While both climate finance and humanitarian response aim to address the negative effects of climate change, they have different mechanisms and distinct forms of financing, resulting in poor coordination. Improving coordination between these two sectors is needed to help close the considerable funding gaps that exist for countries most affected by climate change. Join us for a webinar on 6 July, in which we will discuss how climate finance and humanitarian response can better work together to...

What is needed to move beyond consulting and listening to people affected by crises to ensure their representation and influence in decision-making forums? Join us on Tuesday, 13 December 2022, to explore how we can collectively build greater trust in our responses through genuine participation in decision-making processes. The IASC AAP Task Force has been exploring different elements of putting accountability to affected populations (AAP) into practice through a series of events over the...

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) includes commitments regarding “Loss and Damage” (L&D) – the impacts of climate change to which those least responsible for climate change are not able to adapt. Action to address L&D under the UNFCCC aims to enable countries to recover and develop after a crisis and address slow-onset impact, but also to compensate people for what they have lost. The concept of L&D is rooted in the principles of climate justice:...

Over the last few years, we have seen a significant increase in awareness by the humanitarian community of the impacts of the climate crisis and humanitarian engagement in UNFCCC processes. Following on COP26 in Glasgow last year, we saw a far greater presence of humanitarian actors, engaging and raising awareness of the impacts of climate change on the most vulnerable. However, ahead of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference or COP27, which will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh in November this...

Over the last decade, individual agencies, and the humanitarian sector as a whole, have made progress in becoming more accountable to people affected by crisis. However, we are still facing substantial challenges in meeting the commitments we have made to affected people. Fundamentally, we need to work with affected communities, multilateral agencies, NGOs, civil society organizations, governments, and donors, to address the asymmetry of power that currently defines the relationship between...

Drawing from the experience of the Collective Service, this session will show examples of how a collective approach to community engagement coordination can make a difference in the response in communities facing multiple threats and where the same partners respond simultaneously to public health, humanitarian and other emergencies. The session will share experiences of how social data has contributed (or not) to informing and shaping epidemics response, with focus on the response to...

Drawing on the outcomes of the discussions during the previous two sessions organized during the HNPW on Accountability to Affected Populations, this high-level session will focus on the key actions required from humanitarian leadership to make AAP a reality and to "address the asymmetry of power that currently defines the relationship between humanitarian agencies and affected people" as stated in the recent IASC Principals’ statement on AAP. Read more about the session on...

While there are still few examples of complaints and feedback mechanisms that systematically capture the views and feedback from affected people, ensure they inform decision-making, and close the “feedback loop,” progress is being made. Drawing from a few country examples, this session will be an opportunity to look at some of the existing good practices for collective and standardized complaints and feedback mechanisms, including data standardization initiatives, feedback logbooks, and...

The session will draw from a few contexts which have started the implementation of IASC AAP tools such as the AAP framework and the results tracker. It will focus on how they are contextualizing and operationalizing these tools and how this is contributing to advancing collective accountability at country level. Read more at https://phap.org/3may2022

Commitment #4 of the Climate and Environment Charter encourages organisations to better understand climate and environmental risks to calibrate responses adequately. Meteorological data and local and indigenous knowledge about patterns of variability should be used to provide risk analyses that are comprehensive, reliable, and relevant. In many places where humanitarian organizations work, relevant data can be scarce or unreliable, and collaboration across the humanitarian sector and beyond...

On 17 March, ICVA and PHAP will organize the next session of the Learning Stream on Climate Change and Humanitarian Action, exploring Commitment #3 of the Climate and Environment Charter. Commitment #3 aims to embrace the leadership of local actors and communities by learning from traditional and indigenous knowledge on mitigation and adaptation measures, including nature-based solutions. In turn, we also need to support local communities and actors to be better prepared to face the impacts...

As humanitarian actors are working towards reducing their environmental impact, it’s important to understand what tools are being developed and what initiatives are underway that can serve as a model for other organizations. Join us on 3 February for the next session of the Learning Stream on Climate Change and Humanitarian Action to learn more about how some of these may be useful for your work. In our previous webinar, we gave an overview of how organizations can develop and implement...

