Latin America and the Caribbean

Peru

Widespread flooding in north-western Peru in early 2023 affected hundreds of thousands of people, rendering more than 123,000 people homeless and creating serious response and recovery needs.
Widespread flooding in north-western Peru in early 2023 affected hundreds of thousands of people, rendering more than 123,000 people homeless and creating serious response and recovery needs. Photo: OCHA/Marcel Velásquez.

OCHA has been present in Peru since 2008, through the Humanitarian Advisory Team (HAT), which supports the work of the UN Resident Coordinator in their role of international humanitarian coordination, developing preparedness and response plans with other humanitarian actors. 

In 2008, OCHA was instrumental in the formation of the National Humanitarian Network, a coordination mechanism similar to that of a Humanitarian Country Team (HCT), tailored to the local context. OCHA's HAT works closely with United Nations agencies, national and international NGOs, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, bilateral and multilateral donors, the National Civil Defense Institute (INDECI), and the other state entities involved in humanitarian response.  

The HAT was also pivotal in mounting a coordinated response to early 2023 flooding along Peru’s northern Pacific coasts that affected nearly 840,000 people over the span of several months. Beyond coordinating immediate life-saving assistance, which included a US$6.9 million UN Central Emergency Response Fund allocation, the HAT was instrumental in setting up Local Coordination Teams under the National Humanitarian Network in the hardest hit departments. 

Following a January 2022 oil spill just north of the capital of Lima, the HAT also provided the UN in Peru with support with the coordination of an OCHA-UN Environment Joint Environment Unit (JEU) mission to advise the State on response and recovery. 

The key focus for OCHA in Peru is to have sufficient capacity to respond to large-scale humanitarian crises in a timely, effective and coordinated manner applying humanitarian principles and standards which are put into practice in simulation exercises that are carried out periodically.