Inter-Agency Standing Committee s1

IASC Weekly Meetings in 2009

IASC INTER-AGENCY STANDING COMMITTEE

Overview IASC Weekly Geneva Meetings in 2009

Date Topic Presenter

07/01 I. Briefing on World Vision's “Planet Prepare – Preparing Coastal Communities in Asia for Future Catastrophes" Mr Richard Rumsey, World Vision International, WVI Mr. Richard Rumsey, co-author / editor of World Vision’s publication “Planet Prepare – Preparing Coastal Communities in Asia for Future Catastrophes", will provide a briefing on this publication. Until recently, he was World Vision’s Humanitarian & Emergency Ms Elena Mancusi Materi, UNRWA Affairs Director for Asia and Pacific and involved in leading World Vision’s response to cyclones Sidr in Bangladesh and Nargis in Myanmar. His work has also included risk reduction and preparedness planning at an organisational and community level. II. AOB: Update on the current Gaza crisis

14 /01 I. UNRWA: Briefing on the current crisis in Gaza Ms Elena Mancusi Materi, UNRWA Update on the current Gaza crisis from an UNRWA perspective Mr Vincent Cassard, ICRC II. ICRC: Update on ICRC's operations Ms Corine Wagner, Islamic Relief Update on ICRC's operations III. Islamic Relief: Update on the difficulties of delivering humanitarian aid in the Gaza strip Update on Islamic Relief’s activities in the Gaza strip, as well as difficulties and the danger of providing humanitarian aid in times of air strikes and ground offensives

Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Page 1 of 9 http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc IASC Weekly Meetings in 2009

21/01 I. Briefing on the Gender Capacity (GenCap) Activities in Indonesia Ms Linda Pennells, GenCap Biefing on the core GenCap (Gender Capacity) activities during her mission, the entry points which facilitated these activities, as well as Ms. Madeleine Moulin, OCHA the progress and challenges encountered. She will also share lessons learned, recommendations for the IASC, and gender findings of her field missions to Aceh, Yogyakarta and Papua New Guinea. II. Update on the Humanitarian Relief Initiative – In Preparation for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 in Davos Biefing on Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Humanitarian Action, particularly with regard to the ‘Humanitarian Relief Initiative’- session at the upcoming Davos meeting. They will also present the guiding principles, which serve as a basis for PPP and how they were disseminated after their launch in Davos in 2008.

28/01 I. Update on the Harmonisation of Needs Assessment Initiatives with reference to the assessments in Myanmar and Mr Niels Scott, OCHA Pakistan Mr Puji Pujiono, UNDP II. Update on Needs Assessment Frameworks Update on the current status of various needs assessment frameworks - particularly the Post Disaster Recovery Needs Assessment (PDNA), Post-Conflict Needs Assessment (PCNA), and the Early Recovery Rapid Needs Assessment - and will link these tools with the humanitarian assessment and planning process.

03/02 Regional Inter-Agency Humanitarian Coordination Mechanisms in Latin America and the Caribbean Mr Gerard Gomez, OCHA Briefing on the Risk, Emergency and Disaster Group for Latin America and the Caribbean (REDLAC), including its work on emergency response, preparedness and information management. He will also brief on one of the regional tools developed

11/02 Joint WHO/UNICEF Briefing on Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support (MHPSS) in Gaza - Audio link from Jerusalem Ms Christine Ghale, UNICEF Joint WHO/UNICEF briefing via telephone on mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) for people in Gaza. The presentation Ms. Raijah Abu-Sway, WHO will include opportunities and gaps in delivering MHPSS, a cross-cutting issue across the clusters, as well as recommendations for Mr. John Jenkins, WHO - from MHPSS coordination on the ground. UNICEF and WHO are co-leads of local mental health coordination mechanism. Jerusalem

18/02 I. Update on the Work of the IASC Task Force on Climate Change: Ms Jette Michelsen, IFRC Briefing on how humanitarian Organisations Engage in the Climate Change Negotiations and in Mainstreaming Climate Change Ms Maryam Golnaraghi, WMO Adaptation into Policies and Operations. II. WMO’s Role in Disaster Risk Reduction and Update on the World Climate Conference 3 Briefing on (a) WMO's role in Disaster Risk Reduction and (b) update on the upcoming the World Climate Conference (WCC-3) - Climate Prediction and Information for Decision-Making (31 August 2009, Geneva, Switzerland), including the interlinkage between the WCC-3 and the UNFCCC process.

