Mechanisms needed to institutionalize localized

responses of humanitarian assistance during conflicts.

By Minani Lepodegard.
Kampala International University
College of High Degrees and Research
CEO and Founder of Community Linkage Uganda
E mail: mileodegard@yahoo.ca
Tel.: +256775048575

Invitation: Online discussion for Latin

America & the Caribbean starts today
Monday, March 16, 2015 9:20 AM
From:
"World Humanitarian Summit" <support@whsummit.org>
To:
mileodegard@yahoo.ca

Add your voice - Suma tu voz

>> Leer este mensaje en Espaol

You are invited to participate in an online consultation to gather your

ideas and recommendations on how to keep humanitarian action fit for
future crises. The discussion will inform the World Humanitarian Summit
Regional Consultation Meeting for the Latin America and the Caribbean
(LAC) region taking place in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on 3-5 May 2015.

The online discussion runs from 16 March - 3 April 2015. The discussion is
co-chaired by Iigo Barrena, IFRC Pan-American Disaster Response Unit
(PADRU) and moderated by Jeremy Collymore, University of the West
Indies, Simone Lucatello, Mora Institute, Mexico and Enrique Torrella
Raymond, Norwegian Refugee Council, Panama.

To participate, visit our website: www.whsummit.org/whs_lac and post

your response to the discussion questions:
1. Humanitarian Effectiveness: What are mechanisms needed to
institutionalize localized responses of humanitarian assistance during
conflicts?
2. Reducing Vulnerability and Managing Risk: What may be the
major threats and challenges faced in the future and what are the

implications of this for humanitarian preparedness and response in

the region?
3. Transformation through Innovation: What does innovation mean
in the context of humanitarian action in the LAC region? Where can
innovations help improve humanitarian action?
4. Displacement and Violence: What are the obstacles that
humanitarian organizations face in order to accomplish their mission
in the context of violence due to organized crime and gangs? How
can we provide humanitarian assistance in this context?

Join the Online Consultations

Responses are welcomed in Spanish, English, French or any of the 60+

languages supported by our Google translate tool. If you can't access the
discussions online, please email your comments to the moderators at:
lac@whsummit.org.

Now is your chance to speak out, be bold, and tell the world what you think
needs to change to improve humanitarian action.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
The World Humanitarian Summit Online Consultation Team

The humanitarian sector has grown dramatically over the last years. The
increasing number and variety of actors active in this field poses a growing
challenge in terms of the institutionalization of local response and the quality
of the assistance provided. A lack of coordination can lead to inappropriate and
rushed projects as well as unresponsive projects. The majority of local actors
have only limited access to international coordination mechanisms. Their
integration in the international relief system is inappropriate. A major goal
should be to enable local structures, including civil society actors, to respond
to disasters in the most effective and appropriate manner possible. In response
to this, some mechanisms should be considered for institutionalizing localized
responses, as some are mentioned below;

Representative consultation

Local marginalized and acutely vulnerable sectors of an affected population

(women, children, people with disabilities, ethnic and religious minorities, and
others) are excluded from critical design and testing decisions that will affect
them. Outcomes may exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.
In the process of institutionalizing local input in the humanitarian assistance
plan, we should ensure that those consulted in the beginning of the entire
process, represent all sectors of the affected population, particularly those
subject to marginalization or for whom the project may have unique impacts.
Consult and work closely with a range of local partners from different sectors to
ensure an adequate portrayal of needs, context, and risk. But dont forget to
build in safeguards to mitigate risks.

Private Sector Engagement

Over the past decade, faced with growing resource constraints, humanitarian
agencies have held high hopes for contributions from the private sector,
particularly the business community. Initially seen simply as an alternative
source of funding, since about 2010 the private sector has been acknowledged
4

as playing other roles, most notably in product and process humanitarian

assistance in form of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It has also been
increasingly recognized as operating at various scales, from multi-national
corporations to national companies to small businesses created by locals. A
variety of motives and modes of engagement characterize private sector
involvement in humanitarian assistance, such as philanthropic contributions
from foundations or individuals initiatives that connect humanitarianism to
brand or to existing humanitarian assistance. Some private sector actors are
motivated by the opportunity to develop solutions that, if proven to work in a
disaster, could be disseminated globally. In addition, with globalization comes
the recognition that a companys bottom line is linked to the risks and
vulnerabilities of their offices, supply chains and staff, and that an effective
humanitarian response is also in their interest. In addition, a growing number
of social entrepreneurs illustrate the potential for this kind of humanitarian
enterprise. Meanwhile, larger corporations such as Deloitte, Ericsson, and
IKEA (through the Ikea Foundation) are providing humanitarian goods and
services in the name of corporate social responsibility. The presence of the
corporation in a local area should be institutionalized for humanitarian
assistance.
While many humanitarian actors are drawn to the funding and know-how that
the private sector offers, some remain hesitant about whether a profit motive
compromises the ability to uphold humanitarian principles and to operate in
the most resource-scarce conditions. Furthermore, across the humanitarian
system, more systematic research on the role of the business sector is needed.

Local Technology Adoption

The humanitarian assistance trend builds upon earlier and parallel debates on
the potential for technology to strengthen emergency response. In just one
example of the transformative potential of technology, local cellular phones
have provided a new platform for needs assessment and feedback mechanisms
5

for affected people. While only 4 per cent of households in Sub-Saharan Africa
have Internet connections, for example, cell phone penetration is at 75 per cent
in Africa as of 2012, and is expected to reach 97 per cent by 2017. New
technology-based tools and volunteer and technical communities, such as
Crisis Mappers, are available to respond to emergencies like the 2010 Haitian
earthquake and 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, further stimulating
this debate. Prominent examples of humanitarian technology include GPSenabled mapping systems for response coordination, social media analysis to
conduct damage assessments, use of dedicated hashtags on Twitter to
coordinate rescues and relief, and mobile phone-enabled funds transfers in the
aftermath of crises.

Independence

The autonomy of humanitarian objectives from the local political, military or

other objectives pursued by any actor within the areas experiencing a
humanitarian response. Despite wide-spread acceptance of these principles,
their practicability has become a matter of frequent dispute. Often, reality
appears to be so complex that such basic
principles might seem blurred by the context of the situations in which NGOs
and other actors find themselves. Especially complex crises and violent
conflicts have proven to be contexts in which those principles are challenged.
Nevertheless, they constitute a fundamental framework to and set of guidelines
for all undertakings of humanitarian assistance. They should be followed in
every phase of project planning and implementation.

Equity assistance provision.

Humanitarian assistance is given regardless of the race, creed or nationality of

the recipients and without adverse distinction of any kind. Aid priorities are
calculated on the basis of need alone. Wherever possible, humanitarians will
6

base the provision of relief aid upon a thorough assessment of the needs of the
disaster victims and the local capacities already in place to meet those needs.
Human suffering must be alleviated whenever it is found; life is as precious in
one part of a country as another. Thus, provision of aid will reflect the degree of
suffering it seeks to alleviate. In implementing this approach, there is a need to
recognize the crucial role played by local women in disaster prone communities
and ensure that this role is supported, not diminished.