USAID releases humanitarian policy

Earlier this year the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) released the Policy for Humanitarian Action. OFDA leads the multi-agency response to disasters overseas by coordinating efforts, partnering with a range of humanitarian actors, and coordinating within the international humanitarian architecture, among other activities, and the policy outlines the context in which OFDA operates.

The Policy for Humanitarian Action derives from OFDA’s mandate to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and mitigate the economic and social impact of disasters. The policy recognizes the links between independent humanitarian action and broader aid policies, and recognizes that needs-based humanitarian assistance is an important U.S. interest. The policy outlines OFDA’s five core values, identifies four cross-cutting themes, and lays out three strategic goals in providing humanitarian assistance.

The second of the policy’s strategic goals highlights OFDA’s interagency efforts, and advocates broad U.S. government coordination in humanitarian assistance. This section of the policy provides an overview of OFDA’s relationships with federal partners, including other USAID offices and bureaus and the Departments of Defense, State, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture. It also recognizes the importance of strengthening interagency coordination, improving capacity, promoting greater information sharing, fostering better management, and expanding interagency agreements to “pull in” additional technical expertise.

The OFDA policy’s other strategic goals focus on excelling in provision assistance and ensuring the effectiveness of the international humanitarian system.

For more information on the policy, please follow the link below.
Policy for Humanitarian Action, U.S. Agency for International Development