Executive Summary
In 2023, 27 humanitarian operations in 28 locations had active humanitarian coordination structures, established under the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). These ranged from countries experiencing complex protracted crises to those responding to sudden-onset disasters, and included eight countries where IASC System-Wide Scale-Ups were active: Afghanistan (2021-2023), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2023), Ethiopia (2021/2022-2023), Haiti (2023), Somalia (2022-2023), Syria (2023, earthquake), Sudan (2023-2024), Turkiye (2023, earthquake) and Ukraine (2022-2023).
This report analyses how humanitarian coordination has been implemented around the world over the past year, with some notable trends emerging:
- In 2023, clusters coordinated over 20,000 humanitarian partner organizations globally, more than 76 per cent of which were NGOs (both national and international). National NGOs represented the largest group of humanitarian partners engaging in cluster coordination, at nearly 45 per cent, while international NGOs held almost 32 per cent of seats. Other groups, including the UN (7 per cent), national and local authorities (5 per cent), Red Cross/Red Crescent societies (2 per cent), donors (5 per cent), and others (3 per cent), maintained consistent shares within the overall cluster composition.
- As the humanitarian sector has become more inclusive, the size of humanitarian coordination mechanisms has grown, prompting questions regarding the efficiency of such large bodies. The size of both Humanitarian Country Teams (HCT) and Inter-Cluster Coordination Groups (ICCG) has steadily increased in recent years. In 2023, the average number of HCT members reached 35, up from 32 in 2022. Operations with the largest HCTs were Myanmar (68 members), Honduras (65 members) and Madagascar (56 members). ICCG membership also rose, from 30 in 2022 to 34 in 2023. Operations with the largest ICCGs included South Sudan (65 members), the Central African Republic (59 members) and Afghanistan (58 members).
- While IASC Standard Terms of Reference for HCTs state that Member States and donors are not members of HCTs, donors were recorded in 86 per cent of HCTs in 2023, compared to 83 per cent in 2022. Donor participation was also observed in 11 per cent of subnational HCTs. Ultimately, donors had greater representation in HCTs in 2023 than local and national NGOs, with the former accounting for 14 per cent of HCT members, whilst the latter accounted for 11 per cent.
- Dedicated cluster capacity rose significantly in 2023, but still did not reach the global standard of one dedicated cluster coordinator per cluster in all countries with cluster activations. The global average of dedicated cluster coordination capacity reached 71 per cent, up from 64 per cent in 2022. The operations with the highest dedicated capacity were Ukraine, Myanmar, Yemen, Syria (Gaziantep) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Those with the lowest were Haiti, Madagascar, Cameroon, Niger and Colombia.
- However, cluster capacity varied significantly across IASC System-Wide Scale-Ups. Dedicated cluster capacity increased or stabilized in four operations with IASC System-Wide Scale-Ups: Afghanistan, DRC, Ethiopia and Syria (Gaziantep). However, it decreased in three, with Haiti, Somalia and Syria (Damascus) all seeing decreases. Haiti was of greatest concern, with dedicated capacity dropping to 25 per cent, while there was a marked discrepancy in capacity for the Syria operation between the Gaziantep and Damascus hubs.
- Dedicated Information Management (IM) capacity for clusters increased but remained limited. Despite a rise in dedicated IM capacity—from 45 per cent in 2022 to 52 per cent in 2023—this remained well below dedicated cluster coordination capacity and 16 per cent of clusters still reported having no IM capacity. The operations with the highest dedicated cluster information management capacity were Syria (Gaziantep), Ukraine, Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen. The operations with the lowest were Chad, Niger, Cameroon, Syria (Damascus) and Haiti.
- Humanitarian partners utilized a variety of sub-national coordination approaches. In 2023, there were 52 subnational HCTs worldwide, concentrated in 13 operations (46 per cent), reflecting an increase from 2022 (44) and 2021 (39). The highest numbers of subnational HCTs were in Afghanistan (7), and Syria (Damascus) (6). Some 77 subnational Inter-Cluster Coordination Groups (ICCGs) were active in 21 operations (75 per cent), reflecting a slight decrease from 2022. Sudan had the highest number of subnational ICCGs (9), followed by Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia (7 each). A variety of area-based coordination models were reported in 71 per cent of operations, similar to 2022, highlighting continued interest and engagement in coordination in close proximity to crisis-affected communities.
- However, dedicated cluster capacity at sub-national level remained extremely low. Despite a small injection of dedicated cluster capacity at sub-national level in 2023 (including on surge), the vast majority (62 per cent) of cluster coordinators at sub-national level were double hatting, raising questions regarding the efficacy of cluster coordination at this level.
- The number of thematic groups and technical working groups rose in 2023. Operations had an average of 8 thematic subgroups reporting to the HCT or ICCG in 2023, a 7 per cent increase from 2022. The most frequently established thematic subgroups in 2023 were Community Engagement (CE) and Accountability to Affected People (AAP), Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA), and Information Management, followed by Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) and Access. There was also an average of 20.5 Technical Working Groups reporting to clusters per operation in 2023. The clusters with the highest number of Technical Working Groups reporting to them worldwide were Health (65), Nutrition (64), WASH (63) and Education (50).
- The pace and scale of humanitarian operations in 2023 resulted in a small increase in the frequency of national-level coordination meetings. Forty-three per cent of HCTs and 82 per cent of ICCGs met once every two weeks, whilst 14 per cent of operations held weekly ICCG meetings. The most significant increase in meeting frequency occurred amongst HCTs, with HCTs meeting fortnightly growing from 27 per cent in 2022 to 43 per cent in 2023.
Disclaimer
- UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.