Resolution nº E/2021/L.24 of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. 16-06-2021

• Date: 16 June 2021
• Issuer: Economic and Social Council of the United Nation

United Nations

E

/2021 /L.2 4

Economic and Social Council

Distr. : Limite d

16 Jun e 2021

Orig inal: En glish

21-080 94 (E) 21062 1

*2108094*

2021 s ession

23 J uly 2020 –22 Jul y 2021

Agen da item 9

Specia l economic, humanitarian and disaster relief assis tance

Draft resolution sub mitted by th e Vice-Presid ent of the C ouncil, Pas cale

Baeris wyl (Switzer land), on the basis of in formal consu ltations

Strengthening of the coordination of eme rgency humanitaria n

assistance of the United Nations

The Economi c and So cial Co uncil,

Reaf firm ing General Assem bly res olution 46/182 of 19 Decem ber 199 1 and th e

guid ing pri nciples cont ained in th e anne x ther eto, an d rec alling other releva nt

resol utions of t he Ass embly and relevant reso lutions and agreed conc lusions of t he

Econ omic an d Social Counci l,

Reaf firming a lso the pri nciples of h umanity, ne utrality, im partiali ty and

inde pendenc e for the p rovision of human itarian a ssistan ce, and th e need fo r all acto rs

enga ged i n th e pro vision of huma nitarian assi stance in situ ations of compl ex

emerg encies, protr acted cri ses and natu ral disas ters to pro mote and fu lly respe ct those

prin ciples,

Reca llin g its de cision 2021/2 22 of 20 Apr il 202 1, i n whic h it decide d that the

them e for the hum anitaria n affair s segm ent of its 20 21 sess ion wou ld be

“Str engtheni ng hu manitari an as sistance to face the ch allenge s of 2021 and beyond:

mobi lizing respect for interna tional humanit arian law, inc lusion, gende r, i nnovatio n

and partne rships” and th at it would conven e three panel discus sions u nder th e

segm ent,

Expre ssing gra ve conce rn at the i ncreasin g challe nges, in p articula r i n

deve loping cou ntries, cau sed by the unpr ecedente d number of peo ple affecte d b y

disa sters a nd othe r huma nitarian emer gencies, which are a dding to

unde rdevelop ment, pov erty and ine quality an d are increas ing the vuln erabilit y of

peop le while reducin g their ability to cop e with h umanita rian eme rgencies ,

emph asizing t he need for sust ained reso urces for disaster risk r educti on, prepa redness

and human itarian assist ance, includ ing in devel oping countri es, to be provide d

effic iently a nd effec tively, an d empha sizing also th e need for de velopme nt and

huma nitarian actors to wo rk bette r toget her to strengt hen res ilience, includ ing u rban

resil ience, i n terms of prev ention, prepared ness an d respon se,

E/2021/L.24

21-08094

2/19

Expre ssing g ravest concern s abou t the humanit arian i mpact o f and risks p osed

by the sh ort- and long -term imp acts of the coro navirus di sease (CO VID-19 )

pand emic, incl uding on the alrea dy s ignifica nt lev els o f huma nitaria n and

deve lopment need s an d su ffering of affecte d pe ople and communi ties, recogn izing

the d ispropor tionate impact o f the pa ndemic o n women, childre n and peo ple in

vuln erable situa tions, and pro foundly con cerned by risin g humani tarian assis tance

and protect ion nee ds inc luding due to the in crease in vio lence, includin g sexu al and

gend er-based viol ence and violence agai nst c hildren, and the signif icant impact on

educ ation, espe cially for girls , as wel l as hig h lev els o f fo od insecu rity and

maln utrition a nd rising r isks of fam ine, loss of livelih oods, and a ll the nega tive

impa cts on health, includin g menta l health , which are al so exac erbated by weak ened

healt h systems , and the im pacts and r isks for di splacem ent; and rec ognizin g the

comp ounded r isks and i mpacts du e to arme d conflic t, povert y, natu ral disa sters,

viol ence, th e adver se effec ts of c limate change, and ot her env ironmen tal chal lenges;

and further recogn izing the effo rts an d meas ures pr oposed by the Secre tary- General

conc erning t he respo nse to t he impa ct of th e COVID -19 pa ndemic,

Stres sing that the CO VID-19 global p andemi c requir es an eff ective g lobal

respo nse ba sed on unit y, sol idarity and renew ed mul tilatera l c ooperati on,

unde rscoring t he impor tance of hu manitar ian ass istance as a critical p art of tha t

respo nse, and in th is re gard, recogn izing efforts by Membe r Sta tes, includin g wi th

rega rd to the pro vision of humanit arian ass istance, i n addres sing the CO VID- 19

pand emic and express ing appr eciation for the e fforts an d supp ort of th e United

Nati ons sy stem, the In ter-Age ncy St anding Commi ttee, the In ternatio nal Re d Cro ss

and Re d Cre scent Mov ement, non -gover nmental orga nization s, fa ith-ba sed

organ izations , w omen-l ed o rganizat ions, local hu manitari an actors, vol unteers and

other healt h and huma nitaria n orga nization s, a nd fo r the esse ntial work of m edical

and h umanita rian pe rsonnel working on the fr ontline of the humanit arian re sponse i n

the face of th e p andemic, an d s tressin g th e i mportan ce of t aking the mea sures to

ensu re th eir p rotectio n, an d exp ressing appr eciation for the efforts of frontl ine a nd

esse ntial wor kers arou nd the worl d, and als o recogni zing the c omprehe nsive res ponse

to the CO VID-19 pande mic, i ncluding great er coo peration , cohe rence, coordin ation

and com plement arity b etween hum anitaria n and devel opment acto rs, in ful l

comp liance with th eir r especti ve m andates, and in this reg ard underl ines the

impo rtance of c ollabora tion with the ai m of reduci ng need, vu lnerabi lity and ris k over

multi ple yea rs and buildi ng resil ience, based on shar ed und erstandi ng of the con text

and each act or’s ope rational strengt hs,

Expre ssing gr ave con cern al so at the unpr ecedent ed numb er of p eople a ffected

and di splaced by huma nitarian emer gencies, inclu ding freq uently pro tracted

displ acemen t resul ting fr om hum anitaria n emer gencies, which are increas ing in

numb er, scale and se verity a nd are stretch ing hum anitaria n respo nse cap acities,

reco gnizing the n eed fo r burd en-sha ring, and no ting w ith app reciati on effo rts at the

natio nal a nd in ternatio nal levels that promot e nati onal capacity -build ing t o add ress

comp lex cha llenges in this r egard,

Noti ng the need for incr eased awar eness of the intern ational com munity

rega rding the issue of int ernal displ acement wor ldwide, inc luding the situ ation of

milli ons livi ng in pro tracted situatio ns of dis placeme nt, and t he urgen cy of pro viding

adeq uate hu manitar ian as sistance to a nd pro tection for i nternall y disp laced persons,

supp orting h ost co mmuniti es, addr essing the ro ot caus es of d isplace ment at an ear ly

stag e, findin g durable solution s for int ernally di splaced persons i n their co untries and

addr essing po ssible o bstacle s in this r egard, w herein t he nation al autho rities h ave the

prim ary duty an d respons ibility to pr ovide pro tection and hu manitari an assista nce and

prom ote d urable solutio ns fo r inter nally displac ed pe rsons within their jurisd iction,

bear ing in mi nd their particul ar needs , and rec ognizing that dur able sol utions i nclude