the “humanitarian system”
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The “Humanitarian System”. Objectives. To understand the complexity of the ‘humanitarian community’ To understand the principles and characteristics of humanitarian actors Identify UN humanitarian coordination mechanisms. Components of a Response. International Organizations (IOs) - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The “Humanitarian System”
Objectives
• To understand the complexity of the ‘humanitarian community’
• To understand the principles and characteristics of humanitarian actors
• Identify UN humanitarian coordination mechanisms
Components of a Response• International Organizations (IOs)
• UN humanitarian agencies/funds/ programmes• Regional Organizations• International Organization for Migration (IOM)
• Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)• The Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement• Donor Governments/Agencies (USAID/DfID, etc)• Affected Population• Host Nation Organizations/Agencies• International/Regional Financial Institutions• Business Community• General Public (public opinion/direct donations)
And when requested/needed…• UN/Coalition Military Forces
• Voluntary• IMPARTIALITY: Aid is given regardless of race, creed, or
nationality.
• NEUTRALITY: Aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint.
• Independence• Humanity• Unity• Universality
Guiding Humanitarian Principles
UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM OVERVIEW Principal UN Organs - Security Council - Int’l Court of Justice
- General Assembly - Secretariat - Economic and Social Council - Trusteeship Council
UN Agencies/Funds/Programs UN Departments - UNHCR (est. 1951) UN High Commissioner for Refugees
- DPKO Department of Peacekeeping Operations
- UNICEF (est. 1946) UN Children’s Fund
- DPA Department of Political Affairs
- WFP (est. 1961) World Food Programme
- DESA Department of Economic and Social Affairs
- UNDP (est. 1965) UN Development Programme
- DPI Department of Public Information
- WHO (est. 1948) World Health Organization
- OCHA Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
- UNHCHR (est. 1994) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
- EOSG Executive Office of the Secretary-General
- IAEA (est. 1957) International Atomic Energy Agency
- OLA Office of Legal Affairs
United Nations: Coordination• Integrated Mission Task Force (IMTF)
• HQ level: UN Agencies/Funds/Programs, Secretariat Departments• Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)• UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA)• Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC)• Relief web: http://www.reliefweb.int• Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP)
• UN Country Teams• UN Agencies, Funds, Programs in country
• UN Lead Agency• UN Humanitarian Coordinator
• Shepherds coordination process• UN Security Coordinator (UNSECOORD)
• Responsible for UN Staff Security in the field• Joint Logistics Centers (JLC)
• WFP led (Mozambique, AFG)• Humanitarian Information Centers
• Who’s Doing What Where? (Kosovo, AFG)
Humanitarian Logistics
origin warehouse beneficiaryUN NGO
Ad hoc and horizontal; situation/personality/funding dependent
Military assets will be LAST RESORT Able to take bigger risks Rely on commercial contracting
Transport Material Handling Equipment Storage
Delivery through distribution; chain of custody
The “NGO Community”• Broad Definition:
• Every organization in society which is not part of government, and which operates in civil society1
• Who they are…• Skilled professionals to volunteers (local and expatriate)
• Why they respond…• Humanitarian Principles and Geneva Conventions• Host nation agreement and/or CNN Effect• Some claim the “right” of intervention
• Diverse sizes/programmatic focus• International, regional, national or community (local) interests
• Implementing partners of UN/Donor agencies• UN Agencies/Red Cross are not NGOs!
1 Source: The Commonwealth Foundation, February,1996
NGO Typesno strict categories – often based on programmatic/regional focus
• Advocacy• Press international community for action on particular issues
• Development• knowledge of pre-existing disaster levels of basic service
• Disaster Relief• Attempt for programs/actions to be “Apolitical”• food/relief are “above the battle”
• Human Rights Organizations• - Speak out policy: Monitor actions of politicians, military, police, other
organizations, etc.
• Indigenous• Many are implementing partners for int’l NGOs• community level knowledge of actors and customs
NGO Strengths• Critical beneficiary-level work• Less bureaucratic/more cost-effective• Access to local knowledge• Neutrality essential to security
Source: Paula Hoy, Players and Issues in International Aid, 1998
NGOs Weaknesses• Not homogenous system• Lack of collaboration• Failure to see the ‘big picture’• Government $$ erodes independence• Can be perceived as threat to host nation
NGO funding sources
• Government Donors: Give with humanitarian objectives in mind but may be constrained by other political/policy issues
• USAID, AusAID, ECHO, Bi-lateral, etc• View NGOs as critical partners in aid delivery• Identify gaps in humanitarian response and target aid to fill gaps• Will have some form of accountability mechanism
• Implementing partners of UN Agencies• Foundations• Individuals/general public• Effect of donor fatigue and/or lack of strategic
interest on NGO operations?• COMPETITION FOR FUNDING
Major Government Donors to NGOs
• ECHO• European Community Humanitarian Office
• JICA• Japanese International Cooperation Agency
• AusAID• Australian Council for International Aid
• DfID• UK Department for International Development
• USAID• United States Agency for International Development
• CIDA• Canadian International Development Agency
NGO Coordination• VOLUNTARY• AS NEEDED• CONSENSUS AND PERSONALITY DRIVEN
• Strategic level coordination• IASC, InterAction, ACFOA, VOICE, etc.
