Contingency Planning

1
Contingency Planning

• Why is this issue important?
• The fundamental reason for contingency planning
  is to improve the quality of humanitarian
  response. Experience demonstrates that
  contingency planning can enhance the
  effectiveness, appropriateness and timeliness of
  response to emergencies. Planning in advance of
  an emergency allows participants time to think
  through and address some critical questions and
  solve problems in advance of an emergency
  response.
• The benefits of contingency planning
• Contingency planning provides an opportunity to
  focus on operational issues and identify
  constraints prior to the on-set of a crisis. For
  example, it provides opportunities to map the
  vulnerabilities of a potential target population,
  potential areas of rights violations, assess
  logistical infrastructure such as port or
  warehousing capacity, and assess coordination and
  institutional capacity.
• Contingency planning processes can help to
  reinforce coordination mechanisms by keeping them
  active and by clarifying roles and
  responsibilities before a crisis.
• An active contingency planning process enables
  individuals, teams, organisations to establish
  working relationships that can make a critical
  difference during a crisis. By working together
  in a contingency planning process, people develop
  a common understanding of common challenges, of
  each others capacities and organisational
  requirements. This helps facilitate effective
  collaboration in a crisis.
• What is expected of Cluster/Sector lead in the
  field?
• According to the Guidance Note on the cluster
  approach, cluster/sector leads at the field level
  must ensure adequate contingency planning and
  preparedness for new emergencies
• In practice cluster/sector leads at the field
  level must ensure
• i. agreed objectives, response strategies and
  action plans for the sector
• ii. that responses are in line with existing
  policy guidance, technical standards, and
  relevant Government human rights legal
  obligations
• iii. ensure that they are aligned with the
  activities of other cluster/sectors and that
  cross-sector/cluster issues are identified and
  acted upon

Tips and ResourcesIASC Cluster/Sector Leadership
Training
2
Contingency Planning

• What challenges will you face?
• A key challenge in any contingency planning
  process is generating and maintaining commitment
  and participation in the process from senior
  decision-makers and those at the working level
  within organizations.
• Keeping the process dynamic and up-to-date is
  another key challenge, too often contingency
  plans have been consigned to the shelf after
  the initial planning has been completed.
• To be truly effective contingency planning needs
  to be see as an ongoing process that is regularly
  reviewed and updated to ensure all participants
  are familiarized with their various roles and
  responsibilities and preparedness actions are
  undertaken.
• What can you do to promote effective contingency
  planning? Tips and practices.
• Where there are pre-existing inter-agency
  contingency planning processes, cluster/sector
  leads should familiarize themselves with there
  content and coordination mechanisms and ensure
  that cluster/sector participants are also fully
  briefed to avoid wasting time reinventing the
  wheel.
• Encourage active participation from members of
  the cluster/sector. The most constructive
  planning processes are those which actively
  engage agencies/organizations, encourage real
  problem-solving and result in useful plans that
  are owned by the participants.
• Ensure that organizations are committed to the
  contingency planning process from the outset and
  that the necessary resources, both human and
  financial, are provided and follow-up actions are
  taken. The success of contingency planning
  depends on a strong commitment of senior
  decision-makers from the agencies/organizations
  participating in the cluster/sector.
• Ensure the following questions are answered in
  the development of the cluster/sector contingency
  response plan
• What are the specific sector/cluster objectives?
• What common standards will be used to guide the
  response?
• What are the current capacities of the
  agencies/organization to respond?
• What are the gaps between the current response
  capacity and the scale of emergency anticipated?
• What initial assessment arrangements are needed?
• What information management mechanism will be
  required?

Tips and ResourcesIASC Cluster/Sector Leadership
Training
3
Contingency Planning

• Prioritize and implement preparedness actions.
  Contingency Planning should not be a theoretical
  exercise its main objective is to ensure that
  agencies/organizations develop a level of
  preparedness that is sufficient to respond to an
  anticipated emergency. Prioritizing and
  implementing preparedness actions, and monitoring
  agreed early warning indicators for developments
  that would trigger response, convert intentions
  into action. 
• Co-ordinate with government and other partners as
  required on measures required to enhance
  preparedness and response capacity
• Review and update the plan on a regular basis.
  The contingency planning process does not end
  with the production of a plan. The process must
  be continued and plans reviewed and updated on a
  regular basis. It is particularly important that
  the plan be thoroughly reviewed when there is a
  change in the situation or a change in the
  institutional environment such as a significant
  change in membership or leadership of the
  cluster/sector.
• Draw upon experienced staff from
  agencies/organization at the regional and global
  level as well as Global Cluster Leads for the
  necessary technical support required for
  contingency planning activities
• Conduct regular tests/simulations of the plan.
  Testing/simulation exercises are valuable in
  familiarizing those who will be involved in
  response with the coordination and response
  mechanism envisaged in the plan. They also help
  to test planning assumptions and response
  systems.
• Reference Material
• IASC Guidance Note on Using the Cluster Approach
  to Strengthen Humanitarian Response, and Generic
  Terms of Reference for Sector/Cluster Leads at
  the Country Level, 24 November 2006.
• IASC Contingency Planning Guidelines 2007 (still
  in draft and not yet approved by the IASC WG)
• Challenges and Suggestions for Enhancing
  Inter-Agency Contingency Planning Report of the
  1st Global Consultation of Contingency Planners
  in Humanitarian Agencies, July 2007.
• Richard Choularton, Contingency Planning and
  Humanitarian Action, ODI HPN No 59, March 2007.

Tips and ResourcesIASC Cluster/Sector Leadership
Training
Inter-cluster Coordinator, Philippines.