UNS HUMANITARIAN ACTIVITY - NEW TRENDS AN D TENDENCIES

A new complexity has emerged in the international management of humani tarian crises. The article presents old and new actors in the humanita rian field, and the growing intricacy of their interaction. The increa sing interface between the UN's political/military and humanitarian ac tivity underlines the need for a sharper distinction between the human itarian role on the one hand, and the political/military aspect on the other. In this respect the author recommends that the UN clarifies it s mandates and seeks to avoid overlapping mandates and uncovered areas between mandates. With the increasing participation of NGOs in UN ope rations, the UN should also define its role in this context. The autho r argues that the UN, as the main actor, should concentrate on plannin g and overall management and leave the implementation to NGOs and othe r organisations. This would imply a strengthening of flexible network structures. The author suggests that the UN should define a humanitari an agenda as a parallel to the Secretary-General's 'An Agenda for Peac e'.