The Humanitarian Coordination System

The primary objective of international humanitarian action, and the purpose of coordination (established in 2005), is to meet the needs of the crisis affected population through methods that are reliable, effective, inclusive, and respectful of humanitarian principles. The cluster approach is a coordination system that ensures international responses to humanitarian emergencies are predictable, accountable, and possess adequate global capacity to address complex crises and natural disasters. 

In December 2011, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Principals agreed to a series of actions under the IASC Transformative Agenda aimed at enhancing the humanitarian response, building on the 2005 Humanitarian Reform. This agenda includes ten protocols that provide guidance on the mechanisms and processes necessary for a more coordinated response. The IASC Transformative Agenda introduced modifications to the application of the cluster approach, ensuring that clusters “will be stripped back to become lean, effective and efficient coordination mechanisms, focusing on delivery of results, rather than process”, meaning that clusters are activated on an as-needed basis by the Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) and the Humanitarian Coordination Team (HCT). 

There are 11 clusters (see diagram below) and 4 Areas of Responsibility (AoRs): Mine Action, Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Housing, Land and Property, and Child Protection. Each cluster and each AoR is led by a Cluster Lead Agency (CLA).