EPN Conference June 2005

1
EPN ConferenceJune 2005

• Human Resources Management in Darfur
• August/September 2004
• Katherine Galliano
• MSF UK

2
Darfur 2004

• As early as April 2003 MSF Holland were preparing
  for a possible emergency response in areas such
  as Darfur.
• Country Management Team in Khartoum took action.
• HRM shortages in country made it difficult to
  respond to new emergencies
• Emergency Team from Holland carried out an
  assessment in November 2003. It took 6 weeks to
  obtain the necessary permits and visas.

3
MSF Holland- Darfur 2004

• Between 70 and 80 expatriates in South and West
  Darfur
• Between 500 and 700 National Staff, but
  increasing on a daily basis
• Approx 60,000 IDPs in Kalma Camp alone, again
  increasing daily

4
MSF Hollands Activities

• Therapeutic Feeding Centres (for under 5s)
• Supplementary Feeding centres
• Primary Health Care support
• Water and Sanitation
• Lobbying and Advocacy

5
Expatriate Staff

• Limited until June 2004 due to restrictions
  imposed by GOS on visas, travel permits etc.
• Rapid expansion in expatriates between June and
  Sept once restriction lifted
• This was not accompanied by a concomitant rise in
  management capacity

6
Issues Raised Expatriate Staff

• Shortage of expatriates a constraint to start
  with.
• High percentage of first missioners and
  inexperienced second missioners had a negative
  impact on responsiveness
• Inexperienced staff lacked awareness and
  knowledge of standard procedures and tools
  available and lacked support from experienced
  staff
• Result overwhelmed and demoralised expats.

7
National Staff

• MSF Holland has been operational in North Sudan
  since the eighties
• HR policies and procedures have been in place for
  a number of years e.g recruitment process, pay
  and benefits all developed according to Sudanese
  labour law.
• All in all a fair package for national staff.

8
However

• The rate at which IDPs starting moving to Kalma
  and other camps made it difficult to implement HR
  policies and procedures.
• In addition inexperienced expatriates were not
  always aware of systems that had been set up.

9
HR Support

• Fixed term contracts for all staff.
• Benefits
• Coaching of expatriate HR Officer and
  Administrators
• Problem solving

10
Issues raised

• Confusion between salary scales (100 versus 80)
• Confusion on per diem system and relocation
  allowances
• Confusion about salary levels and grades
• Confusion about incentive scheme for MOH staff
• Unable to obtain paperwork from most employees

11
Issues raised cont.

• Implications of offering a 9 month contract to an
  IDP
• Confusion about job evaluation scheme
• Cultural differences

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Can we improve HR in future emergencies?

• Ideally have HR professionals on the ground right
  from the start to support both national and
  international staff
• Include HR in pre mission training
• Train more national staff who can easily be
  mobilised in emergencies