SECRETARIAT UNIT ON INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT ESTABLISHED

SECRETARIAT Unit on Internal Displacement ESTABLISHED

NEW YORK, 8 January (OCHA) -- Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Kenzo Oshima is pleased to announce the establishment of the Unit on Internal Displacement.  The Unit, which will be headed by Kofi Asomani as Director and Special Coordinator on Internal Displacement, has been created to respond to the severe crisis of internal displacement around the world.

It is estimated that some 20-25 million people have lost their homes as a result of armed conflict, and another 25 million have lost homes owing to natural disasters.  These populations require the support of the international community to meet their urgent humanitarian needs and find durable solutions to their predicament.  The Unit on Internal Displacement will provide a nucleus of expertise to advise and support the Emergency Relief Coordinator in his role as United Nations focal point on internal displacement, and to guide the response of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC).

The Unit, which is located in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Geneva, with a liaison function in OCHA New York, is inter-agency in nature and includes staff seconded from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP), International Organization for Migration (IOM), and the non-governmental organization community.

In addition to working with United Nations humanitarian, development and human rights organizations, the Unit will liaise closely with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, the IOM, and the large number of non-governmental organizations, both international and local, who are widely involved with this issue.  The Unit will also maintain close links with the Representative of the Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons, Dr. Francis Deng, particularly in support of the latter’s advocacy function.

The establishment of the Unit follows consultations among the humanitarian organizations within the IASC, and the endorsement by the Secretary-General of recommendations put forward by the Emergency Relief Coordinator on ways to strengthen the international response to internal displacement.

* *** *