Despite information gleaned from previous El Niño occurrences, most notably in 1982-83, scientific models can only partially predict its effects. The United Nations and international organizations are increasingly being called upon by national governments to assist in assessing the phenomenon, reduce the impact, and provide relief assistance.
On 18 December 1997, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/52/200, entitled International cooperation to reduce the impact of the El Niño phenomenon. The resolution calls for an internationally concerted and comprehensive strategy to integrate measures of technical cooperation, financial assistance, technology transfer and dissemination of scientific knowledge, within the framework of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR).
Already in early November, the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Yasushi Akashi, had called for the establishment of an Inter-Agency Task Force on El Niño. This task force is convened and co-ordinated by the IDNDR Secretariat. It acts as a forum for information exchange and follow-up actions related to prevention, mitigation and preparedness of El Niño effects.
The task force takes a dual approach: scientific analysis, on the one hand; and social, economic and operational development on the other. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) chairs the first aspect of scientific involvement, particularly with respect to the technical understanding, observing, and preventing of the El Niño phenomenon and its related meteorological and hydrological impacts. The other segment of the task force deals with the social, economic and operational development aspects at the country level and is chaired by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Geneva.
By its chairing of the task force, the IDNDR Secretariat aims to provide the platform for inter-agency exchange of expertise and knowledge on El Niño and its potential effects, as well as coordinating a concerted United Nations system's approach to develop strategies and programmes for preventing disaster impacts of future El Niño occurrences. In this respect, the task force aims, in particular, to bridge effectively the gap between the scientific and technical capacities of the United Nations and the operational disaster management and development concerns of vulnerable communities at the country level.
One of the first steps of the new United Nations Inter-Agency task force on El Niño was to produce a press kit that provides an operational overview of United Nations actions. from various international organizations on El Niño-related issues. A second aspect aims at providing countries at risk with a consolidated first glance at the expertise and actions of international organizations in this domain. It also aims at facilitating cooperation between organizations. Additional press kits and publications will follow.
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