• Tactical level, typically will coordinate around sectoral or functional areas, i.e.
• Health, Wat/San, Food/Nutrition, logistics, etc.
• Some by policy will not collaborate with uniformed/armed military
• NGOs may have own coordination mechanism separate from the UN.
Major Int’l NGOs in Emergencies• CARE
• World Vision
• Catholic Relief Services
• Save the Children
• International Medical Corps
• Médecins sans Frontières
• Doctors of the World
• World (IRISH) Concern
• Adventist Dev. & Relief Int.
• International Rescue Committee
• Joint Relief International
• Mercy Corps• Action Interational Contre la
Faim• Concern• World Relief• OXFAM• Lutheran World Relief• Refugees International• American Friends Service
Committee• International Aid• American Refugee Committee
SECTORS/FUNCTIONS:
• Food
• Non-Food Items (NFI)
• Shelter
• Health
• Nutrition
• Water & Sanitation
• Education
• Mine Action
REGIONS:
• Eastern
• Central East
• Central (Kabul)
• South
• West
• North
• North East
Humanitarian Coordination - AFG
December 01
UN MISSION IN TINDORO
HeadUN
AdministrationComponent
HeadHumanitarianComponent
Chief Military
ObserverComponent
HeadCivilianPolice
Component
Deputy SRSG
Special Representative of the
Secretary-General (SRSG)
HeadHumanRights
Component
UN Humanitarian Coordinationin Tindoro Region
• UN Humanitarian Coordinator• Reports to SRSG, no authority over UN Agencies/NGOs
• UN Humanitarian Operations Center (HOC)• Coordination focal point at national level for UN Agencies/participating
NGOs - HOBART & • COORDINATION STRICTLY VOLUNTARY
• UN Regional Coordination Offices• National Capitals (HOC located at this level)• Northern Border Region (Queensland)• Southern Border Region (Fingal)
• UN Joint Logistics Center (JLC)• Focal point for UN requests for civil-military defense assets• Can provide information on MSRs and logistics hubs
NGONGO
ICRCICRC
Affected Country Requirements
THE FOG OF RELIEF:THE FOG OF RELIEF:International Relationships During DisastersInternational Relationships During Disasters
DonorDonor
DONORDONOR
NGONGO
DONORDONOR
NGNGOO
NGONGO
NGONGO
UNHCRUNHCR
WFPWFP
Red Cross/Red Cross/CrescentCrescent
UNICEFUNICEF
Private Private DonorsDonors
NGONGOUN Coordination: UN Coordination: HOC, OSOCC, etc.HOC, OSOCC, etc.
INT’L
MIL
ITARY FORCES
CIMIC
, CM
OC, etc)
Civil-Military Relations
• ‘Cultural’ level• “tree-hugging” NGO with no discipline• “jar-head” soldier trying to control everything
• Professional level• different operating cultures and systems• different acronyms• different “end-states”
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NGO Training• RedR
• Security Management Workshops• Transport/Access in Emergencies• Site Selection and Planning
• People in Aid
• World Vision Security Training
• Individual organization training/recruitment policies• i.e. OXFAM GB: job applicants require
knowledge of Sphere Standards
Guidelines for Military Support
• Last resort – which means all civilian / humanitarian alternatives have been exhausted
• Unique capability – which means no appropriate civilian humanitarian resources exist which can do the task
• Timeliness – the urgency demands immediate action
• Clear humanitarian direction in the use of the assets
• See: Oslo Guidelines and UN Secretary-General’s Guidelines for Afghanistan
Coordination Considerations• Establish common AORs
• Establish liaison at all levels (strategic to tactical)
• Compatibility of communications
• Understand each other’s mission: Early agreement of roles (capabilities/constraints)
• Coordination is consensus driven; personalities important
• Civil-Military interface: level of representation often not as important as responsiveness
• Consider the “market prices” for translators, rent, etc.
• INFORMATION: Timeliness and accuracy…declassify information and push to the tactical level as early as possible
Selected NGO/Red Cross/Donor web sites
International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)www.icva.ch
InterActionwww.interaction.org
Voluntary Organizations in Cooperation in Emergencies (VOICE)www.oneworld.org/voice
Australian Council for Overseas Aid (ACFOA)www.acfoa.au
The Sphere Projectwww.sphereproject.org
International Committee of the Red Crosswww.icrc.org
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
US Agency for International Development (USAID)www.usaid.gov
European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO)www.europa.eu.int/comm/echo/en
Australian Government’s Overseas Aid Program (AUSAID)www.ausaid.au
Selected UN System web sitesHumanitarian Information Center - Afghanistan
www.hic.org.pk
United Nations Joint Logistics Centerwww.unjlc.org
Relief Web and UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Onlinewww.reliefweb.int
www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/
United Nations System Locatorwww.unsystem.org
United Nationswww.un.org
United Nations Children’s Fundwww.unicef.org
UN Development Programwww.undp.org
UN High Commissioner for Human Rightswww.unhchr.ch
UN High Commissioner for Refugeeswww.unhcr.ch
World Food Programwww.wfp.org
QUESTIONS