The General Assembly,
 
      Reaffirming its resolutions 46/182 of 19 December 1991, 47/168 of 22
December 1992, 48/57 of 14 December 1993, 49/139 A and B of 20 December 1994,
50/57 of 12 December 1995 and Economic and Social Council resolutions 1995/56
of 28 July 1995 and 1996/33 of 25 July 1996,
 
      Reaffirming also the guiding principles contained in section I of the
annex to its resolution 46/182,
 
      Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General, in particular of the
attention paid by the Secretary-General to effectiveness, accountability and
transparency in humanitarian assistance under increasingly complex operational
environments and the need for further efforts to identify and support the
smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation, reconstruction and long-term
development,
 
      Taking note of the establishment, within the Department of Humanitarian
Affairs of the Secretariat, of Reliefweb, for the dissemination of reliable
and timely information on natural disasters and other emergencies,
 
      Taking note also of the relevant decisions of operational agencies,
organizations, programmes and funds of the United Nations system concerning
their participation in a coordinated response to humanitarian emergencies,
 
      Recognizing the need for coordinated humanitarian assistance and
adequate financial resources to ensure a prompt, timely and effective response
by the United Nations to natural disasters and other emergencies, both for
immediate relief and for the smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation,
reconstruction and long-term development, which are not necessarily sequential
and often proceed at the same time,
 
      Bearing in mind the critical importance of prevention, preparedness and
contingency planning for a timely and effective response to both natural and
other emergencies by the Governments concerned and the international
community,
 
      Welcoming the request to the Secretary-General by the Economic and
Social Council, in its resolution 1995/56, to submit to the Council, at its
substantive session of 1997, in close cooperation with relevant organizations
of the United Nations system, a comprehensive analytical report, including
options, proposals and recommendations for a review of issues concerning the
role and operational responsibilities and strengthening of all aspects of the
capacity of the United Nations system for humanitarian assistance,
 
      Deeply concerned about the suffering of victims of disasters and
emergency situations, the loss of human lives, the flow of refugees, the mass
displacement of people and the material destruction,
 
      Reaffirming that the sovereignty, territorial integrity and national
unity of States must be fully respected in accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations and, in this context, that humanitarian assistance should be
provided with the consent of the affected country and in principle on the
basis of an appeal of the affected country,
 
      Reaffirming also that each State has the responsibility first and
foremost to take care of the victims of natural disasters and other
emergencies occurring on its territory, and hence, the affected State has the
primary role in the initiation, organization, coordination and implementation
of humanitarian assistance within its territory,
 
      Strongly emphasizing the urgent need to ensure, respect and promote
international humanitarian law, principles and norms, the safety of
humanitarian personnel and the need for States whose populations are in need
of humanitarian assistance to facilitate the work of humanitarian
organizations in implementing humanitarian assistance, in particular the
supply of food, medicines, shelter and health care, for which access to
victims is essential, and reaffirming that humanitarian assistance must be
provided in accordance with the principles of humanity, neutrality and
impartiality,
 
      Concerned about the impediments created by natural disasters and similar
emergencies to the development efforts of the affected countries, and
welcoming the efforts of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, in the
context of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction, to promote
disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness measures,
 
      Commending the activities of the United Nations Volunteers, and of the
"White Helmets", deployed in the context of the implementation of General
Assembly resolutions 49/139 B of 29 December 1994 and 50/19 of 28 November
1995, as well as other activities to improve, in accordance with resolutions
46/182 and 50/19, the capability for a quick and coordinated response to
natural disasters and other emergencies,
 
      Reaffirming the need for the improved accountability of all relevant
actors involved in emergency relief operations,
 
      1.    Encourages Governments to ensure coherence in the direction given
to the governing bodies of relevant organizations, funds and programmes of the
United Nations system, and to thereby promote the development and
strengthening of the cooperation between these organizations and the
Department of Humanitarian Affairs, drawing on the mandate, expertise and
respective strengths and available capabilities of each, to improve the
system-wide capability for a quick and coordinated response to complex
humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters;
 
      2.    Urges all relevant organizations of the United Nations system to
participate actively in the follow-up process established by Economic and
Social Council resolution 1995/56;
 
      3.    Calls upon the Secretary-General to ensure that the Inter-Agency
Standing Committee, as a contribution to the report of the Secretary-General
to the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session in 1997,
develops options and proposals to further define operational responsibilities
between its members, drawing on their respective mandates, expertise,
strengths and available capabilities, to identify cooperative arrangements to
strengthen their joint capacities and to strengthen its work in priority
setting and formulation of coherent humanitarian strategies;
 
