Update - December 2012 - OCHANet

OCHA in 2012 and 2013 Plan & Budget | Update - December 2012 | 3procedures and guidance, and seeking new actors’ innovative solutions to humanitarianchallenges. OCHA will work towards developing inclusive humanitarian policies.A similar approach is driving OCHA’s engagement with other key organizations, particularlythose less familiar with the international humanitarian system. They include partners from Araband Muslim countries, national NGOs and the private sector. With a more inclusive approach,and working through expanded liaison and regional offices, OCHA is promoting trust,coordination and information exchange at regional and field levels. OCHA will focus its privatesectoroutreach on a limited number of partnerships aimed at using business innovation andresources to solve system-wide challenges.Strengthening OCHA’s ability to deliverIn 2012, OCHA adjusted its field-level operations in response to shifting global demands andpriorities. Organizational changes at headquarters were made to strengthen partnership-andoutreachefforts and improve operational effectiveness in administration, informationmanagement and policy development. The new structure will be fully functional in 2013. For anorganization chart, please visit: http://ochanet.unocha.org/p/Documents/Organization_Chart.pdfFlexible, responsive headquarters’ supportOCHA’s Geneva office and its New York-based divisions—the Corporate Programmes Division(CPD) and the Coordination and Response Division (CRD)—underwent significant changes toensure effective support to field operations.Corporate Programmes DivisionCPD is responsible for OCHA’s work in policy development, information services, advocacy andcommunications, the management of CERF and the provision of administrative services. It haschanged its structure based on recommendations from a 2012 functional review.1Following the review, the Policy Development and Studies Branch, which supports responsecoordination and advocacy by providing leadership on humanitarian policy and best practice,was more closely aligned with the policy mandate of the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC).A new Policy Analysis and Innovation Section was created to advance humanitarian policy andimprove the impact and accountability of humanitarian action. It will also lead policy dialogueand annual reporting on system-wide trends and analysis. A Policy Advice and Planning Sectionwas established to provide internal advisory services and promote key policies and positionsexternally. It will support the ERC’s protection-of-civilians mandate and provide practical policyguidance to field operations.Investment in the capacity of the Intergovernmental Policy Section will allow OCHA to useintergovernmental processes to advance the humanitarian policy agenda. The section willdefine issues for discussion in intergovernmental forums and maintain relationships withMember States to garner support for humanitarian policy priorities and inform OCHA’s thinking.OCHA’s Evaluation and Guidance Section now reports to the Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy ERC. Thisdecision was based on the need to safeguard the independence of internal and external evaluation work andto bring OCHA’s structure in line with common practice in the UN system.1 The CERF Secretariat (including the Funding Coordination Section), the Emergency Response Fund and the Integrated Regional InformationNetworks (IRIN) were excluded from the review in light of their own recent evaluations.United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)Coordination Saves Lives | www.unocha.org