REFERENCE MODULE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE

HUMANITARIAN PROGRAMME CYCLE

Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC)

50

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Will add page numbers when final

Introduction

Humanitarian Programme Cycle enablers:

1. Coordination…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2. Information Management…………………………………………………………………………………

3. Preparedness

The Humanitarian Programme Cycle:

4. Coordinated Assessments and Needs Analysis

5. Strategic Planning

6. Resource Mobilisation

7. Implementation & Monitoring…………………………………………………………………………..

8. Operational Peer Review……………………………………………………………………………………

9. Evaluation .

Annexes

Acronyms and Abbreviations……………………………………………………………………………………


INTRODUCTION

This ‘Humanitarian Programme Cycle Reference Module’ is a practical guide for managers of humanitarian response operations. While the Module has been developed by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), it is intended to be accessible to all humanitarian actors and practitioners. The Module presents the key components of the Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC) and sets out how they should fit together and build on one another. The Module is applicable to all types of humanitarian response operations[1] and it will be updated periodically as required. For specialists who require more detailed information on any particular part of the HPC, each section provides references to where technical guidance and support can be found.

What is the Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC)?

The overall purpose of the HPC is to deliver a fast, coordinated, effective and protection-driven response to people affected by humanitarian crises. The HPC is a coordinated series of actions undertaken to prepare for, manage and deliver humanitarian response. The focus of this Module is primarily on the HPC in the context of multilateral humanitarian response operations - in support of the national and local response – but again, the approach is intended to be accessible to all humanitarian actors.

It is well recognised that in emergency situations and crises, initial lifesaving operations will likely be led by affected communities, local actors, authorities or other organisations, agencies or institutions that have already been active in the affected area. Often humanitarian and development actors, including local civil society, local and international NGOs, and the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, have long-established relationships with the affected communities. The HPC – beginning with a coordinated assessment – should build on this initial response and draw on information already gathered. Strategic planning should also acknowledge the existing capacities of first-line responders.

The HPC generally involves the following actions:

What actions are taken in the HPC?

  1. Timely, coordinated assessments and analysis identify the needs of affected people and provide the evidence base for planning the response;
  2. The Resident/Humanitarian/Senior Coordinator and country team[2] use the analysis from the

needs assessments to develop and publish a joint ‘Strategic Statement’ and ‘Strategic

Response Plan’ which sets out clear strategic objectives and a plan of action for the response;

  1. Funding and other resources are mobilized for the response based on and in support of the Strategic Response Plan which is also reflected in sector/cluster response plans;
  2. Sectors/clusters implement the Plan, providing assistance and protection to affected people;
  3. Regular monitoring of agreed output and outcome indicators and the tracking of financial information informs on-going decision-making and demonstrates results. It also contributes to greater transparency and accountability, both within the system and to affected people;
  4. Operational Peer Review provides an opportunity to conduct an internal assessment of the response and make adjustments in real-time to ensure it meets objectives;
  5. Evaluation of the quality of the response by independent experts enables lessons to be learned to improve the response and future humanitarian operations.

HPC Enablers

Successful implementation of the HPC depends on some key ‘enablers’ which run throughout the cycle:

1.  Effective emergency preparedness, including building partnerships in advance of a humanitarian crisis so that, much of the ‘ground-work’ for effective coordination of the response has already been done;

2.  Good coordination with national and local authorities and humanitarian actors to ensure each aspect of the HPC is applied as part of a joint effort which uses the resources and capacities available to the best effect;

3.  Information management which plays a crucial support role for individual components of the HPC and helps link them all together.

[perhaps diagram should have a page to itself to be clearer]

While none of the components of the HPC described in this Module are ‘new’, there has recently been renewed focus on (1) ensuring there is standardization across the component parts of the HPC, with humanitarian actors using common approaches and tools, and (2) ensuring the HPC is coordinated/managed in a seamless manner, with one step logically leading to and building on the next in the cycle. It is hoped that this Module will assist in achieving these goals.