      4.    Requests the Secretary-General to include in his report to the
Economic and Social Council at its substantive session in 1997 recommendations
of the Inter- Agency Standing Committee on measures aimed at making it a more
effective and transparent mechanism, under the leadership of the Emergency
Relief Coordinator, for inter-agency decision-making on coordination;
 
      5.    Emphasizes the need for the Secretary-General to draw on the
discussions and conclusions in the various governing boards, as mentioned in
paragraph 1 above, on the follow-up to Economic and Social Council resolution
1995/56, on the results of the work of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee in
this regard and on the assessment of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, when
contributing to the report of the Secretary-General, in order to ensure that
all relevant issues are coherently addressed and appropriately reflected;
 
      6.    Encourages all relevant agencies of the United Nations system to
collaborate closely at the country level in carrying out their relief
activities, in order to enhance the overall policy coherence, operational
complementarity and cost- effectiveness of the response of the United Nations
system in emergencies;
 
      7.    Encourages the Secretary-General to develop further, in
consultation with the Emergency Relief Coordinator and with members of the
Inter-Agency Standing Committee, a transparent and timely procedure for
putting into place effective coordination arrangements in the field;
 
      8.    Encourages members of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee to
cooperate closely with each other, as well as with the Bretton Woods
institutions and the regional development banks, to ensure that relief,
rehabilitation, reconstruction and long-term development is addressed in a
more effective manner, taking into account the need for a clearer division of
responsibilities between different actors;
 
      9.    Encourages the Secretary-General to strengthen further the
cooperation and coordination between the Department of Humanitarian Affairs
and other relevant departments of the Secretariat to ensure an effective and
coherent United Nations response to natural disasters and other emergencies;
 
      10.   Calls upon States to respond quickly and generously to
consolidated appeals for humanitarian assistance, taking into account the
importance for donors to be flexible in their response to the specific
requirements of affected populations, for rapid-response as well as for early
rehabilitation and recovery;
 
      11.   Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with the
Inter-Agency Standing Committee, to include in his report to the Economic and
Social Council at its substantive session in 1997 proposals for the clearer
identification of priority needs and the formulation of a coherent
humanitarian strategy within consolidated appeals, and to ensure that
consolidated appeals are formulated in a manner consistent with the smooth
transition from relief to rehabilitation, reconstruction and long-term
development, and also requests the Secretary-General to invite States to
submit their views on this subject in due time;
 
      12.   Invites the Secretary-General, in consultation with the
Inter-Agency Standing Committee, to make recommendations to the Economic and
Social Council, at its substantive session in 1997, on possible ways to
strengthen the effectiveness of the Central Emergency Revolving Fund, taking
into account the revolving nature of the Fund, to ensure a timely response in
the initial phase of an emergency, and taking into account the need for
transparent complementarity between the Fund and the individual emergency
funds of operational agencies, and requests the Secretary-General to invite
States to submit their views on this subject in due time;
 
      13.   Requests the Secretary-General to further develop Reliefweb as the
global humanitarian information system for the dissemination of reliable and
timely information on emergencies and natural disasters, and encourages all
Governments, the United Nations agencies, funds and programmes and other
relevant organizations, including non-governmental organizations, to support
Reliefweb and actively participate in the Reliefweb information exchange,
through the Department of Humanitarian Affairs;
 
      14.   Encourages the Secretary-General to develop further the
Humanitarian Early Warning System, to make it fully operational as soon as
possible and to consult all States on the use to which the database could be
put, as well as its further development, taking into account that early
warning information should be made available in an unrestricted and timely
manner to all interested Governments and authorities concerned;
 
      15.   Calls upon the United Nations system to strengthen accountability
in the field of humanitarian assistance, in particular through improved
monitoring and evaluation, to ensure that:
 
      (a)   Organizations of the United Nations system involved in
humanitarian assistance activities develop common methodologies for data
collection and reporting, situation analyses, needs assessment, monitoring and
tracking of resources, in order to ensure an effective and timely response;
 
      (b)   Clearer arrangements are made for system-wide evaluation, that the
lessons learned from evaluation exercises are systematically applied at the
operational level and that joint evaluation criteria are developed for
humanitarian and disaster relief operations at the planning stage;
 
      16.   Urges all operational agencies of the United Nations system to
collaborate fully with the Department of Humanitarian Affairs, particularly in
the early phase of an emergency, inter alia, by providing the Department with
sufficient support in terms of human and logistical assets, to enable it to
enhance coordination and the rapid-response capability of the system as a
whole;
 
      17.   Stresses the critical need to create a sound and predictable
financial basis for the Department of Humanitarian Affairs to enable it to
carry out fully its mandate, and encourages the Secretary-General to continue
to explore all possible options to achieve that goal.