Humanitarian aid activation in emergencies
- Page updated on18 de April de 2025
When a disaster occurs, a sudden onset emergency, a conflict breaks out, or an existing humanitarian crisis deteriorates substantially and acutely, the humanitarian system must act quickly and in a coordinated manner.
Table of contents:
The first 48 hours are key: initial rapid assessment
Within the first 24 hours OCHA should submit an initial assessment of the situation to the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) and its Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC). This initial assessment should provide a brief analysis of the size of the crisis, its urgency, its complexity, the existing response capacity in the country, and the potential risk of not being able to provide the required humanitarian assistance. This information can be obtained from secondary sources and consultations with other agencies and organizations, but information and guidance should also be provided by UN coordination or the humanitarian country team (if one already exists). IASC emergency managers should receive this information to discuss the situation and possible recommendations.
Before 48 hours have passed since the beginning of the crisis, the ERC must convene the people leading the organizations represented in the IASC to study this first assessment and make a decision on the need for large-scale activation of the humanitarian system and what coordination system should be set up, including the activation of clusters. Priority messages to be communicated are also discussed. The ERC will communicate its final decision on whether or not to activate the full-scale system.
In the days following the activation, humanitarian actors will work on analysis, planning, resource mobilization, implementation and monitoring. Following that, the need for a more comprehensive situation assessment and a medium- to long-term plan for humanitarian response will be assessed.
First days after activation of the humanitarian response
Before they pass 72 hours or three days from the onset of the crisis, a person should be designated to assume the role of Humanitarian Coordinator (HC)if necessary. In addition, the organizations that are to lead the clusters are deployed so that they can be activated immediately and a first situation analysis document is issued. The HC also announces the financial resources initially provided from the UN emergency funds.
Only 5 days after the onset of the crisis, clusters must begin to develop sectoral response plans, which completes the first stage of the response. Flash Appeala more complete document than the previous ones. This document describes the scope and severity of the emergency, establishes the actions that seem to be a priority and offers a first orientation of the economic resources needed for an effective humanitarian response.
First few months: needs assessments and action plans
Throughout the first month of the response, data collection and analysis of a rapid multisectoral needs assessment is completed. The proposed strategy, coordination mechanisms and ongoing processes are also reviewed and adjustments are made. This allows the initial Flash Appeal to be reviewed, completed and updated to develop an initial Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP).
By default, this triggering mechanism ends at six months, at which time it is determined whether an extension is necessary, and an evaluation is prepared.
Unfortunately, many humanitarian crises are prolonged over time. In such cases, what was initially envisaged in the Flash Appeals produced in the early days is not sufficient to plan a medium- or long-term humanitarian response in a context that continues to change. On the other hand, this also opens the opportunity to develop this work with more time and depth.
Two key documents: needs overview and response plan
In the humanitarian program cycle, not unlike the usual one used in project management, two elements that are usually published periodically each year should be highlighted: the humanitarian needs overview and the humanitarian response plan.
The Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) is a very comprehensive document, consolidated by OCHA and the Humanitarian Country Team, which is produced after a needs assessment coordinated among all clusters. This document presents an analysis of the crisis and context, the needs, vulnerabilities and capacities of the population, and the estimated number of people affected by the emergency who need to receive humanitarian assistance, in general and by sector.
The Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is developed with similar coordination, to respond to the needs evidenced by the HNO with a strategic response designed to address these needs. The HRP also includes the sectoral strategies and actions prioritized by each cluster, as well as information about the funding needed to be able to implement them, which helps with resource mobilization. In addition to the collective efforts of the Humanitarian Country Team for resource mobilization, the different humanitarian actors must seek funding independently for projects that are consistent with the objectives and actions prioritized in the HRP.
Humanitarian system
External links
- IASC, 2019. Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Activation.
- OCHA Knowledge Management Platform. Humanitarian Programme Cycle.
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