As per GA Resolution 48/57, “… the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, under the leadership of the Emergency Relief Coordinator, should serve as the primary mechanism for inter-agency coordination[.]”

The IASC is comprised of the IASC Principals. The IASC Principals are the executive heads of 19 United Nations and non-UN organizations that form the IASC. The IASC Principals work together to ensure coherence of preparedness and response efforts, formulate policy, and agree on priorities for strengthened humanitarian action.

The Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Mr. Mark Lowcock, chairs meetings of the IASC Principals. The ERC, supported by the IASC secretariat, sets the agenda in consultation with the IASC Principals.

As per GA Resolution 46/182, the IASC is accountable through the ERC to the Secretary-General for “better preparation for, as well as rapid and coherent response to [crises].”

Responsibilities include:

• Making strategic and policy decisions which have system-wide implications;
• Endorsing major operational decisions;
• Arbitration where no consensus can be reached at other IASC levels;
• Advocating common humanitarian principles, collectively or individually, on behalf of the IASC;
• Approving the general work programme of the IASC structures;
• Bringing issues to the attention of the Secretary-General and the Security Council, through the Emergency Relief Coordinator; and
• Designating Humanitarian Coordinators and selecting coordination arrangements.

The IASC Principals are supported by three IASC subsidiary bodies established to support the implementation of their decisions and priorities, namely: the Deputies Forum, Emergency Directors Group (EDG), Operational Policy and Advocacy Group (OPAG) supported by five Results Groups (RGs).