A) Objectives of the pledge:
It is important to ensure that humanitarian action undertaken by the American Red Cross (the “signatory”) is effective and accountable to support vulnerable, at risk and crisis-affected people in urban, peri-urban and rural areas before, during and after natural disasters and other emergencies. The need for client and disaster survivor focused programming to reduce vulnerabilities and increase the resilience of individuals, families and communities is particularly pressing due to increasing frequency and severity of weather-related events in the United States. In collaboration with the United States Government, such solutions should be aligned with capacities, needs, priorities and preferences of people seeking assistance.
Humanitarian action on the part of the signatory will support outcomes that are timely, relevant, appropriate, effective and accountable from the perspective of people and communities impacted by disasters. It is vitally important to underscore the significant risks faced by the urban and rural poor, and marginalized communities in cities and towns in the United States. The signatory will protect their dignity, consistent with the commitment to safeguard the respect of all people during times of need.
The American Red Cross, in collaboration with the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has considerable experience responding to large scale urban disasters including Hurricane Harvey (Houston, Texas) Hurricane Sandy (New York City Region), and Hurricane Katrina (New Orleans, Louisiana). In addition to large-scale disasters, these collaborators have responded to countless rural disasters as a result of flooding, tornadoes and forest fires. Therefore, it is clear that both organizations have the institutional knowledge, capability and experience to support the needs of vulnerable communities following a variety of disasters.
Objectives of the pledge
o Incorporate people-centered community engagement and accountability approaches into service delivery, while continuing investments in improving needs assessment and situational analysis tools and processes to better understand how gender, age, disability and diversity factors impact the risk and vulnerabilities faced by different groups of people in the community
o Strengthen the American Red Cross’ organizational capacity to implement and monitor community engagement and accountability in our working approaches
B) Action plan:
In keeping with action planning best practices, the following process is proposed for collaboration with FEMA:
* Pre-event coordination, communication and collaboration via liaisons and dedicated personnel
* Participation in regularly scheduled trainings and exercises
* Service delivery which meets the needs of urban and rural vulnerable populations
* Participation in after action reviews as necessary and applicable
C) Indicators for measuring progress:
Number of disaster responses where the American Red Cross and FEMA coordinate and collaborate on service delivery to urban and rural vulnerable communities.
D) Resource implications:
The American Red Cross will continue to allocate necessary resources to the successful execution of this pledge as contents contained herein are core to the humanitarian mission of the organization and support the mission of FEMA.
