A) Objetivos de la promesa
Adopting community engagement and accountability as a core way of working is key to building and sustaining transparent relationships of mutual trust and respect with vulnerable, at-risk and affected people and communities. The newly adopted resolution on a Movement-wide Approach to Community Engagement and Accountability at the 2019 Council of Delegates establishes a set of commitments and actions for National Societies, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to reinforce people-centred approaches as a core way of working in the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
The resolution reaffirms the importance of recognizing that vulnerable and crisis-affected people have existing skills, capacities, community systems and structures, and direct knowledge, understanding and experience of their situation and that they have the right to participate and lead in designing, implementing and making decisions about the humanitarian activities that concern them. It also highlights the importance of National Red Cross and Red Crescent Society staff and volunteers at the community level, who are often affected when crises occur and act as first responders, making them a vital entry point for working and engaging with people and communities. Supporting and investing in strengthening the capacity of National Societies and communities to adopt and apply community engagement and accountability approaches is an important means to improve the accountability, effectiveness and localization of humanitarian and development actions.
Community engagement and other forms of inclusive participation contribute to more timely, relevant, appropriate and effective humanitarian programmes; build trust and proximity with the people and communities we aim to serve; reduce risks of sexual abuse and exploitation, corruption and misuse of resources; and positively impact the safety and security of our staff, volunteers, programmes and services. Community engagement and accountability measures help ensure services and assistance are provided in ways that respect the needs, capacities and preferences of people and communities, protect their rights and dignity and generate outcomes that are timely, relevant, appropriate, effective and accountable from their own perspective.
As such, implementation of this adopted resolution, directly supports and contributes to the International Conference theme of Trust in humanitarian action. Moreover this joint pledge by IFRC and ICRC will enable National Societies to implement the resolution.
B) Plan de acción
Technical support and capacity building
The IFRC and ICRC will continue to consult and collaborate with National Societies to:
- Refine and improve the CEA resolution’s proposed outcomes and indicators, as well as levels of performance and benchmarks, to create a CEA performance measurement framework. To the extent possible, ensure consistency and alignment with similar international commitments to community engagement and accountability, such as the Core Humanitarian Standard for quality and accountability.
- Share and disseminate existing CEA guidelines and tools, and prioritise providing ongoing technical assistance, capacity-building and knowledge-sharing measures for Red Cross Red Crescent leadership and governance, management, staff and volunteers, particularly at the branch and community level.
- Provide clear guidelines on the specific roles and responsibilities of the Red Cross Red Crescent leadership and governance, management, staff and volunteers, particularly at the branch and community level, in implementing the CEA Minimum Commitments and Actions.
- Identify and promote peer-learning platforms to allow National Societies/IFRC/ICRC to share information, good practices, tools etc. related to CEA.
- Encourage peer-to-peer and Movement-wide mentoring to support National Societies operationalizing CEA approaches into their current way of working (including strategies, annual plans and guidelines at regional, national and sub-national levels).
- Establish clear, simple, and achievable Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) for CEA in emergency response operations.
Monitoring and reporting on the Minimum Commitments and Actions
The IFRC and ICRC will continue to consult and collaborate with National Societies to:
- Develop and put in place a monitoring and reporting system to evaluate progress made in implementing the Minimum Commitments and Actions against the CEA performance measurement framework.
- Assess and report back to the 2021 Council of Delegates on progress in developing, refining, integrating and implementing the CEA Minimum Commitments and Actions.
Integration
The IFRC and ICRC will continue to consult and collaborate with National Societies to:
- Revise the pilot CEA Movement Guide and toolkit (launched in 2017) and training packages, based on the Minimum Commitments and Actions, and on the feedback received from its Red Cross Red Crescent audience.
- Ensure that CEA principles and activities as established in the Minimum Commitments and Actions are included and reflected in Organizational Capacity Assessment and Certification (OCAC).
- Provide technical support to ensure that the CEA Minimum Commitments and Actions are referenced and integrated into other relevant policies, strategies and procedures, such as on disaster response, health care, gender, protection, communications and staff and volunteer management.
Advocacy
The IFRC and ICRC will continue to consult and collaborate with National Societies to:
- Encourage and facilitate knowledge-sharing, peer-to-peer learning and a community of practice within and between National Societies, the IFRC and the ICRC, and with external partners, drawing on good practices and learning to build greater awareness and understanding of how community engagement and accountability contributes to better outcomes for vulnerable and affected people and communities.
- Reference and integrate the Minimum Commitments and Actions in other relevant policies, strategies and procedures, such as on disaster response, health care, gender, protection, communications and staff and volunteer management.
- Create a specialized awareness package for senior leadership to enhance understanding of and buy-in for CEA Minimum Commitments and Actions, and to clarify the specific roles and responsibility needed from the leadership to bring them to fruition.
- Establish a group of CEA goodwill ambassadors, including Secretary Generals, Presidents and senior leaders, to foster a community of intent, advocate for stronger engagement and accountability to communities at decision-making level and secure further support for the CEA Minimum Commitments and Actions.
C) Indicadores para medir los avances:
- Number of actions implemented (ex: CEA tools updated and shared, measurement framework created, etc.)
- Number of policies/procedures revised to include community engagement and accountability or degree to which they are revised
- Number of staff, volunteers and partners trained in community engagement and accountability concepts and practices
- Number of staff of National Societies who took part in mentoring approach on community engagement and accountability concepts and practices
D) Recursos requeridos:
- IFRC will need 10 staff in headquarters and at regional levels to support the implementation of this pledge and the operationalization of the Movement Commitments
- Financial support from donor countries, foundations and Participant National Societies will be needed to implement several of these actions. Some funding has already been secured.
