East Coordination Hub

The General Coordination Meeting (GCM) is the main coordination platform between oblast authorities and humanitarian partners. Its format resembles that of a “town hall” and all humanitarian partners, including UN agencies, national and international NGOs, local volunteer groups and sub-national clusters are invited to join. In general, the oblast authorities provide an update on the humanitarian situation and needs, OCHA provides updates on key themes (e.g. winterization, the Humanitarian Response Plan), followed by updates from partners and a discussion. GCMs are co-chaired by OCHA and oblast authorities, at deputy governor level, with OCHA acting as the secretariat. English/Ukrainian interpretation is provided and meetings take place every one to two months. 

The Inter-Cluster Working Group (ICWG) provides a framework for strengthening operational coordination and enhancing the delivery of humanitarian assistance through improved leadership, predictability, accountability and partnership. Effective humanitarian coordination seeks to identify needs, meet gaps and reduce the duplication of activities. In addition, it ensures a coherent operational response across all sectors, in line with the strategy agreed by the national ICCG. 

The ICWG provides a platform for sub-national cluster and AoR representatives to coordinate and work for the joint delivery of a principled, timely, effective and efficient humanitarian response meeting the prioritised needs of people in need in a defined geographic area, comprising a number of oblasts with high humanitarian needs.

The Area Heads of Humanitarian Agencies – East is an operational coordination platform established to strengthen the response by convening senior leadership across the humanitarian community (NGOs, IOs, UN and donors) at Area Heads level, with the aim of improving information sharing, situational analysis, and programmatic decision-making at senior level as necessary towards the achievement of a more effective, integrated, and risk informed humanitarian action in the East. A-HoHA East members will further work together to ensure that inter-agency humanitarian action alleviates human suffering and protects the lives, livelihoods, and dignity of people in need, while endeavouring to agree on a collective operational direction that contributes to the coherence of the humanitarian response.