04/03 Update on Zimbabwe/cholera: (Audio line from Zimbabwe) Briefings by OCHA, WHO & MSF Mr Ali Farah Muktar, OCHA Zimbabwe According to WHO's Daily Cholera Update of 24 February, 77 650 suspected cases of cholera had been reported, with 3877 deaths (case Mr Daniel Lopez Acuna, WHO fatality rate (CFR) 4.7%). In addition, according to WFP, more than seven million people - more than half of the population of 12 million - Mr Emmanuel Tronc, MSF need emergency food aid.

11/03 Strengthening the Rule of Law in Conflict/Post-Conflict Situations: The Case of oPt Yasmine Sherif, BCPR, UNDP Briefing on Strengthening the Rule of Law in Conflict/Post-Conflict Situations. Ms. Sherif will highlight some of the opportunities and Nina M. Birkeland, Head, Monitoring challenges in strengthening Rule of Law in oPt, based on the findings of her recent mission to oPt. and Advocacy Department, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre NRC/IDMC will present on Information, Counseling, and Legal Assistance (ICLA) Project of NRC. ICLA project is one of the five core (IDMC)/NRC activities of the NRC with overall goal to contribute to durable solutions for refugees, IDPs and returnees and to assist them in obtaining their rights. Mr. Karim Khalil, Country Analyst of NRC/IDMC will brief on NRC’s programme in oPt, including issues of forced Mr. Karim Khalil, Country Analyst of displacement. NRC/IDMC

25/03 IASC Weekly Meeting on Health Care in Emergencies: Mr Jonathan Abrahams, Coordinator, Risk Reduction and Emergency I. Briefing on WHO's World Health Day (9 April 2009): Health Facilities in Emergencies Preparedness, WHO Mr Jonathan Abrahams, Coordinator, Risk Reduction and Emergency Preparedness at WHO will brief on preparations for World Health Dr Robin Coupland, a medical adviser Day on 7 April 2009 which focuses on the theme of health facilities in emergencies. Mr Abrahams will discuss actions being taken by in the ICRC's Assistance Division WHO and international partners to make health facilities safer in terms of design and construction, protection of equipment and infrastructure, and preparedness of health workers to respond to emergencies. II. Update on ICRC's Health Care in Danger Project Dr Robin Coupland, a medical adviser in the ICRC's Assistance Division, will present the ICRC's project "Health Care in Danger" and elements of international humanitarian law which protect health care in armed conflict. The project includes a system of monitoring violent events affecting health care in armed conflict and other situations of violence. Some data from the first seven months of this monitoring process will be presented.

01/04 IASC Weekly Meeting on Early Warning and Early Action Mr. Frederick Spielberg, Early Warning and Preparedness Specialist in the Mr. Frederick Spielberg, Early Warning and Preparedness Specialist in the Office of Emergency Programmes of UNICEF and a member Office of Emergency Programmes, of the IASC Sub Working Group on Preparedness and Contingency Planning (SWG on PCP), will brief on the latest IASC Early Warning UNICEF, member of the IASC Sub and Early Action Report covering the period of March to June 2009. The ‘IASC Early Warning – Early Action Report’ is prepared by the Working Group on Preparedness and SWG on PCP three times a year which seeks to draw the attention of the humanitarian community on situations in which a change in the Contingency Planning (SWG on PCP) level or nature of humanitarian assistance is anticipated over the next 3-4 months. Frederick will also discuss the participatory process involved in drafting the tri-annual product, and the uses of the document to humanitarian actors.

08/04 IASC Weekly Meeting on Debriefing on 73rd IASC WG Meeting Simon Lawry-White, Chief of the IASC Secretariat Mr. Simon Lawry-White, Chief of the IASC Secretariat will provide an update on the outcomes of the last 73rd IASC Working Group Meeting, hosted by Interaction in Washington, USA, on 18-20 March 2009.

15/04 IASC Weekly Meeting on DRC Ms. Gloria Fernandez, the outgoing OCHA Head of Office in the Ms. Gloria Fernandez, the outgoing OCHA Head of Office in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) who had served in DRC since Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) August 2006, will provide an overview of the ongoing humanitarian response in the Kivu provinces and in the Haut Uele district.

