OCHA - UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Website: www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/index.html

To mobilize and coordinate the collective efforts of the international community, in particular those of the UN system, to meet in a coherent and timely manner the needs of those exposed to human suffering and material destruction in disasters and emergencies. This involves reducing vulnerability, promoting solutions to root causes and facilitating the smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation and development.

UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Website: www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State, with the option to return home voluntarily, integrate locally or to resettle in a third country.

In more than five decades, the agency has helped an estimated 50 million people restart their lives. Today, a staff of around 5,000 people in more than 120 countries continues to help an estimated 19.8 million persons.

WFP: World Food Program

Website: www.wfp.org/index2.html

Set-up in 1963, WFP is the United Nations frontline agency in the fight against global hunger. In 2001, WFP fed 77 million people in 82 countries, including most of the world's refugees and internally displaced people.

Scheduled to go into operation in 1963 as a three-year experimental program, WFP was up and running before it could walk.

An earthquake hit Iran in September 1962, followed by a hurricane in Thailand in October. Newly independent Algeria was resettling 5 million refugees. Food aid was urgently needed and WFP supplied it. It has never stopped.

UNICEF: United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund

Website: www.unicef.org

Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1946 to help children after World War II in Europe, UNICEF was first known as the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund. In 1953, UNICEF became a permanent part of the United Nations system, its task being to help children living in poverty in developing countries. Its name was shortened to the United Nations Children's Fund, but it retained the acronym "UNICEF," by which it is known to this day.

UNICEF helps children get the care and stimulation they need in the early years of life and encourages families to educate girls as well as boys. It strives to reduce childhood death and illness and to protect children in the midst of war and natural disaster. UNICEF supports young people, wherever they are, in making informed decisions about their own lives, and strives to build a world in which all children live in dignity and security.

Working with national governments, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), other United Nations agencies and private-sector partners, UNICEF protects children and their rights by providing services and supplies and by helping shape policy agendas and budgets in the best interests of children. UNICEF's governing body of 36 nations, representing all regions of the world, establishes policies, reviews programs and approves budgets for the organization. Headquartered in New York, UNICEF carries out its work through seven regional offices and 126 country offices covering more than 160 countries, territories and areas.

UNV: United Nation Volunteers

Website: www.unv.org

The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program is the UN organization that supports human development globally by promoting volunteerism and by mobilizing volunteers. It is administered by UNDP and operates amidst growing recognition that volunteerism makes important contributions, economically and socially, to more cohesive societies by building trust and reciprocity among citizens. Every year some 5,000 UN Volunteers from more than 150 different nationalities actively support the programs of the United Nations itself and almost all UN funds, programs and specialized agencies.

ICRC: The International Committee of the Red Cross

Website: www.icrc.org

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was founded nearly a century and a half ago. It seeks to preserve a measure of humanity in the midst of war. Its guiding principle is that even in war there are limits: limits on how warfare is conducted and limits on how combatants behave. The set of rules that were established with this in mind and endorsed by nearly every nation in the world is known as international humanitarian law, of which the Geneva Conventions are the bedrock.

IFRC: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Website: www.ifrc.org

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is the world's largest humanitarian organization, providing assistance without discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions.

Founded in 1919, the International Federation comprises 178 member Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, a Secretariat in Geneva and more than 60 delegations strategically located to support activities around the world. There are more societies in formation. The Red Crescent is used in place of the Red Cross in many Islamic countries.

CARE

Website: www.care.org

CARE is one of the world's largest independent global relief and development organizations. Non-political and non-sectarian, it operates in over 65 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and eastern Europe.

With its secretariat in Belgium, CARE International's 11 offices in Europe, Australia, North America, and Japan support projects that benefit almost 30 million people every year. Each of the CARE International offices is an independent non-profit organization, contributing to and helping manage over 500 programs around the world. CARE International's staff is truly international. Out of more than 10,000 employees, over 9,000 are nationals of the countries where we run programs.

Many governments and institutions including the United Nations, World Bank, European Union and British government, support CARE International's programs across the globe.

OXFAM

Website: www.oxfam.org/eng

Oxfam International was formed to respond to poverty and related injustice in an era in which the structural causes of these problems are increasingly global. To do this, the Oxfams are working to become part of a movement, which is capable of global responses to global issues. We are aiming to create ways of working and structures appropriate to global action in a complex and closely-knit world.

Oxfam International seeks increased worldwide public understanding that economic and social justice is crucial to sustainable development. On this, we aim to become a global campaigning force and to promote the awareness and motivation that comes with global citizenship. The Oxfams seek to shift public opinion on poverty, economic inequity and hunger until equity is given the same priority as economic growth.

Oxfam is well positioned to do this. As well as a global network of partnerships and working experience in more than 100 countries, Oxfam International also has member organizations with head offices in four continents. Oxfam affiliates collectively govern Oxfam International, set policy and create plans and manage the resulting activities in ways that create effective alignment of our work, resources and policies. Affiliates take independent responsibility for allocating resources and managing their work. We believe that a strong, coherent confederation with well-developed and firmly articulated beliefs and actions will contribute most effectively to the broader movement for change of which we can only ever be one small part.

