2009 Volume 7 Pages 124-133
Both of historically and recently, assistance to affected countries and regions suffered from catastrophic natural disasters and complex emergencies are required severely. A large variety of actors engage in assistance. In order to coordinate a number of actors and facilitate information-sharing among them, assistance demands a certain type of mechanism. Considering these situations, an institution for coordination and information-sharing after natural and man-made disasters, called “Cluster Approach”, adopted in 2005. Cluster Approach is organized by the United Nations mainly. This institution was not constructed suddenly, but some institutions and organizations-settings have already been existed and these have been changed and developed gradually. Contrary to these international backgrounds, and in spite of the importance of information-sharing in international humanitarian emergency relief, it is hard to see related previous researches in Japanese academic areas. Therefore, this article aims to clarify how institutions have been changed and developed historically. Achieving the aim, this article reviews secondary materials and previous surveys regarding information-sharing institutions organized by the United Nations.
