Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

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 post Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) was created by UN resolution on December 1991 to coordinate the efforts of the special representatives of the United Nations Secretary-General to complex, man-made emergencies and the tasks of the UN Disaster Relief Coordinator (UNDRO), who handles natural disasters. Shortly thereafter the Secretary-General named the Emergency Relief Coordinator as one of the Under-Secretary-Generals (USGs), specifically the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. The position is sometimes erroneously called the Coordinator of Humanitarian Affairs.

Former holders of the position

 * Jan Eliasson of Sweden, 1992-1994
 * Peter Hansen of Denmark, 1994-1996
 * Yasushi Akashi of Japan, 1996-1998
 * Sérgio Vieira de Mello of Brazil, 1998-January 2001
 * Kenzo Oshima of Japan, January 2001 - June 2003
 * Jan Egeland of Norway, June 2003 - December 2006
 * Sir John Holmes of the United Kingdom, January 2007 - current