What is General Assembly resolution 46/182?
When the international humanitarian community provides emergency assistance, it is guided by UN General Assembly resolution 46/182 “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian emergency assistance of the United Nations”. The resolution outlines a framework for humanitarian assistance and a set of guiding principles.
The General Assembly adopted the resolution on 19 December 1991. This decision was influenced by world events at that time.
During the Gulf War, the UN’s humanitarian assistance to conflict - displaced people was uncoordinated and led to duplicated efforts. This highlighted the need for an organization with the specific mandate to coordinate assistance to affected people in emergencies.
GA resolution 46/182 established new arrangements for humanitarian coordination. It strengthened the existing position of the UN Disaster Relief Coordinator (DRC) and renamed it the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC). The DRC role had a limited mandate that did not include complex emergencies. GA resolution 46/182 helped remedy this gap by creating the ERC position with nine areas of responsibility. They include coordinating humanitarian assistance, facilitating access to emergency areas, organizing needs - assessment missions, preparing joint appeals and mobilizing resources, among others .
The resolution includes 12 guiding principles for humanitarian assistance, which include the following:
- Humanitarian assistance must be provided in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality .
- The sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity of States must be fully respected in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. In this context, humanitarian assistance should be provided with the consent of the affected country […]
- Each State has the responsibility first and foremost to take care of the victims of natural disasters and other emergencies occurring on its territory.
- States whose populations are in need of humanitarian assistance are called upon to facilitate the work of these organizations in implementing humanitarian assistance […]
Disclaimer
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.