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