The now defunct United Nations Centre for Urgent Environmental Assistance (UNEP/UNCUEA) worked to coordinate international response to

man-made disasters Anthropogenic hazards are hazards caused by human action or inaction. They are contrasted with natural hazards. Anthropogenic hazards may adversely affect humans, other organisms, biomes, and ecosystems. They can even cause an omnicide. The ...

. It was administrated by the

United Nations Environmental Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

Background

The short-lived Centre was created to respond to an initiative proposed by

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

in the late 1980s. UNEP Governing Council “... decided to establish the Centre at the beginning of 1992 for a period of eighteen month”. Its operations were initially run by a small staff located in a

Swiss government The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...

office in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, Switzerland. Later, it was relocated to offices inside the

International Environment House The Geneva Environment Network (GEN) is a cooperative partnership of over 75 environment and sustainable development organizations based in the Geneva area, including United Nations offices and programmes, local authorities, academic institutions an ...

, found in

Châtelaine ''Châtelaine'' is a French-language magazine of women's lifestyles, published in Quebec by St. Joseph Communications. History and profile The magazine was first published in 1960 by Maclean-Hunter Publishing. It covers issues and interests o ...

. The Centre collaborated with national focal points, with the perspective of “act ngprimarily as a broker between assisting countries and affected countries”. The information requested by the Centre listing national capabilities regarding emergency environmental assistance were directly stored on then Lotus Development Corporation's Lotus Note, supported by a Netware server. These “resources were tested in a simulation exercise carried out in Tunisia in February 1993. The exercise demonstrated that the Centre can act as an effective broker between a State requesting assistance, and potential donor countries and that cooperation with other United Nations agencies partners is feasible.” “As regards mechanisms for dealing with requests for assistance, the Centre has prepared its own internal contingency plan, which has been tested on two occasions.” However, it never received necessary support due to criticism that it overlapped with already-existing agencies, like the

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO, French: ''Organisation maritime internationale'') is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference ...

and the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

References

{{Authority control Organizations established in the 1980s Emergency organizations United Nations organizations based in Geneva Former international organizations United Nations Environment Programme