A principled approach

Each component of the HPC should be implemented in a way which adheres to and promotes well-established principles, standards and codes of conduct for humanitarian action. These include (but are not limited to):

·  The Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief;

·  The humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence;

·  The use of a protection lens to ensure that all humanitarian action is designed to achieve protection outcomes;

·  The Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Humanitarian Response elaborated by the Sphere Project;

·  The Principles of Partnership;

·  The Principles and Good Practice of Humanitarian Donorship.

Humanitarian actors should also ensure the following factors are central to each aspect of the HPC and programme design and delivery:

·  Accountability to affected populations; [to be elaborated upon]

·  The integration of cross-cutting issues[3]; [to be elaborated upon, see footnote]

·  Early recovery and resilience; [to be elaborated upon]

·  Working with development actors to ensure long-term sustainability. [to be elaborated upon]

Note on Terminology

In order to keep the text as concise as possible, some terms are used as a ‘short-form’ intended to cover a range of variations on the theme. For example:

·  Humanitarian Country Team (HCT): in many circumstances, especially in the ‘preparedness’ phase, there may not be an HCT in place and coordination of humanitarian action may be taking place through a range of different mechanisms. When used in the text, the term HCT should be taken to also refer to any senior humanitarian team which has been brought together to coordinate the multilateral response;

·  Clusters: this term is used to describe sectoral coordination under the ‘cluster approach’ which was brought in as part of an effort to reform humanitarian response (from 2005). Throughout the text, an effort has been made to use both the term ‘sector’ and ‘cluster’ but where this has not been possible, the term ‘cluster’ should be taken to also refer to any form of sectoral coordination mechanism in place;

·  Humanitarian Coordinator (HC): should be taken to also refer to ‘Resident Coordinators’ (RCs) and any other Senior Emergency Coordinators tasked with leading the international humanitarian response in support of the national response (although it is recognised that HCs and RC have specific mandates and responsibilities).

Enablers for the Humanitarian

Programme Cycle

1. COORDINATION

What is coordination in this context?

Good coordination enables humanitarian actors to work together to more effectively respond to the needs of people affected by crises. It ensures multilateral humanitarian actors organize themselves in support of the national response as a system, rather than as a series of disjointed, separate organisations with their own priorities and timetables. Moreover, good coordination makes ‘the multilateral humanitarian system’ more predictable, transparent and understandable for local and national actors.

How does coordination support the HPC?

Without good coordination, the HPC cannot be managed efficiently or effectively. Coordination enables humanitarian actors to jointly assess and prioritize the needs of affected people and to respond to those needs as part of a single strategy. This ensures that increasingly scarce resources are maximized to address gaps and avoid duplication.

Where does coordination happen?

Coordination takes place at the HC/HCT level, between and within sectors, and between the HC/HCT and the sectoral level. It can therefore be seen as 3-dimensional:

At the HC/HCT level: The HCT is led by the HC, supported by OCHA[4], and comprises senior representatives of Cluster Lead Agencies, the UN, NGOs, and any other key operational partners in the country[5]. It is through coordination in this decision-making forum that the Strategic Response Plan is developed (see section 5) and the multilateral humanitarian response operation is led.

Between and within sectors: Inter-sector/cluster coordination can take many different forms, depending on the particular needs in-country. In most cases though, the HC/HCT will ask OCHA[6] to facilitate inter-cluster coordination between the Sector/Cluster Coordinators and other relevant national and international operational actors and cross-cutting issue representatives, to coordinate implementation of the HPC. Sector/Cluster Coordinators are then responsible for coordinating the work of actors within their respective sectors.

Between the two: It is absolutely essential that the HC/HCT interacts with the inter- sectoral level and vice versa, so that the strategic direction of the response is continuously informed by the realities on the ground (through the work of sector/cluster partners) and the work of sectors/clusters contributes to developing and fulfilling the Strategic Response Plan agreed by the HC/HCT. Communication between Cluster Coordinators/cluster members and their respective HCT representatives is essential to this process and as a facilitator of inter-cluster coordination, OCHA is also responsible for ensuring that the HCT and the sectors/clusters are working well together. The Protection Cluster supports the HC/HCT in ensuring that protection is fundamental to all parts of the humanitarian response.

What needs to be done, how and by whom?

At the HC/HCT level: The HC should establish and maintain a well-functioning, action-oriented HCT to coordinate and lead the multilateral response[7]. The HC should encourage HCT members to consistently represent the views of their wider constituencies.

The HC/HCT should decide on the most appropriate and streamlined coordination arrangements for the particular context, i.e. which sectors/clusters should be activated and what type of inter-cluster coordination is needed at both the national and sub-national level (The HC will send these recommendations to the ERC for approval at the Principals’ level). There is no one-size-fits-all model, and coordination mechanisms should only be established if and for so long as they are needed.

Between and within sectors: The main goal of inter-cluster coordination is to coordinate work on the HPC across all the sectors/clusters in order to implement the Strategic Response Plan developed by the HC/HCT – and thereby meet the needs of affected people. The HC/HCT will therefore ask Sector/Cluster Coordinators to come together in inter-cluster forums at the national and sub-national level as needed, to work on all the components of the HPC.

Inter-cluster coordination can take many different forms. There may be one inter-cluster forum at the national level – normally facilitated by OCHA - which brings all the clusters together when necessary, but it is likely there will also be a need for related sectors/clusters to work together in smaller groups on particular aspects of the response (i.e. to address a cholera outbreak). It may also be advisable for technical experts to lead smaller groups[8] within a larger inter-cluster forum to work on particular aspects of the programme cycle, e.g. coordinated assessments, or to focus on a particular shared support service, e.g. information management. Whatever coordination arrangements are put in place to address particular challenges and whoever they are facilitated by, it is important that OCHA maintains an overview so that it is able to keep the HC and HCT updated on operational developments.

Cluster Coordinators coordinate the implementation of the Strategic Response Plan by cluster partners working in their respective sectors of the response, and act as conduits of information between the inter-sector and sector level.

Between the two: : As mentioned earlier, HCT members, Cluster Coordinators and OCHA are responsible for ensuring there is a good flow of information between the HCT and the sectors/clusters. This communication is absolutely essential for ensuring that the strategic decisions made by the HC/HCT are evidence-based and continuously informed by the operational realities on the ground. Cluster Coordinators and OCHA also have a responsibility for raising any over-arching concerns to the HCT for their attention.

Links to more detailed information and guidance

Please see the IASC Reference Module for Cluster Coordination at the Country Level which can be found online at http://clusters.humanitarianresponse.info/

2. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

The implementation and coordination of a humanitarian response requires access to the most reliable, up-to-date and accurate information available. Decision-makers need to know who has been affected, what the needs are and how humanitarian actors are responding in order to develop a strategy which will direct resources to address priority needs.

How does IM support the HPC?

Information Management (IM) is undertaken during the preparedness, response and recovery phases of humanitarian crises. It therefore supports and underpins every stage of the programme cycle and helps connect them by carrying consistent and ever-richer information from one stage to another. It is crucial that Humanitarian Information Managers[9] coordinate with each other, particularly at the inter-sectoral level, to ensure the HPC runs smoothly (see ‘who is responsible for what?’ below).

1. Preparedness

How does IM support the different stages of the HPC?

Supporting national capacity: IM Managers should know what IM systems already exist in-country so that mission-critical information can be found quickly. They should also identify national IM capacity and build partnerships with national actors before an emergency occurs.

Risk analysis: Risk models such as the ‘Global Focus Model’ analyse hazards, vulnerabilities and response capacity at the country level using a range of quantitative indicators.

Data preparedness: is undertaken by a large number of humanitarian and development actors. Through the use of the Emergency Response Preparedness process (see section 3), country teams can ensure baseline data is available and each actor understands their roles and responsibilities in humanitarian information management before a crisis occurs.