22/04 IASC Weekly Meeting on Risk Identification and Mapping: Dr. Maryam Golnaraghi, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction Programme, I. WMO's Briefing on Risk Identification and Assessments WMO Dr. Maryam Golnaraghi, Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction Programme of WMO will brief on WMO's efforts in support of Risk Dr. Carlos Villacis, UNDP's GRIP identification and assessments to support risk reduction and risk transfer markets. Coordinator II. UNDP's Briefing on the Global Risk Identification Programme (GRIP) Accurate data on hazards, vulnerabilities, risks, and past disaster losses provide the essential evidence base to design and implement policies and programmes that can effectively prevent or mitigate the impact of dangerous natural events.

29 /04 FAO's Approaches on Disaster Risk Management Ms. Jennifer Nyberg , Coordinator of FAO's Disaster Risk Management Ms. Jennifer Nyberg , Coordinator of FAO's Disaster Risk Management Group will brief on the FAO approach to Disaster Risk Group, FAO Management (DRM). The FAO-DRM's aim is to reduce the vulnerability of people before, during and after disasters through risk assessment, risk reduction (preparedness, prevention and mitigation), and emergency response and rehabilitation. The presentation will include how FAO focuses on recovery and rehabilitation to increase community resilience, and on how FAO uses a sustainable livelihoods framework (SLF).

06/05 Environment and Disasters: Mr. Charles Kelly, Pro-Act Network I. Improving Disaster Response by Reducing Negative Environmental Impacts: Sri Lanka Case Study Anne-Cécile Vialle, Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch, United Pro-Act, with CARE International, has been playing a support role to many of the IASC clusters. Mr. Charles Kelly, Pro-Act Network, will Nations Environment Programme provide an overview of CARE and Pro-Act's work integrating environment as a cross-cutting issue in the different clusters and more (UNEP) generally in disaster response. Mr. Kelly will provide an example of this work based on his recent mission to Sri Lanka--the mission's objective was to improve integration of environmental issues into shelter cluster relief operations. II. Update on UNEP's work on Post-Conflict and Disaster Response and Recovery Ms. Anne-Cécile Vialle, Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Geneva, will provide overview on the services of UNEP in post-conflict and disaster response and recovery including the review of existing UNEP assessment tools and of standard operating procedures (SOPs).

13/05 Cluster Implementation in Myanmar and in Ethiopia Mr. Fidele Sarassoro, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Ethiopia Presenters: Mr. Fidele Sarassoro, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Ethiopia Mr. Bishow Parajuli, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Myanmar Mr. Bishow Parajuli, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Myanmar The cluster approach was introduced in Ethiopia in 2007, and in Myanmar in 2008 in response to Cyclone Nargis. Mr. Sarassoro and Mr. Parajuli will discuss the opportunities presented and challenges encountered in implementing the cluster approach in Ethiopia and in Myanmar.

20/05 Primary Health Care in Humanitarian Assistance: Dr Giuseppe Annunziata, Senior Policy Adviser, WHO Health Action in Crises I. WHO's 2008 Health Action in Crises (HAC) Annual Report (HAC) Dr Giuseppe Annunziata, Senior Policy Adviser, WHO Health Action in Crises (HAC), will present the 2008 WHO Health Action in Crises Annual Report which focuses on Primary Health Care in Humanitarian Crises. The 2008 WHO World Heath Report called for a renewal of primary heath care (PHC). People are at the core of the PHC approach just as they are at the centre of humanitarian health Dr Guido Sabatinelli, Director of action. Health, UNRWA Headquarters Amman II. UNRWA's Health Care and Health Conditions of Palestine Refugees in the Near East Dr Guido Sabatinelli, Director of Health, UNRWA Headquarters Amman, will outline health conditions of Palestine refugees and UNRWA's efforts to ensure their upgrade and maintenance. Observing its 60th anniversary this year, UNRWA has provided comprehensive primary health care for Palestine refugees in the Near East. Its health services include curative medical care services, health protection and promotion, disease prevention and control, environmental health, and delivery of health services to the victims of conflict. Copies of the UNRWA 2008 Health report will be available for distribution.

