Title: Building a Stronger, More Predictable Humanitarian Response System
1Building a Stronger, More Predictable
Humanitarian Response System
Humanitarian Reform Support Unit, OCHA
2Some Findings from the 2005 Humanitarian Response
Review
- Well-known, long-standing gaps
- Limited linkages between UN and non-UN actors
- Coordination erratic and dependent on
personalities - Insufficient accountability (particularly for
IDPs) - Donor policies inconsistent
3Changing Environment for humanitarian operations
- Proliferation of humanitarian actors
- Changing role of the UN (less direct
implementation, more standard-setting and
facilitation) - Competitive funding environment
- Increased public scrutiny of humanitarian action
4Humanitarian aid NGOs growing in terms of
expenditure
5FOUR PILLARS OF REFORM
CLUSTER APPROACH Adequate capacity and
predictable leadership in all sectors
HUMANITARIAN COORDINATORS Effective leadership
and coordination in humanitarian emergencies
PARTNERSHIP Strong partnerships between UN and
non-UN actors
HUMANITARIAN FINANCING Adequate, timely and
flexible financing
6- Whose reform?
- Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)
- Composed of NGO consortia, Red Cross and Red
Crescent Movement, IOM, World bank and UN
agencies
7PILLAR 1
CLUSTER APPROACH Adequate capacity and
predictable leadership in all sectors
8IASC GUIDANCE NOTE ON THE CLUSTER APPROACH
June 2006 IASC issued Preliminary Guidance Note
(invited comments from all stakeholders) Dec
2006 IASC issued Revised Guidance Note
The Guidance Note will continue to be reviewed
periodically and revised as necessary
9AIM
- High standards of predictability, accountability
and partnership in all sectors or areas of
activity - More strategic responses
- Better prioritization of available resources
10SCOPE
- GLOBAL LEVEL
- Strengthen system-wide preparedness and response
capacity - COUNTRY LEVEL
- Apply in all countries with HCs
- (by definition, countries where humanitarian
needs are of sufficient scale and complexity to
justify a multi-sectoral response with a wide
range of humanitarian actors)
11GLOBAL LEVEL
Global Leads (already established)
- Agriculture FAO
- Education UNICEF
- Food WFP
- Refugees UNHCR
12GLOBAL LEVELNew Global Cluster Leads
- Technical areas
- Nutrition UNICEF
- Water/Sanitation UNICEF
- Health WHO
- Emergency Shelter IDPs (from conflict) UNHCR
- Natural disasters IFRC Convenor
- Cross-cutting areas
- Camp Coord/Mgmt IDPs (from conflict) UNHCR
- Natural disasters IOM
- Protection IDPs (from conflict) UNHCR
- Natural disasters/civilians
- from conflict (non-IDPs) HCR/OHCHR/UNICEF
- Early Recovery UNDP
- Common service areas
- Logistics WFP
- Telecommunications
OCHA/UNICEF/WFP -
13Global Cluster Appeal 2006 Improving Global
Humanitarian Response Capacity
- Appeal for USD 39 million
- Launched in March 2006
- Received so far USD 22 million
- (Nearly 60)
14Responsibilities of global cluster leads
- Normative
- Standard setting and consolidation of best
practice - Build response capacity
- Training and system development at local,
regional and international levels - Surge capacity and standby rosters
- Material stockpiles
- Operational Support
- Emergency preparedness
- Advocacy and resource mobilization
15COUNTRY LEVEL
- Cluster/Sector Leads, responsible for ensuring
the following - Inclusion of key humanitarian partners
- Establishment of appropriate coordination
mechanisms - Coordination with national/local authorities,
local civil society etc. - Participatory and community-based approaches
- Attention to priority cross-cutting issues (age,
environment, gender, HIV/AIDS etc) - Needs assessment and analysis
- Emergency preparedness
- Planning and strategy development
- Application of standards
- Monitoring and reporting
- Advocacy and resource mobilization
- Training and capacity building
- Provision of assistance and services as a last
resort
16RED CROSS AND RED CRESCENT MOVEMENT
- ICRC
- ICRC is not taking part in the cluster approach
- Coordination between ICRC and the UN will
continue to the extent necessary to achieve
efficient operational complementarity - Â
- IFRC
- convener rather than cluster lead for
emergency shelter in disasters - not committed to being provide of last resort,
nor is it accountable to any part of the UN
system
17Rationalizing meetings
- Small organizations have limited capacity to
attend large numbers of individual sectoral
meetings - Meetings should be well managed and productive
- Primacy should be given to Humanitarian Country
Team meetings (at both capital and provincial
level) - Some sectoral groups may
- decide to meet collectively
- No unnecessary meetings
18PILLAR 2
HUMANITARIAN COORDINATORS Effective leadership
and coordination in humanitarian emergencies
19Strenthening the HC System
- A comprehensive strategy for
- Selecting
- Mentoring
- Training
- Appointing and
- Holding accountable
- individuals that can deliver
- effective leadership in
- humanitarian emergencies
20Actions to strengthen the HC system
- Establish broad-based humanitarian country teams
- Develop a pool of HCs (from UN and non-UN) for
short-term and/or immediate deployment - RC/HC score card
- Develop new training packages
21PILLAR 3
HUMANITARIAN FINANCING Adequate, timely and
flexible financing
22Actions to improvehumanitarian financing
- Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) initiative
- (being piloted in Burundi and DRC)
- Establishment of CERF
- Other initiatives
23CERF
- General Assembly Resolution A/RES/60/124 decided
to upgrade the CERF to US 500 million (US 50
million Loan component plus US 450 million Grant
component). - Pledges for 2006 USD 260 million
- Fully funded CERF represents 4 of global
humanitarian funding (USD 500 million out of USD
13 billion) - NOT a substitute for donor contributions to the
CAP
24Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF)
- Created to help ensure timely, adequate and
flexible funding - Two Windows
- Rapid Response
- Under-Funded Emergencies
25CERF Criteria
- Funds will target core life-saving activities as
per the assessment of the RC/HC
- Activities that remedy, mitigate or avert direct
physical harm or threats to a population or major
portion thereof - Also common humanitarian services that are
necessary to enable life-saving activities -
26Rapid Response Allocations Jan Aug 2006
27Under-funded Emergencies Allocations Jan Aug
2006
28PILLAR 4
PARTNERSHIP Strong partnerships between UN and
non-UN actors
29Building more effective partnerships
- IASC Country Teams now a requirement in all
countries with HCs - Ongoing UN/non-UN dialogue, began with Geneva
meeting in July 2006 - Humanitarian Community Partnership Teams to be
piloted in 3 countries
30Humanitarian Reform Where to go for help?
- Key documents
- Guidance Note on Using the Cluster Approach to
Strengthen Humanitarian Response - IASC Interim Self Assessment of the Cluster
Approach - Specific cluster guidance, provided by global
cluster leads - For assistance
- Humanitarian Reform Support Unit hrsu_at_un.org
- CERF Secretariat cerf_at_un.org
- IASC website www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc
- Humanitarian Reform Website coming soon!