Mr. President,
I have the honour to introduce, on behalf of the sponsors, a draft resolution on the strengthening of the coordination of emergency humanitarian assistance of the United Nations, contained in document A/63/L.49.
We would like to thank all delegations for the good and constructive spirit of cooperation and partnership in which the consultations were held. We are pleased that consensus for this important resolution once again could be reached. This draft resolution has confirmed the established consensus on the humanitarian agenda, and strengthened our shared possibilities to face disasters of different natures.
This resolution reaffirms the unique and leading role that the United Nations has to play in humanitarian emergencies. Since the origin of the resolution, at the 46th Session of the General Assembly in 1992, national and international emergency response capacity has been strengthened considerably. OCHA and the mechanisms for inter-agency coordination have enhanced coordination in assistance and the operational agencies of the United Nations have improved rapid and effective response in humanitarian relief.
At the same time, significant challenges remain. As the demands grow, the humanitarian system needs to further improve its capacity and have adequate and timely resources to respond. It is important to further enhance the respect for humanitarian principles and to better understand the role of humanitarian assistance in support of Governments and their populations. As in previous years, this draft resolution addresses both issues related to efforts to strengthen international humanitarian response, as well as issues of principles for humanitarian protection and assistance.
Mr President,
The Central Emergency Response Fund has been a true success. The independent review of the CERF, considered in this draft resolution, shows that the Fund has become a valuable tool in ensuring a more timely and predictable response to humanitarian emergencies. The draft resolution stresses the importance to address the findings and recommendations in the report in order to further improve the Fund to ensure that the resources are used in the most efficient, effective and transparent manner possible.
During the high level conference on CERF last week, the Fund’s already wide donor base was expanded to 100 donors, which together pledged a total of approximately 380 MUSD for humanitarian assistance in 2009. This year’s draft resolution calls upon member states to consider increasing their contributions to the CERF.
The draft expresses deep concern for the increasing challenges of the consequences of natural disasters, including the impact of climate change, and encourages the international community to provide adequate resources for disaster risk reduction. The draft also expresses deep concern about the impact of the current global food crises and its humanitarian challenges. In this regard, we welcome the establishment by the Secretary-General of the High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis and emphasize the importance of implementing the Comprehensive Framework for Action.
The draft notes with grave concern that gender-based violence, including sexual violence, continues to be deliberately directed against civilian populations in many emergency situations, and urges all member states to address gender-based violence in humanitarian emergencies.
The draft condemns the increasing number of deliberate violent attacks against humanitarian personnel and facilities in many emergency situations, and highlights their negative implications for the provisions of humanitarian assistance to populations in need.In this context, we decide to designate 19th of August as World Humanitarian Day. The aim of this day is to increase public awareness about humanitarian assistance worldwide as well as to honor all humanitarian and United Nations personnel who have worked in the promotion of the humanitarian cause and those who have lost their lives in the cause of duty.
Let me emphasize that the draft once again reaffirms the principles of neutrality, humanity, impartiality and independence for the provisions of humanitarian assistance. It also calls upon Governments and parties in complex humanitarian emergencies to cooperate fully with the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies and organisations to ensure the safe and unhindered access to affected populations.
My delegation and the co-sponsors hope that the draft resolution contained in document A/63/L.49 will once again be adopted by consensus.
Thank you.