Emergency Capacity Building Project: Phase II
The Emergency Capacity Building (ECB) Project: Phase II Summary of Proposal to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Submitted by CARE on behalf of the Interagency Working Group (IWG), Feb. 2008 A global project to improve the speed, quality and effectiveness of emergency preparedness and response in the humanitarian community by building capacity at the field, global organizational, and humanitarian sector levels with a focus on staff capacity, accountability and impact measurement, and disaster risk reduction. Background Disasters and emergencies are increasing in frequency, severity and complexity, affecting hundreds of millions of people and stretching the capacity of the global humanitarian system. At the same time, standards are increasingly rigorous and complex, with higher expectations for accountability and impact measurement. As a result, humanitarian relief organizations face challenges at three levels: in the field, within global agency systems and practices, and across the humanitarian sector. The Inter-agency Working Group (IWG) was formed in 2003 as a consultative group of seven of the largest operational humanitarian agencies, with decades of combined field experience in more than 100 countries. CARE International, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mercy Corps, Oxfam Great Britain, Save the Children Alliance, and World Vision International (WVI) represent a critical mass in the humanitarian NGO sector. In 2005, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Microsoft Corporation, the IWG launched the first phase of the Emergency Capacity Building (ECB) Project. ECB Phase I pooled the expertise of the participating agencies and their sector partners to produce more than 20 innovative tools, programs and practices to be used in the field in emergencies.
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