A/RES/52/171 Page 2 standby basis, in accordance with accepted United Nations procedures and practices, in order to provide specialized human and technical resources for emergency relief and rehabilitation; 3. Expresses its appreciation for the commendable progress of the White Helmets initiative as another voluntary international effort to provide the United Nations system with volunteer expertise to respond, in a quick and coordinated manner, to humanitarian relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development, while preserving the non-political, neutral and impartial character of humanitarian action; 4. Recognizes that the White Helmets, as an operational partner of the United Nations Volunteers, are an efficient and viable mechanism for making pre-identified and trained homogenous teams available to the United Nations system, in support of immediate relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development activities, in the light of the increasing number and growing magnitude and complexity of natural disasters and other emergencies; 5. Calls upon States to promote the facilitation of cooperative actions between the United Nations system and the civil society, through national volunteer corps, in order to strengthen the United Nations capacities for early and effective response to humanitarian emergencies; 6. Encourages States to identify and support their respective national focal points for the White Helmets in order to continue to provide the United Nations system with an accessible global network of rapid response facilities in case of humanitarian emergencies; 7. Invites States and the United Nations system to consider ways and means to ensure the integration of the White Helmets initiative into their programme activities, particularly those related to humanitarian and disaster relief assistance; 8. Invites the Secretary-General to consider the potential use of White Helmets as a resource for preventing and mitigating the effects of emergencies and post-conflict humanitarian emergencies and, in this context, to maintain an adequate structure for the White Helmets liaison functions, taking into account the ongoing reforms process; 9. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session, under the item entitled "Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance", on the actions taken in line with the present resolution. 73rd plenary meeting 16 December 1997