Policy Brief Prepared for: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) -- Integrating One Health into UNDAC operations: A strategic imperative for coordinated humanitarian response

In an era of increasingly complex emergencies, the interdependence of human, animal, and environmental health cannot be ignored (Ankers & Bengoumi, 2020; Kanfash, 2025). The One Health approach - a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach endorsed by WHO, FAO, WOAH, and UNEP (FAO, n.d.) - offers a strategic pathway to enhance UNDAC’s relevance, effectiveness, and coordination impact. This brief outlines concrete entry points for One Health integration into UNDAC deployments, training, methodologies, and partnerships, building on the UNDAC Strategy 2023–2026, OCHA’s environmental emergency track record, and recent cross-sectoral insights from the HNPW 2025 panel “Beyond human health: A holistic approach to disaster response and recovery”.