Description
The ad hoc, unpredictable nature of many international responses to humanitarian emergencies prompted the Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) in 2005 to launch an independent Humanitarian Response Review of the global humanitarian system. The review assessed the humanitarian response capacities of the UN, NGOs, Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement and other key humanitarian actors including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), to identify critical gap areas and to make recommendations to address them.
Following the recommendations of the review, the cluster approach was proposed as a way of addressing gaps and strengthening the effectiveness of humanitarian response through building partnerships. Moreover the cluster approach ensures predictability and accountability in international responses to humanitarian emergencies, by clarifying the division of labour among organisations, and better defining their roles and responsibilities within the different sectors of the response. It is about making the international humanitarian community more structured, accountable and professional, so that it can be a better partner for host governments, local authorities and local civil society.