ABSTRACT

Coordination of the response to complex emergencies and natural and technological disasters is the assigned task of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs (DHA). The flagrant disregard of basic human rights and international humanitarian law is continuing to expand the range of human suffering and concomitantly requires the international community to adopt new strategies and approaches. DHA has established United Nation Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) stand-by teams for swift dispatch following the sudden onset of emergencies. Since UNDAC team members can be expected to be exposed to stressful situations, time is taken during training to explain the potential mental hazards. Responding to humanitarian emergencies involves the provision of material assistance and the physical and mental rehabilitation of the people affected. In complex emergencies, longer term efforts to tackle the underlying causes of the crisis must accompany material assistance if people are to resume normal economic, social, and political activities and if a society is to be healed.