No: 224, 2 July 2014

Turkey was admitted as a member of the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Donor Support Group on 1 July 2014. The OCHA Donor Support Group consists of the largest voluntary contributors to OCHA.

Turkey’s membership was decided upon at the High Level Meeting held in Brussels by the European Commission, which was chairing the OCHA Donor Support Group.

The OCHA Donor Support Group, which now has 27 members with Turkey’s participation, also functions as an informal consultation mechanism aimed at shaping OCHA’s humanitarian policies.

As the world’s 4th largest humanitarian donor, Turkey is a strong advocate of international solidarity and cooperation. Turkey, a key actor in the field of bilateral humanitarian assistance, also believes that the multilateral humanitarian system, led by the UN, can make important contributions to the resolution of today’s complex humanitarian issues and thus continues to increase its support to UN agencies such as OCHA.

Moreover, the designation of Istanbul as host city of the first-ever World Humanitarian Summit to be held on May 2016 is an additional indicator of Turkey’s rising profile in the humanitarian field.