Since 1991, and especially since 2005, the international humanitarian system has undergone several significant reforms aimed at improving the efficiency of our work. The initial steps to strengthen the United Nations coordination of humanitarian ass...

Large-scale disasters have led the IASC to reform the humanitarian response system. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, an independent Humanitarian Response Review highlighted significant gaps in humanitarian response, including fragmented respon...

The cluster approach was the most visible and perhaps most ambitious aspect of the humanitarian reform agenda. It brought enhanced structure and accountability to a previously muddled coordination landscape. Prior to 2005, technical sectors had no c...

Sectoral : Clusters are groups of humanitarian organizations, both UN and non-UN, in each of the main sectors of humanitarian action, e.g. water, health and logistics. (See diagram). IASC Designated : The clusters are formally designated b...

Despite progress following the humanitarian reform in 2005, which led to a stronger collective emergency capacity and a clearer division of labour, the humanitarian response to the Haiti earthquake and Pakistan floods in 2010 exposed continuing weak...

The Transformative Agenda also impacted the cluster approach. In December 2011, the IASC Principals “agreed there is a need to restate and return to the original purpose of clusters, refocusing them on strategic and operational gaps analysis, plan...

At country level, IASC focused on strengthening partnerships, and the predictability and accountability of international humanitarian action, by improving prioritization and clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of humanitarian organizat...

The Humanitarian Programme Cycle ( HPC ) was part of the Transformative Agenda protocols and represents the technical implementation of the vision of the Transformative Agenda. IASC Principals agreed on the use of common tools to manage each pha...