27/05 IASC Weekly Meeting with RSG on HR of IDPs Mr. Walter Kaelin, Representative of the Secretary-General on the Human Rights Debrief on the RSG on HR of IDPS’ recent visits to Sri Lanka (April 2009), Chad and the Central Africa Republic (February 2009) of Internally Displaced Persons

11/06 IASC Weekly Meeting on Pakistan Ms. Joan Allison, Senior Desk Officer for Pakistan, UNHCR Overview of UNHCR's IDP relief operation in Pakistan.

24/06 IASC Weekly Meeting on Sri Lanka Mr. Mark Cutts, OCHA Briefing of Mark Cutt’s short term assignment in Sri Lanka where he worked as OCHA's Senior Coordinator in the Vavuniya area, will provide an update on the humanitarian situation in the Manik Farm IDP Camps.

01/07 IASC Weekly Meeting on Civil Military Relations: Mr. Alan Butterfield, CMCS, OCHA I. Briefing on Military Exercises in 2009 with a humanitarian component (NATO exercise, Asia-Pacific focused exercise, US- Mr. Frederik Wallenberg, CMCS, military sponsored exercise) OCHA Each year OCHA's Civil Military Coordination Section (CMCS) and UN Humanitarian Civil Military Coordination (CMCoord) Officers worldwide, along with some other humanitarian organizations, are invited to attend series of military exercises to ensure that humanitarian scenarios included in such exercises are realistic and generate suitable activity within the military command chain. Mr. Alan Butterfield and Mr. Frederik Wallenberg, OCHA's CMCS, will outline OCHA's involvement in these exercises, rational for such involvement and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of such interaction. II. Update on the proposed NATO Information Fusion Centre

08/07 Earthquake Response and the Role of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) Mr. Winston Chang, INSARAG Secretariat in OCHA Geneva Mr. Winston Chang, INSARAG Secretariat in OCHA Geneva, will brief on INSARAG, a global network of more than 80 countries and organizations focusing on urban search and rescue (USAR) related issues. Members are from both earthquake-prone and responding countries. Guided by UN General Assembly Resolution 57/150 of 22 December 2002 on “Strengthening the effectiveness and coordination of USAR assistance”, its primary aim is to establish global standards and classification for international USAR teams as well as methodology for international response coordination in the aftermath of earthquakes and collapsed structure disasters.

22/07 IASC Weekly Meeting on Ethiopia Mr. Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, Ethiopia Country Analyst at the Internal Mr. Nuur Mohamud Sheekh, Ethiopia Country Analyst at the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of NRC and Ms. Nadia Displacement Monitoring Centre Zuodar of OCHA Ethiopia will make a presentation on the IDP situation in Ethiopia. Nuur will talk on the causes of conflict-displacement (IDMC) of NRC in Ethiopia. Nadia will talk about response to displacement in Ethiopia by various stakeholders. Ms. Nadia Zuodar of OCHA Ethiopia

02/09 IASC Weekly meeting on GenCAP Project Ms. Siobhan Foran Ms. Siobhan Foran and Ms. Maude Mugisha from the Gender Standby Capacity Project (GenCap) will present some of their experience Ms. Maude Mugisha from the Gender from their deployments to Namibia and the Global Clusters in Geneva. In this briefing, Siobhan will describe the achievements made to Standby Capacity Project (GenCap) date, the emergence of important work and collaboration with inter-cluster and global cluster mechanisms and initiatives, the ongoing exploration of new 'entry points' such as dove-tailing the work on gender and protection mainstreaming, and the challenges and opportunities in putting gender as a cross-cutting issue back squarely and innovatively on the humanitarian agenda. Mugisha was deployed to Namibia from October 2008 to August 2009, as the first GenCap Adviser hosted by UNHCR. She will present her initial work with the refugee community and later on with the response team to the 2009 Namibia floods.

16/09 Update on the IDP situation in Mindanao (Philippines) Frederik Kok, Senior Country Analyst for the South East Asian region for the Frederik Kok is currently working in Geneva as the Senior Country Analyst for the South East Asian region for the Internal Displacement Internal Displacement Monitoring Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). In this briefing, Mr. Kok will report on a fact-finding mission he Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian conducted in Manila/Mindanao (Maguindanao province) in May 2009. He will provide an update on the current humanitarian and Refugee Council (NRC) protection challenges facing the internally displaced population as well as on the response provided by the government and the international community.

