Inter-Agency Standing Committee

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) is an inter-agency forum of UN and non-UN humanitarian partners founded in 1992, to strengthen humanitarian assistance. The overall objective of the IASC is to improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance to affected populations. The Committee was established following UN General Assembly Resolution 46/182 and resolution 48/57 confirmed that it should be the primary method for inter-agency coordination. The committee is chaired by the Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Andrew Lowcock
Full members of the IASC are:
Standing invitees of the IASC are:
Global Clusters.
Following the recommendations of an independent Humanitarian Response Review in 2005, the cluster approach was adopted in 2005 as a way of addressing gaps and strengthening the effectiveness of humanitarian response through building partnerships. The IASC clustered similar humanitarian organizations and appointed lead agencies for each. Clusters can be activated by the Emergency Relief Coordinator in order to respond to a crisis. There are 11 clusters which are humanitarian coordination mechanisms of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee: