1 | Cash Steering Committee Meeting, 7 April 2015

CASH STEERING COMMITTEE MEETING

Room 530 YIAS, RCBC Tower 2, Makati City

7 April 2015

MINUTES OF MEETING

Attendees:

1 | Cash Steering Committee Meeting, 7 April 2015

  1. DyanArmie Rodriguez, ACF
  2. Tess Bayombong, CARE
  3. Nicola XXX, Save the Children
  4. Augusto Rodriguez, UNICEF
  5. Wadel S. Cabrera III, CALP
  6. Demos Militante
  7. Fe Kagahastian
  8. ArnelLimpiada, Oxfam
  9. Eileen Tufay, WFP
  10. Agnes T. Palacio, OCHA
  11. Mayen N. Olmedo, OCHA

1 | Cash Steering Committee Meeting, 7 April 2015

Agenda:

  1. Action Points from CWG Meeting:
  2. Approved TOR of the Steering Committee
  3. CWG TOR
  4. Membership Form for CWG
  5. Approved Priority Preparedness Activities 2015
  6. Workplan: Task teams, deliverables and timeline: based on items 1.4.1 to 1.4.4
  7. Information Management:
  8. Proposed cash reporting categories
  9. Humanitarian ID: for information
  10. Proposed Learning Session (to be included on the next CWG meeting)
  11. Introduction to Humanitarian Principles
  12. Request CALP for possible learning session/module
  13. Any Other Business (AOB)
  14. Chairing of Steering Committee meetings
  15. CWG Web Page to be linked with CALP
  16. Updates on ERPWG
  17. Review and Inputs to RDANA Form
  18. Meeting with BSP, Mercy Corps and OCHA

The meeting was chaired by UNICEF, through Tito Rodriguez.

Discussions and Agreements:

  1. Action points from CWG Meeting (24 March)

1.1The TORof the Steering Committee was approved by the CWG on March 24 with additional provisions. Meeting quorum is set at 50% plus 1 in attendance (either in person or video conference). In cases of voting, majority vote is determined at 2/3 of the attendees (in person or through video-conferencing), excluding those who abstain.Final version is attached.

1.2The TOR of the CWG was presented. Among the recommended additions are: 1) As part of CWG roles and responsibilities: the CWG will, when necessary, do external engagements and advocacy with government agencies and other partners to advance CTP implementation. 2) Add provision on determining quorum and majority vote, which is the same as the afore-mentioned provisions in the Steering Committee TOR.

The CWG was requested to send in additional inputs until March 31. No inputs were received; therefore, the TOR for the CWG is finalized. Final version is attached.

1.3As discussed during the CWG, a membership form shall be circulated to be completed by members. This will signify the agencies’ commitment as members of the CWG. The membership, through the completion of the form, will likewise determine the actual members, most likely quorum during meetingsand basis for voting/ agreements and decision making.

The committee agreed that the form will be for In-Country membership only. It is expected that should there be a huge emergency, the membership will expand but this will only be for a short period and will go back to its original number when emergency phase is stabilized. A short guide and purpose will be included in the form for reference and filling outprocedures. .Please see attached form.

1.4Approved Priority Preparedness Activities 2015:

1.4.1.The CWG approved the proposed preparedness activities for 2015. An additional activity was recommended. This was on harmonizing beneficiary targeting. Since DSWD has its 4Ps program, which was used as basis for some agencies (such as WFP and UNICEF), there is also a need to target beneficiaries that may not be necessarily under the 4Ps.

Action point: The suggested lead for this is either World Vision or PRC. OCHA will contact them for confirmation. UNICEF signified intent to be a member of this task team.

1.4.2.TOR – finalized during the last CWG meeting. Discussed earlier in the meeting

Action point: Circulate final versions of the TOR of Steering Committee and CWG.

1.4.3.Formulation of MOU template with FSPs.

Action point: Oxfam will lead the task team for coming up with the MOU template.

1.4.4.Development of market assessment tool. The proposed lead for Market Assessment Tool is WFP. TBC as Eileen will be on maternity leave in May. On another note, it was discussed that it would be good to conduct an EMMA (Emergency Markets Mapping and Analysis) training particularly for DTI, being the government agency that leads in commodity price regulations. DTI will be advised to request this training from WFP for possible funding.

Action points: WFP to confirm taking the lead for this task team, together with DTI. OCHA will meet with DTI to discuss the following: 1) request co-leadership of this particular task team, 2) inquire about DTI’s interest to be a member of the committee; 3) discuss EMMA training.

1.4.5.Firming up of information management (IM). Among the IM-related priorities are mapping of FSPs and streamlining of CTP reporting.

Action point: OCHA will take the lead for this task team.

Other agreements:

-Steering committee members are welcome to join whichever task team based on their interest or they see themselves fit. Other agencies (within the steering group) may be invited to join the task teams, as deemed necessary. Individual task teams will present about their progress during the next committee meeting.

-Membership to the task teams and to the steering committee as a whole by government agencies (e.g. DSWD, DTI, DOLE, etc.) is most welcome. However, the committee agreed that it will be presented to these agencies and they will be left to decide if they would want to commit to working in the steering committee. Separate/ bilateral meetings will be set to discuss this. OCHA will arrange meetings with DTI and DOLE. UNICEF will arrange the meeting with DSWD.

  1. Information Management

-A matrix for reporting CTP through the 3Ws was presented (please see attached). Based on previous reporting of CTP during Haiyan response, agencies used different terminologies which made it difficult to classify and capture CTP contribution into individual clusters. There is a recognized need to organize reporting and set standard terminologies so that even if there are new entrants, CTP reporting can still be facilitated in a uniform manner. The committee agreed, therefore, that presented matrix will be improved with a narrative portion and will serve as a guide/ fact sheet for reporting. This will be presented next meeting.

-As FYI, the Humanitarian ID was presented. It was explained that the Humanitarian ID intends to have an effective coordination for response by having an updated contact list and to know the humanitarian workers still within the response or have already left for better communication exchange.

  1. Proposed Learning Session for next CWG Meeting

-CALP initiated an evaluation of Cash Coordination during Typhoon Haiyan response. There is a global presentation to be held in Geneva. The same learning event/ presentation can be done at the country level, through the CWG. The committee agreed to request CALP to present the results of the study on the next CWG meeting. Wadel is the point person for this.

-Recognizing that not all members in the CWG are familiar with the humanitarian principles and coordination architecture between the HCT (Humanitarian Country Team) and Philippine Government, a session on these was proposed. The introduction to humanitarian principles is part of the IASC (Inter Agency Standing Committee) Preparedness Guidelines. OCHA is the point person for this.

-UNICEF also signified its interest to share lessons learned exercise results and other assessment results for reference of the CWG members.

  1. AOB

-Chairing of Steering Committee meetings: It is recognized that the tasks and activities undertaken by the Steering Committee are quite extensive and need considerable attention. Rather than monthly rotational chairing of the committee, it was suggested that the period would be 3 months per chair; this is to enable the tasked agency to chair one CWG meeting (which is scheduled every 3 months). This would provide consistency in leadership and the assigned chair will have enough time to deliver outputs. Therefore, UNICEF will chair the Steering Com for the next two months and chair the CWG in June.

-The body was updated that CALP has allocated a page for the Philippines CWG.Documents, announcements and links can be uploaded. This is intended to present the efforts of the CWG at the country level as well as be a venue to exchange information and learnings. This website hosts a forum for CTP practitioners globally. This section provided by CALP can also be linked with the humanitarianresponse.info website maintained by OCHA that also showcases CWG and other CTP related initiatives.

-OCHA presented a backgrounder on the Emergency Response Preparedness Working Group (ERPWG). Following the declaration of the Philippine Government that humanitarian phase is over[1], the IASC clusters were inactivated. In the absence of an active Inter-Cluster Coordination, the ERPWG is the venue to take on preparedness activities under the supervision of the HCT. The ERPWG summarizes/consolidates the preparedness initiatives of the different thematic working groups such as the CWG. Under the IASC guidelines on ERP, there are set of actions called Minimum Preparedness Actions and Advanced Preparedness Actions (APA) that need to be followed. There is a checklist for both actions wherein actions related to cash are explicitly mentioned. It was agreed that OCHA will share the IASC Guidelines on the Emergency Response Preparedness with the committee members.

-OCHApresented about the assessment process of the government where the humanitarian clusters/agencies join in (when invited). Within 72 hours of an emergency, the Rapid Disaster Assessment and Needs Analysis (RDANA) is undertaken. The government is open to conducting a joint assessment as long as their form is used. Correspondingly, OCD has issued a guidebook for the RDANA. During a meeting between OCHA and OCD, the latter mentioned that we (humanitarian community) can provide inputs to the RDANA to help in changing the mind set of government in relation to assessments. In relation to cash, the committee agreed to review the form and come up with CTP-related questions (preferably limited to 1 or 2 only) that need to be answered in the context of the first 72 hours of a disaster. The RDANA form will be circulated by OCHA.

-OCHA gave an update about the upcoming meeting with the BangkoSentralngPilipinas (BSP). Mercy Corps is closing its office operations in the Philippines. Before the closure, Mercy Corps is helping to link OCHA (representing the CWG) with the BSP. The preparatory meeting between Mercy Corps and OCHA is set on April 8, 10am. The meeting with BSP is set on April 14.

The purpose of the meeting with BSP is to 1) Explore possible of sharing and exchanging information, up to the extent possible with the protocols of BSP, to expedite mapping of FSPs and get information about FSPs. The FSPs normally submit updated profiles to BSP and this can be used for the mapping initiative of the CWG (if allowable); 2) Request BSP to require information from FSPs that are needed for FSP directory.

UNICEF also suggested to include in the discussions on the relaxation of KYC (know your customer) during emergencies.

Action point: OCHA will provide updates about the meeting wih BSP during the next meeting.

The next Steering Committee meeting is set on May 5 (Tuesday), at 1pm. Venue will be announced by UNICEF later.

[1]In relation to Typhoon Haiyan Response