is the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
OCHA coordinates global humanitarian efforts.
In 2016,
130 million
people needed humanitarian assistance.
Major crises and disasters affected people around the world, from the conflicts in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, to natural disasters, hunger and violence affecting families from Ecuador and Ethiopia, Haiti, Nigeria and all the countries affected by El Niño.
More than
2,300
dedicated OCHA staff working in over
60
countries responded to these emergencies. OCHA helps people and the humanitarian community through:
COORDINATION
ADVOCACY
HUMANITARIAN FINANCING
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
POLICY ANALYSIS
2016
JANUARY
Syrian Arab Republic
Since March 2011, the conflict in Syria has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, left millions needing protection and life-saving aid, and resulted in an unprecedented number of IDPs and refugees. Humanitarian agencies negotiate access, deliver supplies and provide essential services.
The Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Stephen O’Brien, regularly briefs the world’s powerful decision makers on the humanitarian situation in Syria, condemning atrocities and calling for action. However, no political solution has been found and heart-rending suffering continues. The fighting must stop.
STEPHEN O'BRIEN
Emergency Relief Coordinator
24 FEB SECURITY COUNCIL
The use of siege and starvation as a method of war must cease immediately. Enough is enough. This brutality must be brought to an end.
23 JUN SECURITY COUNCIL
Children have been forcibly detained; they have been tortured, subjected to sexual violence, and in some cases executed... How much longer will the children of Syria have to suffer like this?
30 MAR SECURITY COUNCIL
What we need is a permanent stop to the fighting, an end to the sieges, and safe, sustained, unconditional and unimpeded access so we can meaningfully reach all those in need…
28 APR SECURITY COUNCIL
For many who are merely surviving, life is miserable. Deliberately deprived of food and medicine, many face the most appalling conditions of desolation, hunger and starvation. We must all be ashamed that this is happening on our watch.
4 MAY SECURITY COUNCIL
We have all seen the harrowing images of bombs and mortars raining down on medical facilities and medical personnel across Aleppo in recent days… Life for people in Aleppo is horrendous and has lost all sense.
27 JAN SECURITY COUNCIL
For over five long years, the Syrian people have endured one of the most savage and brutal conflicts of the 21st century.
25 JUL SECURITY COUNCIL
We have seen the hopes of ordinary Syrians for an end to their nightmare raised and then dashed time and again.
9 AUG SECURITY COUNCIL
We have supplies ready to roll... we can deliver these within 24 to 48 hours if we have safe access... We require a fully fledged ceasefire or weekly 48-hour humanitarian pauses – as a minimum – to reach millions of people in need.
29 SEP SECURITY COUNCIL
One day there will be no hiding place for the individuals and institutions callously, cynically perpetrating these war crimes... Syria is bleeding. Its citizens are dying. We all hear their cry for help.
26 OCT SECURITY COUNCIL
The leaflets, which have been dropped on eastern Aleppo… read: “This is your last hope… Save yourselves. If you do not leave these areas urgently, you will be annihilated.”
21 NOV SECURITY COUNCIL
Horror is now usual – it is a level of violence and destruction that the world appears to consider normal for Syria and normal for the Syrian people.
FEB
JUN
MAR
APR
MAY
JAN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
FEBRUARY
FIJI: TROPICAL CYCLONE WINSTON
Tropical Cyclone Winston severely affected 40 per cent of Fiji's population, leaving a terrible trail of destruction in its wake.
BEFORE AND AFTER: Severity of impact estimated by OCHA using data from partners
Scroll the arrow in the middle to see the changes
OCHA successfully rolled out the largest field test of Kobo—a new open-source data-collection tool that allows aid workers to collect data in the field using mobile devices, paper or computers. The data collected was used to inform and support the humanitarian response. Relief efforts prioritized the restoration of essential services such as health, education, infrastructure and agriculture for the worst-affected people.
MARCH
MISSION FOR HUMANITY
Ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, the UN Secretary-General embarked on a 'Mission for Humanity', meeting people affected by some of the worst humanitarian crises. Ban Ki-moon travelled to countries including Burkina Faso, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nepal, the Philippines and South Sudan, raising awareness of his Agenda for Humanity.
Through the 'Mission for Humanity', OCHA raised awareness of the scale of the humanitarian needs across the globe, including through a number of video, web and social media assets. OCHA produced a virtual reality film of the mission and the people he met.
APRIL
ECUADOR EARTHQUAKE
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Ecuador killed more than 600 people and left more than 700,000 in need of humanitarian assistance.
ERC Stephen O’Brien said: “Many people have lost their homes, their livelihoods. But I was struck by their resilient spirit. The actions of the Government of Ecuador and local communities themselves saved many lives.”
OCHA immediately deployed a United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team to support Government efforts, particularly during the critical search-and-rescue phase.
17 UNDAC members from 8 countries and 11 support staff were deployed
MAY
WORLD HUMANITARIAN SUMMIT
The Summit generated more than 3,000 commitments to action, and it launched more than a dozen new partnerships and initiatives to turn the Agenda for Humanity and its five Core Responsibilities into meaningful change for the world's most vulnerable people. Read more.
JUNE
YEMEN
Worsening conflict continues to devastate Yemen, where millions of people need some type of assistance or protection in order to meet their basic needs. The economy is in near collapse, public and private services have all but disappeared, and some 7 million people do not know where their next meal will come from.
OCHA manages the Yemen Humanitarian Pooled Fund, providing funds to UN agencies, national and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and Red Cross/Red Crescent organizations to implement life-saving projects. In total, 34 organizations have benefited in 2016, including 11 national NGOs.
