UN publishes humanitarian coordination study drafted by GPPi

In September 2012, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) released a study about coordination based on a draft by GPPi’s Julia Steets and Claudia Meier. Titled Coordination to Save Lives – History and Emerging Challenges, the study is part of OCHA’s Policy Studies Series. GPPi conducted the research for the paper in 2011.

The study covers the history and potential future of humanitarian coordination. The first part is about how coordination has evolved between 1991 and 2011. A second part analyzes how global power shifts, new Internet technologies, climate change and other trends are altering humanitarian needs and the operating environment for humanitarians. The study also contains statements from all former OCHA emergency relief coordinators on topics such as policy development, management or humanitarian advocacy.

Current Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos and UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson launched an advance version of the paper at the ECOSOC Humanitarian Affairs Segment on 20 July 2012. Watch a video of the event here.