It has long been recognized that affected people must play an active role in decisions that affect their lives. Yet recent evaluations show that this is an area where the humanitarian sector is still lagging behind. There are few examples of systems that systematically capture the views and feedback from affected people, ensure they inform decision-making, and close the “feedback loop.” Many are not handling reports of sexual exploitation, abuse, and harassment appropriately, risking...

Commitment 2 of the Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organizations, in line with the principle of “Do No Harm,” calls on us to “avoid, minimize and manage the damage we cause to the environment and the climate, while maintaining our ability to provide timely and principled humanitarian assistance”. More and more, organisations are looking into how to implement sound environmental policies and start systematically assessing the immediate and long-term environmental impact of...

The COVID-19 response, like any other public health emergency, has required a focus on communication around associated risks and the promotion of healthy behaviors. However, in humanitarian settings, accountability and inclusion principles have been central to shaping this response. This webinar will explore lessons around Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) from the COVID-19 response and decades of practical experiences around accountability in the humanitarian sector and how...

We are already witnessing how climate and environmental crises disproportionately impact communities in vulnerable contexts and situations, and regardless of what we do, these impacts will not disappear overnight. Commitment #1 of the Climate and Environment Charter calls on us to “Step up our response to growing humanitarian needs and help people to adapt to impacts of the climate and environmental crises.” It focuses on how we use climate change adaptation (CCA), disaster risk reduction...

The recently launched Climate and Environment Charter for Humanitarian Organisations sends a clear signal that humanitarian organizations have a key role to play in addressing crises faced by communities due to the climate and environmental crises. We must be a part of the solution by helping people adapt to a changing climate and environment, while also increasing our own environmental sustainability. This needs to be a collective endeavor, as it is clear that no organization can tackle this...

Accountability to affected populations (AAP) is an essential part of good humanitarian programming. But while some organizations may integrate it well into their own operations, people do not live in silos and their needs and priorities regularly cut across different programs and as a result, they are often faced with confusing and overlapping feedback and engagement systems. Collective approaches to AAP seek to address this by focusing on the overall humanitarian response and putting people...

Risk management practices are playing an increasingly important role in partner selection and engagement when NGOs receive funding from UN agencies or government donors. On June 10, ICVA and PHAP organized a webinar, as part of the Learning Series on Risk Management in Practice, where we examined the role of risk management in good funding partnerships as NGOs engage with external funders. For funders of humanitarian programming of NGOs, risk management is playing an increasing role in both...

Partnerships between international organizations and local actors are key for the delivery of principled humanitarian aid. While progress has been made through the Principles of Partnership, much more is needed to implement these principles. This is particularly true for applying the humanitarian principles in conflict contexts – the delivery of principled humanitarian aid is a challenging endeavour in these settings that requires continuous attention. In the second half of 2020, two...

In this webinar, the second of a two-part series exploring existing efforts to improve the safety of civilians during armed conflict, we will be discussing “secondary” prevention programs, in particular those focusing on strengthening communities in conflict-affected areas to reduce the risk of harm and mitigate the effects of armed conflict on civilian populations. We will hear from NGOs active in situations of armed conflict around the word about how they approach building capacity for...

In this first of two webinars exploring existing efforts to improve the safety of civilians during armed conflict, we will be discussing “primary” prevention programs, which focus on advocacy, armed actor behavior change, and direct engagement with armed actors, either by the humanitarian organization or by facilitating this engagement by communities. We will hear from civil society organizations and UN agencies about their approaches to primary prevention – what the main considerations are...

Statelessness, the situation where a person is not recognized by any State as a citizen, has devastating impacts on millions of people around the world. 4.2 million people were known to be stateless as of mid-2020, but with just 76 countries included in data reported by UNHCR, the actual number is likely to be much higher. Statelessness deprives women and men, girls, and boys the right to enjoy basic rights that citizens may take for granted – the right to a legal identity, to move across...