This is Godah—she has recovered from severe malnutrition thanks to supplies and health care provided by InterSOS, under a project funded by the Yemen Humanitarian Pooled Fund.
JULY
El NIñO
El Niño has severely affected the lives and livelihoods of more than 60 million people this year, especially in Eastern and Southern Africa, Central America and the Pacific, causing 23 countries to appeal for international humanitarian assistance.
The OCHA-managed Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated nearly US$120 million to 19 countries, making CERF one of the strongest supporters of early humanitarian action in response to El Niño.
OCHA has led a strong global advocacy campaign to improve the response, and it hosts the secretariat for the Secretary-General’s Envoys for El Niño and Climate.
AUGUST
WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY
World Humanitarian Day is held every year on 19 August to recognize the aid workers who risk their lives in humanitarian service, some paying the ultimate sacrifice.
In 2016, OCHA organized activities in 42 countries, including an event in New York, during which Hala Kamil, a Syrian refugee who fled with her children from Aleppo and found safety in Germany, delivered her Message to Humanity.
OCHA also launched The World You'd Rather online campaign: 60,000 people joined in and expressed their support for the Agenda for Humanity.
SEPTEMBER
LAKE CHAD BASIN
OCHA's advocacy for low-profile crises is a vital area of humanitarian work. In the Lake Chad Basin area of Western and Central Africa, more than 9 million people need humanitarian support because of conflict and insecurity caused by Boko Haram. Civilians have been killed, their homes torched, livelihoods destroyed. Tens of thousands of people in north-eastern Nigeria are living in conditions close to famine.
To draw global attention to this regional crisis, OCHA organized an event during the annual UN General Assembly, where world leaders pledged $163 million for the response.
OCTOBER
HAITI: HURRICANE MATTHEW
On 4 October, Hurricane Matthew claimed hundreds of lives in Haiti and left over 1.4 million people in need of assistance, plunging Haiti into its worst humanitarian crisis since the 2010 earthquake.
ReliefWeb.int. This humanitarian reporting site, celebrating its twentieth anniversary, receives over 6 million users every year. In the first month of the response to Hurricane Matthew, ReliefWeb had posted over 1,100 reports on the impact, people’s needs and aid activities, from shelter and food security, to sanitation and public health.
NOVEMBER
MOSUL, IRAQ
More than 100,000 people have been displaced by the Mosul military campaign. They need food, water, shelter and protection. Even before the Mosul offensive, there was already a large-scale emergency in Iraq, where about 10 million people needed humanitarian assistance.
Anticipating the humanitarian needs caused by the battle for Mosul, OCHA established a Humanitarian Operations Centre to assist civilians, and to coordinate UN partners, military actors, local NGOs and authorities.
DECEMBER
25 YEARS OF HUMANITARIAN COORDINATION
We are celebrating 25 years of humanitarian coordination: in December 1991, General Assembly resolution 46/182 created the Emergency Relief Coordinator position, the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (which was renamed OCHA in 1998), the Central Emergency Revolving Fund (which, in 2005, became the Central Emergency Response Fund—CERF) and the Consolidated Appeal Process (now the Humanitarian Response Plan). At the heart of the humanitarian ecosystem, OCHA ensures that the voices of the most vulnerable people are heard and their needs addressed.
2017
OCHA launched the global humanitarian appeal for 2017.
129M
TOTAL PEOPLE IN NEED
93M
TOTAL PEOPLE TO RECEIVE AID
$22B
TOTAL REQUIREMENTS
HOW YOU CAN HELP
OCHA is extremely grateful for the generous contributions of the Member States, individuals and corporations that fund its work.
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The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this site do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.
Video credit: UNDP, UNICEF. Photo credit: OCHA/Carole Al Farah, UN Photo/Kim Haughton, UN Women/Murray Lloyd, UN Photo/Evan Schneider, Red Cross/S. Rosales, UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe, OCHA/Charlotte Cans, INTERSOS, OCHA/Nick Horne, UN MINUSTAH/Logan Abassi, UNHCR/Ivor Prickett
Created by OCHA, Dec 2016.
Since March 2011, the conflict in Syria has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, left millions needing protection and life-saving aid, and resulted in an unprecedented number of IDPs and refugees. Humanitarian agencies negotiate access, deliver supplies and provide essential services.
The Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Stephen O’Brien, regularly briefs the world’s powerful decision makers on the humanitarian situation in Syria, condemning atrocities and calling for action. However, no political solution has been found and heart-rending suffering continues. The fighting must stop.
Tropical Cyclone Winston severely affected 40 per cent of Fiji's population, leaving a terrible trail of destruction in its wake.
Ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, the UN Secretary-General embarked on a 'Mission for Humanity', meeting people affected by some of the worst humanitarian crises. Ban Ki-moon travelled to countries including Burkina Faso, DR Congo , Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Nepal, the Philippines and South Sudan, raising awareness of his Agenda for Humanity.
OCHA organized the first ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul on 23 and 24 May, which brought together 9,000 participants from around the world to reaffirm their commitment to prevent and reduce human suffering.
OCHA's advocacy for forgotten crises is a vital area of work. In the Lake Chad Basin area of Central Africa, over 9 million people needed humanitarian support because of conflict and insecurity caused by Boko Haram.
On 4 October, Hurricane Matthew claimed hundreds of lives in Haiti and left over 1,4 million people in need of assistance, plunging Haiti into its worst humanitarian crisis since the 2010 earthquake.
Over 103,000 people who have been displaced by the Mosul military campaign. They need food, water, shelter and protection. Even before the Mosul offensive, there was already a large-scale emergency in Iraq, where about 10 million people needed humanitarian assistance.
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