ReliefWeb (www.reliefweb.int ) for information on humanitarian activities as a whole

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