News: UNHCR's 2023 Policy on Emergency Response

UNHCR has published an updated and revised "Policy on Emergency Preparedness and Response" (UNHCR/HCP/2023/01) that supersedes the 2019 version (UNHCR/HCP/2017/1/Rev.1). Here's a description:

"This Policy establishes the overarching framework for UNHCR’s engagement in emergency preparedness and response, based on its mandate and inter-agency commitments, including as a member of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). It sets out the key principles guiding the relevant actions and establishes the high level roles and procedures to achieve them. In order to do so, the Policy empowers and requires country operations to be proactive in preparing for and responding to emergencies based on sound situational risk analysis and monitoring."

These documents provide additional information about the new policy:

- Comparative Table of UNHCR Emergency Levels in line with the Policy on Emergency Preparedness and Response [text]

- Overview of Key Simplifications and New Elements in the Policy on Emergency Preparedness and Response [text]

- Emergency Management FAQs [text]

Note that the new guidance does not appear to have been incorporated into the Emergency Handbook yet.

For an update on developments in the areas of emergency preparedness and response, see UNHCR's recent report to the 86th Standing Committee.