Founding of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, is the body of the UN Secretariat responsible for coordinating the international response to humanitarian emergencies such as conflicts and natural disasters. Its origins lie in a General Assembly resolution that created the Department of Humanitarian Affairs and the post of Emergency Relief Coordinator, after the humanitarian crises that followed the Gulf War, and it was reorganized into its present form in the late 1990s. OCHA does not deliver aid itself but works with UN agencies, governments and non-governmental organizations to plan appeals, to raise funds, including through the Central Emergency Response Fund, and to provide information through platforms such as ReliefWeb.

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