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. Four initiatives – Staff Capacity, Accountability and Impact Measurement, Disaster Risk Reduction, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) – each produced innovative tools and approaches. Examples include The Good Enough Guide to Accountability and Impact Measurement in Emergencies, the Emergency Simulations Toolkit, and The Building Trust in Emergencies Toolkit. All of these were field tested by the ECB agencies in different field contexts, for example in Ethiopia and Guatemala. The Final Evaluation of Phase I found that intangibles – trust, enthusiasm, and commitment – were also valuable outcomes of increased collaboration.

While Phase I focused on IWG agency capacity, Phase II is designed to create impacts in the field, within the global IWG organizations, and across the humanitarian sector. The IWG and its partners will develop implementation plans at the three levels with benchmarks and indicators to ensure quantifiable results. Multiple activities should lead to measurable improvements in emergency preparedness and responses and prevent loss of life and improve the speed of recovery programmes when disasters strike. Monitoring and evaluation, knowledge management and learning, and communications are strongly emphasized.

ECB PHASE II: Goal, Objectives, Activities and Results Goal: Improved speed, quality, and effectiveness of the humanitarian community to save lives, improve the welfare, and protect the rights of people in emergency situations.

The six participating agencies (IRC is supportive but will not participate in Phase II) are committed to the following three objectives during the five-year Phase II of the Emergency Capacity Building Project:

Objective 1. Improve field-level capacity to prepare for and respond to emergencies in disaster-prone countries. ECB II has selected five pilot disaster-prone countries / zones in which to form consortia with ECB agencies, other agencies, local partners, research institutions, communities, and government to collaborate on improving emergency preparedness and response.

This document is a short summary of the proposal submitted by the IWG to the Gates Foundation in 2008 for Phase II of 1 the ECB Project. Contact the ECB Global Project Team for further details or to request the full document.

These areas are: Bolivia, Niger, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, and Uganda). Results will include increased country-level capacity in: staff, accountability, DRR, coordination, local and national government policies, and the sharing of learning.

Objective 2. Increase the speed, quality, and effectiveness of emergency preparedness and response mechanisms within and across IWG agencies. The six participating agencies will develop Agency Performance Improvement Plans (APIPs) for integrating ECB tools and promising practices within systems, policies, and practices. Results will include increased agency-level capacity in: staff, accountability, DRR, leadership and sustainable policy changes, planning, resource allocation, participatory approaches, and the sharing of learning.

Objective 3. Contribute to improving the sector’s emergency preparedness and response through collective dialogue, knowledge sharing, learning, and collaborative work with other partners and organizations. ECB will build on Phase I to develop Partnership Plans with sector partners such as ALNAP, HAP, ISDR, LINGOs, NetHope, People In Aid, and Sphere, providing opportunities to work together on field-relevant projects to address gaps in the sector. Results will include: field testing of standards, tools, and research; sharing of the field perspective; filling research gaps; and disseminating ECB-developed tools and methods.

In all three Objectives, ECB Phase II will focus on three cross-cutting themes: • Accountability and Impact Measurement (AIM) • Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) • Staff Capacity Building (focus: national staff development)

Activities in support of these three Objectives will include:

Objective 1: Field-level capacity preparedness and emergency response The 5 ECB Consortia will: • Engage in joint planning of emergency preparedness activities: The ECB Project will support the five country consortia to conduct start-up workshops and develop Consortium Engagement Plans (CEPs) that include specific field activities across the 3 cross-cutting themes; provide technical support and support the consortia to review and revise their plans based on their learning. • Engage in joint implementation of preparedness and response: The Consortia will work closely with local communities, government and partners to implement their plans and undertake joint activities in staff capacity building, accountability and impact management, DRR and emergency response. Examples of consortia activities include inter-agency accountability training, joint simulations, collaborative capacity building for local government disaster management institutions, joint contingency planning and the sharing and testing of approaches to community vulnerability assessment. • Share learning and innovation across the humanitarian sector: The ECB Project will share knowledge through monitoring and evaluation, annual in-country learning events and regional networking, country and regional cross-visits, and annual joint simulations workshops if no actual emergency occurs.

