Statement by Ambassador Marius Grinius, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand to the Humanitarian Affairs Segment of the Economic and Social Council Substantive Session on 20 July 2009.
(as delivered)
Mr. President, I am pleased to deliver today’s statement on behalf of Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
As highlighted in the Secretary General’s Report, the international community faces an increasingly complex range of issues impacting on the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Canada, Australia and New Zealand welcome the focus in the Report and in this ECOSOC segment on the humanitarian principles - humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. We are no strangers to these principles. We recognize that national authorities have the primary responsibility to meet the needs of people on their territory affected by humanitarian crises. However, when needs exceed the capacity of national authorities and local agencies to respond, the international community can play a role in supplementing the latter’s efforts. Further, as Member States, we may not be neutral actors. But it is in all of our interest to support and advocate for humanitarian action that is neutral, impartial and independent – with the sole purpose of preventing and alleviating human suffering wherever it may be found. Around the world, millions of people in need benefit when we support these principles collectively. Yet, all too often, these principles are taken for granted, disregarded or blatantly flouted.
Humanitarian assistance is being delivered in increasingly complex environments where needs outstrip supply; full, safe and unhindered access is often not guaranteed; and civilians are often deliberately targeted.
In the face of these critical challenges, we recognize that important progress is being made. In recent years, we have witnessed a commitment to better coordination, more flexible response mechanisms – including financing mechanisms - and important institutional reforms in key agencies, such as UNHCR. While still a work in progress, the cluster coordination approach is bringing greater coherence to humanitarian action on the ground. Real results leading to better humanitarian action are being achieved.
Mr. President, under the effective stewardship of OCHA, there is a more predictable, transparent, coordinated and timely humanitarian system. We applaud OCHA’s regional outreach efforts as a means of raising awareness about humanitarian action and the UN’s important coordination role and mandate. These efforts also offer us an opportunity to learn collectively from the best practices of Member States and local actors in many regions.
Since the humanitarian reform process was launched four years ago, it is clear that progress has been made. But now is the time to reflect on the gaps that remain. We need collectively to assess where we go from here. In this respect, we would highlight a number of areas where further work and attention is required.
First, strengthening the humanitarian coordinator function is a key element of humanitarian reform. But it remains an area where progress has been slow to come. Critical to their ability to perform this role is ensuring that resident and humanitarian coordinators have the appropriate skills and training - particularly in the areas of negotiation, coordination and communication. Protection of civilians training is also critical, especially for resident coordinators operating in conflict environments. We urge OCHA and UNDP to redouble their efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of resident and humanitarian coordinators. This is central to effective humanitarian action.
Second, we must effectively close the critical gap between humanitarian assistance and early recovery. This requires international actors to pursue common priorities related to governance, essential services and economic revitalization as the emergency relief phase is winding down. But it is an issue that will require concerted attention. In this respect, we welcome recent efforts to introduce a framework to sequence different types of needs assessments according to crisis phases.
Third, we continue to believe that greater attention must be given to disaster preparedness, contingency planning and mitigation strategies. Early warning and preparedness are fundamental to ensuring that we mitigate the risks for vulnerable populations. Cooperation is needed at all levels – national, regional and international. The sharing of information, lessons learned, best practices and commitment to disaster risk reduction are critical to saving lives and alleviating suffering resulting from natural disasters. Canadian, Australian and New Zealand partners welcome the recent meeting of the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction. It is important that we continue to work to implement the key recommendations found in the Hyogo Framework for Action.
Fourth, humanitarian access cuts to the heart of our ability to assist populations at risk. We welcome OCHA’s efforts to better monitor access constraints. We strongly encourage efforts to bring these issues more firmly on the international agenda. Timely and credible information and analysis on access challenges will be crucial.
Finally, Mr. President, there is a worrying trend that negotiations around the annual ECOSOC humanitarian resolution are distancing us from the main intent of this humanitarian segment – a genuine dialogue on humanitarian challenges and key operational issues. We are of the view that a negotiated outcome is not required every year. We could instead use this valuable time to engage in a substantive expert-level discussion of issues of importance to humanitarian action, recognizing that every two or three years, a negotiated outcome may be required to address new or emerging operational issues. We hope that consideration will be given to this proposal.
Mr. President, we look forward to the discussions over the coming days. It is our hope that we can engage in the humanitarian segment in a spirit of openness and common commitment to strengthening international humanitarian action.