About UNOCHA
At the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), we bring the world together to tackle humanitarian emergencies and save the lives of people caught in crises.Activities by UNOCHA
United Nations’ Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) AI project summarization tool
GlobalWe’ve developed an AI summarization tool using Microsoft Azure OpenAI for the United Nations’ Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). This tool efficiently processes Microsoft Word project proposals, extracting relevant information from various sections to generate a three-sentence project summary. Traditionally, CERF program officers manually crafted these summaries, which consumed approximately 5 minutes each. Our tool, however, produces accurate summaries within seconds. Given the volume of over 500 CERF projects annually, this tool stands to save more than 40 hours of staff time per year—a significant efficiency gain.
Activity Type AI Tools/SolutionsOCHA RAG (Retrieval‑Augmented Generation) – AI‑Powered Situation Analysis Platform
Global AfghanistanEthiopiaIranJamaicaPakistanPapua New GuineaPhilippinesSri LankaUkraine
Objective
To strengthen humanitarian decision‑making by accelerating and improving the quality, consistency, and scalability of situation analysis and other Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC) analytical products (e.g. Situation Analyses, Flash Appeals, HNRPs) using AI‑assisted retrieval and synthesis grounded in verified sources.
What OCHA RAG Does
Applies retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG) to large volumes of humanitarian documents (UN, NGO, government, media, assessments).
Ground all AI‑generated text directly in cited source material to reduce hallucination risk.
Produces structured, analyst‑reviewed draft analyses, with human‑in‑the‑loop validation at all stages.
Supports rapid triangulation of complex, unstructured information across crises.
Current Status (Latest)
Operational pilot in use since June 2025, with continuous refinement through 2025–2026.
Applied across multiple sudden‑onset emergencies and protracted crises, supporting the production of situation analyses and related HPC outputs.
Currently operates as a locally managed analyst tool (not yet a corporate‑wide production system).
Technical specifications for secure Azure deployment and multi‑country scaling have been developed.
Innovation Aspect
Moves beyond generic AI chat tools toward a domain‑specific, governance‑aware humanitarian AI system.
Transition underway from document‑centric RAG to Graph‑based RAG using humanitarian ontologies, common operational datasets (CODs), and analytical frameworks such as JIAF.
Designed explicitly for human‑controlled analytical drafting, not automated decision‑making.
Key Results to Date
Faster analytical turnaround during emergencies.
Improved consistency and analytical framing across products.
Demonstrated feasibility of AI‑assisted situation analysis under strict humanitarian governance and quality controls. Over 20 countries supported
Next Steps
Secure funding to scale OCHA RAG into a field‑ready, secure, multi‑user platform.
Expand pilot deployments to country offices.
Strengthen governance, security review, and institutional integration.
Ask ReliefWeb Q&A Chatbot
Global United StatesThe Ask ReliefWeb Q&A Chatbot allows a site visitor to ask questions about the (single) report page that they are viewing. On average, a single report had an attached file of approximately 17 pages. The Q&A Chatbot retrieves answers from that material.
Activity Type AI Tools/SolutionsOneGMS Chatbot: AI Support for Humanitarian Grant Management
Global Not Applicable
Context: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) manages the OneGMS (One Grant Management System), a core platform that supports the end-to-end lifecycle of humanitarian pooled fund grants. The growing volume and complexity of OneGMS documentation, workflows, and user questions created a need for faster, more consistent support for HQ and field users.
The solution: An AI-powered chatbot, developed in partnership with the United Nations International Computing Center (UNICC), that provides contextual and reliable support to HQ and field users across the full grant management lifecycle.
Key features:
-Gen AI and Information Retrieval capabilities to answer questions grounded in official OneGMS documentation and guidance.
-User support across key areas, including grant lifecycle processes, workflows, roles, system functionalities, and policies.
-Secure deployment aligned with OCHA and UNICC AI and data protection requirements.