International cooperation on humanitarian assistance in the field of natural disasters, from relief to development A/RES/70/107 independence, and their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law; 22. Encourages Member States to put in place, as appropriate, customs measures to improve effectiveness in responding to natural disasters; 23. Reaffirms the leading role of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat as the focal point within the overall United Nations system for the advocacy for and coordination of humanitarian assistance among United Nations humanitarian organizations and other humanitarian partners; 24. Welcomes the important contribution of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination system to the effectiveness of humanitarian assistance in supporting Member States, upon their request, and the United Nations system in preparedness and humanitarian response, and encourages the continued incorporation into this mechanism of experts from developing countries that are prone to natural disasters; 25. Also welcomes the important contribution of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group to the effectiveness of international urban search and rescue assistance, and encourages Member States to continue to support the Advisory Group, in line with General Assembly resolution 57/150 of 16 December 2002; 26. Urges Member States, the United Nations system and other humanitarian actors to consider the specific and differentiated consequences of natural disasters in both rural and urban areas when designing and implementing disaster risk reduction, prevention and mitigation, preparedness, humanitarian assistance and early recovery strategies, giving special emphasis to addressing the needs of those living in rural and urban poor areas prone to natural disasters; 27. Welcomes the continued efforts of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to build partnerships with regional organizations, traditional and non-traditional donors and the private sector, and encourages Member States and the United Nations system to continue to strengthen partnerships at the global, regional, national and local levels in support of national efforts in situations of natural disasters, in order to cooperate effectively in providing humanitarian assistance to those in need and ensure that their collaborative efforts adhere to the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence; 28. Recognizes that information and telecommunications technology can play an important role in disaster response, encourages Member States to develop emergency response telecommunications capacities, encourages the international community to assist the efforts of developing countries in this area, where needed, including in the recovery phase, and in this regard encourages Member States that have not acceded to or ratified the Tampere Convention on the Provision of Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations 9 to consider doing so; 29. Encourages the further use of space-based and ground-based remotesensing technologies, including as provided by the United Nations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency Response (UN-SPIDER), as well as the sharing of geographical data, for the prevention, mitigation and management of natural disasters, where appropriate, and invites _______________ 9 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2296, No. 40906. 7/12