UNICEF in Emergencies & Humanitarian Action

Coordinating UNICEF’s relief efforts

UNICEF's Operation Centre

NEW YORK, 5 January 2005 – The staff at UNICEF’s Operation Centre (OPSCEN), located at the organisation’s headquarters in New York City, have been working around the clock in order to coordinate the unprecedented relief efforts for survivors of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Operating 24 hours, 7 days a week, the centre is a crucial communication hub between the UNICEF headquarters, the UNICEF supply warehouse in Copenhagen, and over 157 country offices.

OPSCEN was formally established on the first of January in 1996 as part of the Office of Emergency Programmes (EMOPS). It has the capacity to provide telephone service and videoconferences for UNICEF staff members working around the globe. Each staffmember in the OPSCEN is multilingual and they speak a total of 12 languages.

OPSCEN monitors emergency situations, as well as many ongoing crises. It provides UNICEF policy makers with in depth analysis, while also keeping staff members in dangerous situations apprised of their own safety.

Supporting UNICEF to provide effective humanitarian action is the ultimate goal of the centre - not only during emergencies, but all of the time, for all of the children.