The Berlin–based Center for International Peace Operation and UN Humanitarian Office signs stand-by partnership agreement

(Geneva, 12 September 2011): The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) today officially confirmed, during a signing ceremony in Geneva, their agreement to collaborate through the Stand-By Partnership Programme that aims at deploying German experts in humanitarian emergencies as part of OCHA.

“This new agreement paves the way for deploying German experts to OCHA field operations and help the international community to respond better to humanitarian crises. The generous and increasing support that OCHA has been getting from Stand-By Partners for the past decade continues to form a vital aspect of United Nations’ rapid response and emergency staffing arrangements. With 30 deployments so far in 2011, it is clear that the assistance and the support from the Stand-By Partners are essential to OCHA” said Rashid Khalikov, Director of OCHA in Geneva.

“We consider it a great privilege to become part of OCHA’s Stand-by Partnership Programme. Being a proven mechanism to mobilize expertise for emergency response, it also stands out as a successful example of linking UN and non-UN partners for a common and hands-on effort. We are also grateful to the German Foreign Office for the financial support to provide field-experienced experts to OCHA. We are very much looking forward contribute to deployment and training” said Dr. Almut Wieland-Karimi, Director of ZIF.

The Berlin-based Center for International Peace Operations (ZIF) is the German Government’s agency to identify, train, deploy and support German experts in international peace and crisis management operations. In addition, the Center conducts research, advises government, parliament and the expert community and teams up with international partners to advance civilian capacity building globally.

OCHA maintains Stand-By Partnership Programme arrangements with 12 humanitarian organizations in the world to provide staff seconded to OCHA field operations in case of new or escalating humanitarian emergencies. Each year, between 40 and 60 Stand-By Partner experts are deployed to OCHA field operations. The partnership with ZIF will contribute to improving OCHA’s capacity to respond to emergencies worldwide.