Utilize coherent approaches, conflict analysis and conflict-sensitivity assessments
- Where this is not already happening, conflict analysis and conflict-sensitivity assessments need to incorporate political-economy analyses, including local and regional assessments. In preparing the analysis for HCTs and the drafting of HRPs, HCs should routinely commission work on the political economy of different regions of a country and draw on the knowledge and perspectives of peacebuilding and development actors, as well as local partners, to identify potential conflict-sensitivity risks. Responsibility of: HCs and HCTs.
- To strengthen and distribute conflict analysis, humanitarian organizations can develop more effective information-sharing mechanisms between organizations. Managers must confront any tendency towards secrecy that encourages competition and replace it with a culture of openness and mutual support. Responsibility of: Executive heads of IASC agencies, donors, HCs, HCTs, all humanitarian organizations, including local NGOs for implementation.
- Joint operating principles (JOPs) and operational ground rules will look different in every context, but essential principles for the development and implementation of JOPs should include:
- The participation of local political and military authorities in the area;
- The participation of all UN and Red Cross and Red Crescent entities, as well as international and local NGOs active in the area;
- Agreement among participants on a chair or facilitator to oversee the negotiations;
- Signed agreement to the JOPs by all participants, at both local and HQ level, to ensure that local managers will not be required by their head office to implement projects that do not fall within the scope of the agreed JOPs;
- An agreed schedule of reviews; and
- An agreed dispute resolution mechanism.
Responsibility of: Executive heads of IASC agencies, HCs, HCTs, all humanitarian organizations, including local NGOs.
2. Increase funding to local NGOs and review the role of humanitarian principles
- To meet their commitments under the Grand Bargain and to strengthen local response capacity, donors should substantially increase their support to local NGOs through pooled-fund mechanisms. Where such mechanisms are not in place, donors should work with OCHA and other providers of pooled-fund mechanisms to set them up and agree targets for increasing the proportion of funding channelled to local organizations. Responsibility of: Donors, OCHA and other providers of pooled funding, HCs, HCTs and local NGOs.
- Donors should also review the terms of their funding agreements to ensure that they do not inadvertently permit local managers of UN or international NGO agencies to cite the humanitarian principles as a reason for disqualifying local NGOs from funding support. Responsibility of: Donors, OCHA and local NGOs.
- Blanket policies requiring that all organizations in receipt of funding must operate in accordance with all of the humanitarian principles will negatively impact the work of donors. Instead, policies and requirements should reflect each context. Donors should work together and with the ERC to elaborate appropriate policies for each conflict situation. Responsibility of: Donors and the ERC.
3. Reform recruitment and training practices of humanitarian organizations
- Training specific to the challenges of operating in accordance with humanitarian principles in different contexts will ensure that the personnel of humanitarian organizations are prepared. Specialist training organizations could develop programmes of political, social, cultural and language training for international staff being deployed to specific field posts. Just as security training is a precondition for field deployment, contextual training should also be required. Training programmes should be evaluated annually to ensure effective uptake by staff and to refine the materials. Responsibility of: All humanitarian organizations, training providers
and donors.
- Improving institutional memory is a crucial goal for humanitarian organizations. A comprehensive review is needed of policies covering the destruction of files and archives after a pre-determined passage of time. Major organizations should invest in digital archiving of materials and develop policies of openness to reputable researchers and universities, to ensure that lessons from earlier experiences are not lost. Responsibility of: All humanitarian organizations.
- Humanitarian organizations also need to review their staff management processes and practices to identify systemic problems and to ensure, for example, that their recruitment of local personnel does not lead to bias in their operations, through the employment of candidates from only one ethnicity or political faction. Responsibility of: Executive heads of IASC agencies for policy guidance. All humanitarian organizations for implementation, with support of donors.
4. Clarify the roles and responsibilities of humanitarian leadership
- To minimize the risks of confusion and maximize the chances of benefitting from a coherent approach, there needs to be greater clarity on the roles of different entities within the UN system and how they should work together in strategic coordination to ensure maximum impact. The restoration of the management reporting lines between the HC, the deputy HC and OCHA’s head of office should strengthen the role of the HC. Responsibility of: The ERC, OCHA, UNHCR.
5. Adopt a triple-nexus approach
- Where indicated by the conflict analysis, HCs and HCTs in all contexts of ongoing armed conflict should incorporate the results of consultations with peace and development actors and local partners in the framework of a triple-nexus approach. This is a key component of an HRP that should be reviewed annually, and the results reported to the IASC and donors. Responsibility of: Executive heads of IASC agencies for policy guidance. HCs and HCTs, with support of peace and development partners for implementation.