23/09 IASC Weekly meeting on oPt Mr. Maxwell Gaylard, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the oPt Mr. Maxwell Gaylard, UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the oPt will provide a general briefing and update on the situation.

30/09 IASC Weekly meeting on the Financial Tracking Service Julie Thompson, Humanitarian Affairs Officer, CAP Section, OCHA OCHA's Financial Tracking Service (FTS) is a global, real-time database that records all reported international humanitarian aid. FTS is a powerful and unique coordination tool that provides stakeholders with an overview of humanitarian activities, funding gaps and priorities in each emergency. The site provides detailed information on projects included in inter-agency appeals, as well as other cash and in-kind assistance from all sources of funding. Ms. Julie Thompson will give a briefing on the FTS and how it can be used for analysis and advocacy.

07/10 IASC Weekly meeting on the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) Ms Sheryl Haw, Chief Auditor at HAP International Humanitarian agencies exercise significant financial, technical and logistical power in their mission to save lives and reduce suffering. In contrast, disaster survivors have no formal control and little influence over emergency relief agencies, making it difficult for them to hold these agencies to account. In 2007 the HAP Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management Standard was released after over six years of research and extensive consultation with disaster survivors, aid workers and specialists. Ms Sheryl Haw is the Chief Auditor at HAP International. She will outline briefly the HAP Standard and certification scheme, explaining how compliance with the HAP Standard enables an agency to hold itself accountable to disaster survivors and to continually improve the quality of its humanitarian work.

21/10 IASC Weekly meeting on the Climate Change Negotiations in Bangkok and challenges for humanitarian organisations Jette Michelson, Coordinator of the IASC Task Force on Climate Change, The negotiations in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are in the final phase. A deal in Copenhagen aims to IFRC introduce far-reaching measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help countries adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. Climate change is now a major driver of disasters with increasingly frequent and intense floods, storms and droughts affecting millions of Jenty Kirsch-Wood, Humanitarian people worldwide. For humanitarians this is a critical deal. An agreement must include disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness and Affairs Officer, OCHA emergency response as part of its risk management approach. Likewise, an agreement must address humanitarian concerns such as the impacts of climate change on food insecurity, health, migration and displacement.

04/11 Presentation of the IDMC / NRC and OCHA study “Monitoring Disaster Displacement in the Context of Climate Change” Kate Halff, Head of IDMC To date, there have been no reliable estimates on forced displacement driven by climate change related disasters, nor a methodology for making Andrew Thow, Associate Humanitarian such estimates. The recently released IDMC / NRC and OCHA study “Monitoring Disaster Displacement in the Context of Climate Change” (see Affairs Officer, OCHA attached) provides for the first time a reliable estimate of the scale of forced displacement caused by rapid-onset natural disasters in 2008, with a special focus on climate related disasters and proposes a methodology to monitor disaster-related displacement on an ongoing basis.

18/11 Briefing on the IFRC report “The economic crisis and its humanitarian impact on Europe” Mr. Mathew Varghese, Director - Innovation and Knowledge The economic crisis has deeply affected the European economies and their population especially in Eastern Europe. While a lot of effort and Management, Under Secretary General resources are put into recovery of the financial markets there is little effort on fighting the social crisis. The IFRC report outlines the first time the a.i. Humanitarian Diplomacy, IFRC humanitarian impact of the crisis in Europe.

25/11 Briefing on the WHO-Ministry of Health Needs Assessment in the Philippines following Typhoon Ketsana. Dr. Pino Annunziata, Acting Director Response and Recovery Operations, Health Action in Crises, WHO Briefing on the use of the cluster approach in Indonesia following the earthquake in West Sumatra 16/12 Ms. Darla Silva, Inter-Cluster Briefing on the humanitarian response in West Sumatra, Indonesia, including the progress, the challenges, and strategy for early recovery. The Coordinator, OCHA presentations will highlight the approach to inter-cluster coordination, as well as the work with local NGOs and the Government of Indonesia. Mr. Mikkel Trolle, Inter-cluster Coordinator for Early Recovery, UNDP

For further information on IASC Weekly meetings, please visit the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) website at http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc, or contact the IASC Secretariat.

Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Page 9 of 9 http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/iasc