Sweden in the UN: Humanitarian operations
Published
The UN has a leading mandate in the implementation of international humanitarian operations. Agencies such as the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) all play key roles in humanitarian crises. Sweden is one of the world’s largest humanitarian donors and contributes to strengthening UN capacity in the humanitarian field.
The overarching objective of humanitarian support is to save lives, alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity, often in conjunction with armed conflicts, natural disasters and other disaster-like situations. Humanitarian aid must be distributed on a needs basis to the most vulnerable people and is based on the humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, independence and humanity, and on international humanitarian law. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) plays the important role of coordinating humanitarian efforts and mobilising funding for the humanitarian system.
Sweden is one of the world’s largest humanitarian donors and contributes to strengthening UN capacity in the humanitarian field. This includes efforts to reduce the gap between global humanitarian needs and funding. New sources of funding and increased engagement from development actors are needed to reduce humanitarian needs and pressure on the humanitarian system.