Save The Children

Website:

Save the Children believes all children have a right to a happy, healthy and secure start in life. But that's far from the experience of millions of children around the world. Instead, their childhoods are marred by poverty, ill-health, war, violence and discrimination. And not just in poorer parts of the globe - far too many children in the UK grow up in circumstances that deny their potential.

Save the Children is committed to narrowing the gap between reality and our ideal. We start by listening to children - learning about their lives, their hopes and views. We support practical projects which involve children and their families in improving their day-to-day lives. We also use our global experience and research to lobby for changes that will benefit all children, including future generations.

Action Against Hunger

Website: www.aahuk.org

Action Against Hunger UK is part of the Action Against Hunger International network, one of the leading international organizations in the fight against hunger and malnutrition.

The aim of Action Against Hunger is to save lives by combating hunger, diseases, and those crises threatening the lives of helpless men, women and children.

For over 20 years, our international organization has been at the forefront of the fight against famine and hunger .

Our primary objective is to assist the victims of hunger. Each year, Action Against Hunger's international network directly brings relief to more than 3 million people a year in around 40 countries , saving the lives of malnourished children and assisting families towards self sufficiency. Action Against Hunger intervenes in the following situations: In natural or man-made disasters which threaten food security or result in famine,

In situations of social/economic breakdown, linked to internal or external circumstances which place particular groups of people in extremely vulnerable positions,

In situations where survival depends on humanitarian aid. Action Against Hunger brings assistance either during the crisis itself through emergency intervention, or afterwards through rehabilitation and sustainable development programs. Its activities include the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of malnutrition and programs of food security, agriculture and water and sanitation. The ultimate goal of all Action Against Hunger's programs is to enable the beneficiaries to regain their autonomy and self-sufficiency as soon as possible. As part of its commitment to fight hunger, Action Against Hunger is constantly raising public awareness on the hunger issue, reminding the decision makers of their responsibility to address it, campaigning on the real causes of the persistence of hunger and making the voices of the victims of hunger heard.

Medecins du Monde (Doctors of the World)

Website: www.medecinsdumonde.org
Website: www.doctorsoftheworld.org

Doctors of the World is part of an international network, comprising twelve independent delegations around the globe, whose aim is to provide the world's most vulnerable populations with medical assistance.

Doctors of the World mobilizes the health sector to promote and protect these and other basic human rights and civil liberties for all people

Doctors of the World are dedicated to creating sustainable programs that promote and protect health and human rights around the world. They provide medical and public health assistance and mentoring to those in greatest need and, within the framework of health care services, contribute to the processes of peace, reconciliation, and human rights.

Médecins Sans Frontiéres (Doctors without Borders)

Website: www.msf.org

Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 80 countries. In countries where health structures are insufficient or even non-existent, MSF collaborates with authorities such as the Ministry of Health to provide assistance. MSF works in rehabilitation of hospitals and dispensaries, vaccination programs and water and sanitation projects. MSF also works in remote health care centers, slum areas and provides training of local personnel. All this is done with the objective of rebuilding health structures to acceptable levels.

The Adventist Development and relief Agency (ADRA)

Website: www.adra.org

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) International is an independent humanitarian agency established in 1984 by the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the specific purposes of individual and community development and disaster relief. The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations granted ADRA general consultative status in 1997.

Who does ADRA serve?

Through a variety of projects, ADRA strives to support the dignity that is inherent in each person. Committed to improving quality of human life, ADRA helps people in need, especially those most vulnerable such as women, children, and senior citizens. ADRA serves people without regard to their ethnic, political, or religious association.

ADRA facts:

• ADRA is present in more than 125 countries.
• ADRA provided development and relief assistance valued at nearly US$107 million in 2001.
• ADRA helped more than 16 million people in 2001.
• In 2001, ADRA responded to 367 disasters worldwide.
• More than 35,000 people are participating in ADRA's Economic Development projects.

World Refugees

Website: www.worldrefugees.com

Featuring stories of refugees and humanitarian aid around the globe.

On Internally Displaced People

Website: www.idpproject.org

During the 1990s, there was growing recognition of the need to improve the response, especially by the UN, to the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons. In 1998, the Representative of the UN Secretary General for Internally Displaced Persons, Dr. Francis Deng, presented the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement to the Commission on Human Rights.

The same year, the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) was designated as the focal point for UN inter-agency coordination of humanitarian assistance and protection of internally displaced persons. Among the ERC's new responsibilities was the management of global information on internally displaced persons and the issuance of periodic reports. In 1998, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) published the Global IDP Survey, the first ever worldwide review of internal displacement. The long-term aim of the publication was to develop a more comprehensive and coherent system of collecting data on the situation of internally displaced. As a continuation of the book, the NRC started discussions with the UN on the creation of an electronic archive on internal displacement. In late 1998, after a request by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee Working Group (IASC-WG), the ERC decided to outsource the development of a global database to the NRC, with the objective of creating an authoritative information source on internal displacement.

Poverty Net

Website: www.worldbank.org/poverty/index.htm

Welcome to the World Bank's home page on Poverty, Health, Nutrition, and Population. Its purpose is to introduce work in these areas recently undertaken or currently under way at the World Bank, in the hope that the information will prove useful to policy makers and analysts outside as well as within the Bank.