Objective 2: Agency-level speed, quality and effectiveness of preparedness and response in emergencies The 6 participating agencies will: • Develop and/or implement ways of sharing learning and mainstreaming tools and practices that will improve emergency response, within and across ECB agencies: Each ECB agency will develop an Agency Performance Improvement Plans (APIP) to integrate ECB tools and promising practices within internal systems, policies and practices and drive their institutionalization and global dissemination. Agencies will conduct peer reviews of plans.

Objective 3: Contribution to improving the sector’s preparedness and response in emergencies

This document is a short summary of the proposal submitted by the IWG to the Gates Foundation in 2008 for Phase II of 2 the ECB Project. Contact the ECB Global Project Team for further details or to request the full document.

By developing Partnership Plans with sector partners the ECB Project will: 1. Engage with sector partners to collaboratively work on tools and best practice, and to widely share knowledge and learning: The ECB Project will work with sector partners to define a Strategic Engagement Plan and specific Partnership Plans, updated annually. Partnerships will develop, test and revise field-based tools, processes and best practices to inform sector-wide behaviour, practices and policies. The ECB Project and partners will engage with stakeholders in knowledge sharing to increase coherence across the sector, such as through global learning events.

Results - Objective 1 Results will include increased country-level capacity in: 1. Staff capacity: By 2013, at least 70% of consortium member organizations in all 5 consortia will have demonstrated that 100% of their local emergency staff in leadership positions have training in, and can apply, sector and organizational standards for emergency preparedness and response. 2. Accountability: By 2013, at least 70% of consortium member organizations in all 5 consortia will have demonstrated that they are using practical tools to meet sector and organizational standards in accountability, especially as it relates to beneficiaries. 3. DRR: By 2013, at least 70% of consortium members in all 5 consortia will have demonstrated that they have assessed local disaster risks and have the capacity to plan, implement and integrate relevant DRR interventions. All 5 country consortia will have involved the beneficiaries of emergency programming in identifying needs and priorities for disaster mitigation and preparedness plans. 4. Coordination: By 2013, in at least 3 of the 5 consortia, the engagement in joint preparedness planning, joint needs assessments, coordination of response operations and joint evaluations will have become the norm for participating country consortia members. 5. Local government policies: By 2013, in at least 3 of the 5 consortia, one or more local government entities will have put into place improved disaster preparedness plans and procedures, and will have tested these plans and procedures with communities. 6. National government policies: By 2013, in at least 2 of the 5 consortia, one or more national government entities will have put into place improved policies to enable and promote effective DRR, mitigation, preparedness and response work. 7. Sharing of learning: By 2013, all 5 country consortia will have demonstrated cross- fertilization from experience of pragmatic tools for improved staff capacity, accountability and DRR between the pilot country and other countries in the region.

Objective 2 Results will include increased agency-level capacity in: 1. Staff capacity: By 2013, at least 4 of the 6 ECB agencies will have systems in place to assess staff capacity at country level, as well as comprehensive staff development programs to improve the leadership and operational skills of regionally and locally based emergency staff. At least 50% of the country offices of these ECB agencies in the 30 highest-risk countries will benefit from these systems and programs. 2. Accountability: By 2013, at least 4 of the 6 ECB agencies will have systems in place to assess their capacity to meet sector and organizational standards in accountability, especially in regard to beneficiaries, as well as pragmatic tools for implementing these standards, as demonstrated by evaluations of emergency operations in at least 50% of the 30 highest-risk countries. 3. DRR strategic priority: At least 4 of the 6 ECB agencies will have identified DRR as long- term strategic priority within their strategic plans as a way to reduce the impact of disasters on vulnerable communities in high-risk countries. 4. DRR capacity: At least 4 of the 6 ECB agencies will have demonstrated capacity to plan, implement, and integrate relevant DRR interventions to reduce the vulnerability of communities to disasters, in new or ongoing programs, in at least 50% of country offices in the 30 highest risk countries; 5. Leadership and sustainable policy changes: By 2013, at least 4 of the 6 ECB agencies will have internal policies that demonstrate a sustainable commitment and policy statements from senior leadership on the critical role of the 3 themes.

