OCHA's Strategic Plan 2014-2017

OCHA’s Strategic Framework covers the 2014 to 2017 period. The Strategic Plan presents OCHA’s vision, overarching goals and strategic objectives. A related Management Plan explains how OCHA will strengthen its operations to deliver against this plan.

This Strategic Plan has been prepared in response to persistent global challenges. They include continuing and protracted armed conflict, chronic vulnerability, displacement and an ever-increasing demand for humanitarian assistance due to the growing number of disasters worldwide. At the same time, there have been dramatic changes in the makeup of the humanitarian sector and the way it works. Humanitarian agencies are more numerous and diverse. Communities, Governments, regional organizations, civil society and neighbouring countries have increased their capacity to respond to humanitarian emergencies. And technological advances are giving a stronger and clearer voice to people affected by disasters, enabling them to more clearly state their needs and criticize response efforts, leading to changes in the way assistance is provided.

In light of these changes, many factors— longstanding and relatively new—have challenged the international community’s ability to meet the needs of people affected by crises. In addition to funding constraints, these factors include growing economic inequality and vulnerability due to global trends such as climate change and urbanization; the failure of political processes to end conflict; and inadequate prioritization and investment in disaster risk reduction.

In response, OCHA will remain focused on providing high-quality and strategic coordination services that support humanitarian actors in their delivery of principled and effective responses by supporting the implementation of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Transformative Agenda. This focuses on improving the leadership, coordination and accountability of humanitarian response efforts.

OCHA also recognizes that the humanitarian sector needs to adapt to address these challenges. If the sector is to keep pace with the increased needs of growing numbers of people, it will need new actors and capacities, and improved links between international, regional and national aid providers. OCHA will thus work to ensure that the humanitarian sector continues to become more inclusive, and to make fundamental changes in the way it works, while building on current strengths, norms, values and principles. Much of this work will actively inform and benefit from the consultations leading up to the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit, at which Member States, humanitarian organizations and affected people will create an agenda to ensure that humanitarian action is fit to respond to future challenges.