Improving Partnership Can Improve Humanitarian Action

1
Improving Partnership Can Improve Humanitarian
Action

• Summary of Global Humanitarian Platform
  Discussion
• Recommendations, Action Points, and Challenges
• Amman, Jordan
• May 19, 2008

2
Conclusions

• Discussions underlined the importance of
• Strengthening partnership by defining priorities
  together
• Developing better relationships without losing
  sight of the external environment with civil
  society, governments, and beneficiaries
• Training staff on the Principles of Partnership
  (PoP) to change organizational behaviour
• Understanding organisational strength and
  weakness to know each other better
• Providing leadership, advocating on humanitarian
  principles and protecting humanitarian space, to
  add value to humanitarian action

3
Conclusions

• Engaging in honest and frank dialogue to resolve
  potential misunderstandings and to clarify roles
  and responsibilities
• Acknowledging perceptions created by remote
  programming (international NGOs staff confined
  to Amman)
• Supporting local capacity as key to the
  improvement of humanitarian action
• Understanding capacity and access, noting in
  particular the complexity in identifying local
  and national partners.
• Expecting flexibility in funding and speed in
  disbursing funds based on needs.
• UN safety and security systems limiting
  humanitarian action and exerting pressure on
  national organisations to intervene putting
  national staff at security risks, creating double
  standards.

4
Recommendations

• Partnership
• Thorough assessment of capacities needs
• Build the capacity of local NGOs government
  structures at all levels.
• Expand local partners base build on existing
  capacity to address complex emergencies
• Creative partnership measures are needed to
  respond
• Solicit resources to support extra efforts for
  coordination
• De-politicize Sector Outcome Teams (SOT)

5
Recommendations

• Equality/Equity
• Involving Partners at all stages including
  planning, project design programming
• Acting on feedback and criticism
• Sharing credit as appropriate
• Review DSS rules handling security of national
  / international humanitarian workers
• Ensuring balanced representation at the
  Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and Sectoral
  Outcome Team (SOT)
• All need to be active and contribute to
  coordination/ provide meaningful constructive
  inputs
• Views of all partners need to be reflected at the
  global strategic level

6
Recommendations

• Result-oriented approach
• Understanding capitalizing on Strength added
  value. UN, RC/C NGOs
• Adapting policies to local needs. no one size
  fits all
• Applying procedures to ensure a faster response
  (funding emergency etc)
• Strengthening partnership between UN agencies
• Establishing a Humanitarian Iraq Country Team.
• Promoting better understanding of complementarity
  at a global level

7
Recommendations

• Responsibility
• Sufficient planning and preparedness
• Understanding of assets and capacities
• Sustainability and appropriateness of response
• Civil society/ beneficiaries involvement in
  program design
• Empowerment of local partners and communities
• Expansion of humanitarian space
• Joint advocacy with a unified and strategic
  vision with the UN taking the lead role.
• Application of SPHERE standards

8
Recommendations

• Complementarity
• Involvement of national authorities, local
  councils policy makers
• International organizations to ensure
• capacity building,
• good needs assessments and financial management,
• Identification of strength of local partners to
  be used
• Coordination mechanisms in Amman include NGOs
  operating in Baghdad and provinces
• Ensuring that national authorities are involved
  in policy development and emergency planning
• Improving coordination among humanitarian actors
  on the ground
• Ensure voices of local partners are present in
  strategic / policy discussions

9
Recommendations

• Transparency
• Should be emphasized in funding criteria,
  priorities and mechanisms
• Creation a Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) for
  Iraq with equal representation and involvement in
  strategic discussions
• Educating the donor community about GHP and
  advocating for transparent funding mechanisms
  based on needs
• Ensure UN funding mechanisms are transparent and
  involve partners in prioritization/ project
  selection

10
Challenges

• Partnership
• UN agencies perception of NGOs as contractors
  NGOs perception of the UN as a donor
• Security and access restrictions
• Building on capacity rather than prescribing what
  is needed
• Equal dialogue with partners on strategic issues
• Equality/Equity
• Implementation of behavioral change at HQ and
  field level

11
Challenges

• Result-oriented approach
• Political discourse often encroaches on
  humanitarian space and humanitarian priorities
• Complementarity
• International organizations access to local
  contacts due to security/ political reasons
• National/ local partners access to international
  funding channels