The head of the Saudi team to the Donor Group to support United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Assistant Supervisor General of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre (KSrelief) for Planning and Development Dr. Aqeel Bin Jamaan Al-Ghamdi has stressed the importance of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the humanitarian response. He also called for improving the mechanism of delivering humanitarian aid to the most affected and neediest categories. These remarks were made by Dr. Al-Ghamdi during a speech on Tuesday during the OCHA Donor Support Group, under the presidency of the Netherlands, where the discussions during the meeting went over aspects of the new strategic plan for OCHA over the period spanning between 2023 and 2026. Dr. Al-Ghamdi called on OCHA to enhance and boost the mechanism and tools of humanitarian coordination for their positive impacts on the strategic outcomes, stressing the importance of adopting a flexible mechanism to identify priorities for humanitarian needs. He also called on the body to respond to them in a better way, and enhancing the mechanism to guarantee the delivery of humanitarian assistance to beneficiaries. He noted that the increasing humanitarian needs will require additional financial resources, yet, the Central Emergency Response Fund and joint country funds should be used in a more strategic, more stimulating and more incubating way so as to reach the neediest people, and increase the efficacy and effectiveness of the humanitarian response. He added that all the proposed empowering elements are important and should be focused on, stressing the significance of data and technology in assessing needs and preparing for response. The meeting went over issues related to the OCHA strategic plan and the humanitarian issue over 2023-2026, including the financial gap that increases with the increase of the global humanitarian need, the difficulty of delivering assistance to beneficiaries in conflict zones, and the pre-emptive work in the humanitarian work. — SPA
