Background: As the world is increasingly threatened by large scale emergencies, mechanisms for managing the effectiveness and coordination of international emergency humanitarian assistance need to be improved, in particular in Europe and the Newly Independent States (NIS). To address this challenge, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) launched the European Cooperation Programme (ECP) which aims at creating a favorable environment for effective international humanitarian action within existing regional structures and networks.

Recent analysis and events have focused the attention of the international community on several key policy issues that threaten the effectiveness of international emergency humanitarian assistance in the region. These issues include:

• Collision of mandates within and between states and national, international and regional organizations involved in disaster response and humanitarian assistance.

• Outdated and inappropriate protocols hampering the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the movement and use of international rescue and relief personnel, equipment and supplies.

• Inadequate capacity and resources for civil emergency management institutions.

• Insufficient coordination of the available immediate response capacity of bordering states and the use of bilateral and multilateral arrangements between states.

The Fribourg Forum is a key event in the ECP. It is a meeting of regional leaders on pressing issues and future action to be taken regarding international emergency humanitarian assistance in the region, and part of the on-going process to improve coordination mechanisms used to respond to humanitarian emergencies. It is focused on policy impacting international emergency humanitarian assistance, which is a critical aspect of crisis management.

Participation: This meeting, convened by the United Nations, and hosted by the Foreign Minister of Switzerland, will be chaired by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Senior policy makers representing fifty-one states, seventeen regional organizations, and key members of the United Nations system have been invited to take part in the Forum.

Objectives: The principal objectives of the meeting are for the states to provide policy guidance on the aforementioned issues, and endorse the process for effective coordination of international emergency humanitarian assistance. Based on these inputs, a plan of action, to include the following elements, will be formalized:

• A policy framework facilitating collective and individual undertakings in the field of international emergency humanitarian assistance by concerned states and organizations.

• Within this framework, proposed political and operational responsibilities for effective humanitarian action using existing structures and networks.

• Identification of remaining issues that impact policy and operational needs.

• Assessment of future policy challenges in the realm of international emergency humanitarian assistance.

Future Direction: The Fribourg Forum is an event in a regional process facilitated by the ECP to address the challenges of providing effective, responsive and efficient emergency humanitarian assistance and to provide a basis for continuous improvement of coordination and policies for regional cooperation. This process is collaborative in nature and open to all states and international organizations.