This document is a short summary of the proposal submitted by the IWG to the Gates Foundation in 2008 for Phase II of 3 the ECB Project. Contact the ECB Global Project Team for further details or to request the full document.

6. Planning: By 2013, at least 4 of the 6 ECB agencies will have incorporated pragmatic tools and methods that are aimed at building staff capacity, accountability and DRR into annual operating plans, individual operating plans, long-range departmental or unit level plans, and other sustainable mechanisms. 7. Resource allocation: By 2013, at least 4 of the 6 ECB agencies will have increased funding and staff dedicated to DRR and emergency preparedness and response. 8. Participatory approaches: By 2013, at least 4 of the 6 ECB agencies will have systems in place that ensure the meaningful participation of affected communities in the planning and implementation of emergency preparedness and response activities. 9. Sharing of learning: By 2013, at least 4 of the 6 ECB agencies will have shared consolidated organizational and consortium-level lessons learned both with their own surge capacity mechanisms and with 50% of the 30 highest-risk countries, and at least 50% of these consolidated organizational lessons will have been acted on by 4 of the 6 ECB agencies.

Objective 3 Results will include: 1. Field testing of standards, tools and research: By 2013, standards, tools and research from at least 3 significant sector networks and institutions will have been piloted by country consortia and agency teams, and experience will have been fed back into the networks. 2. Sharing of the field perspective: By 2013, learnings from country consortium work and ECB agency work will have been documented and presented in at least 3 major sector forums and published in at least 3 separate sector journals. 3. Filling research gaps: By 2013, at least 5 relevant research knowledge gaps identified by the ECB agencies will have been filled with useful academic research. 4. Disseminating ECB-developed tools and methods: By 2013, broad awareness and implementation of ECB-developed pragmatic tools, methods and approaches will have increased through ongoing participation in sector networks and forms, communications outreach, and the ECB Project website www.ecbproject.org

Monitoring & Evaluation, Knowledge Management & Learning (KML), and Communications The ECB Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system provides a mechanism to provide a baseline for and subsequently monitor the collective progress of the ECB Project and its constituent stakeholders against the Project’s Goal, Objectives and Results. A Knowledge Management and Learning Strategy (KML) emphasises the capturing and sharing of learning, both about the Project’s programmatic activities and about the process of collaborative capacity building itself. The Project’s Communications Strategy supports this through the development of an ECB e-newsletter, ECB website, online partnerships, the ECB global intranet platform and participating in global sector events. All of these specialist areas are supported by members of the ECB Global Project Team.

Management Plan The ECB Project management structure has been streamlined in Phase II and includes: • IWG Steering Committee including 3 IWG Principles • CARE as global lead agency • ECB Project Director and 4 ECB Project Team staff • 5 country consortia, each lead by an ECB agency with a full time Field Facilitator • 6 Agency ECB Managers: hired within each agency and responsible for supporting APIP activities as well as their agency’s operational engagement with the Project • 6 Lead Technical Advisors and 6 Support Advisors: nominated within each agency for each Thematic Area. Available to support both agency and field level ECB activities.

Funding Core funding for ECB Phase II is provided via a $5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Additional funding in excess of $1 million to advance specific programmatic activities has been provided by ECHO and by DFID, through partnership with the Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies (CBHA). Proposals to a total value of a further $1 million are currently under review by donors. Fundraising for the ECB Project is led by the IWG Principals. A key sustainability strategy for the project is to build capacity in the country consortia to mobilize resources in support of their country-specific capacity building plans.

This document is a short summary of the proposal submitted by the IWG to the Gates Foundation in 2008 for Phase II of 4 the ECB Project. Contact the ECB Global Project Team for further details or to request the full document.