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The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator is a high-level position in the United Nations that heads the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The position has been held since October 2024 by Thomas Fletcher, the sixth Briton in a row to serve in the role.
The post of Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) was created by UN resolution 46/182 in December 1991 to coordinate the efforts of the United Nations, member states and the wider humanitarian community in response to natural and man-made emergencies.
The post is one of five cabinet-level UN positions that are traditionally held by nationals from the five permanent members of the Security Council; since 2007, six British nationals have been appointed to that position.[2] Before 2007, British nationals held the position of Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs for more than a decade.[3]