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Self Report 2018

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

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  • 2A
    Respect and protect civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of hostilities

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC commits to advocating for the adoption and implementation of the 2015 Safe Schools Declaration. It also commits to promote implementation of the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict among non-state armed groups.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to promote and enhance the protection of civilians and civilian objects, especially in the conduct of hostilities, for instance by working to prevent civilian harm resulting from the use of wide-area explosive weapons in populated areas, and by sparing civilian infrastructure from military use in the conduct of military operations.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    • In 2017, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) commissioned research on the operational challenges and dilemmas associated with the Protection of Civilians Site model. Protection of Civilians Sites: Lessons from South Sudan for Future Operations draws out lessons from South Sudan to better inform future responses.
    • NRC developed and rolled out a Humanitarian Mediation Course to staff deployed to the Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Mali, aimed at improving protection of civilians.
    • NRC led risk management policy discussions with Member States, UN agencies, NGOs and academia. For example, NRC collaborated with the Duke Law School on their report “Tightening the Purse Strings: What Countering Terrorism Financing Costs Gender Equality and Security”.
    • NRC committed to providing impartial assistance and protection based on needs alone, rather than countering violent extremism and other political agendas. Recently, NRC published a Position Paper on the intersection of Countering Violent Extremism and Principled Humanitarian Action.
    • NRC strengthened relationships with partner organisations, the ICRC, UN agencies and donors in operationalising humanitarian principles. Likewise, NRC engaged in numerous consultations in Geneva, New York and elsewhere, aimed to ensure the centrality of protection in humanitarian operations and develop robust conceptual and operational outputs to protection of civilians in armed conflict.
    • NRC increased its investment in the New Way of Working multi-stakeholders’ consultations, advocating for an approach integrative of presence, proximity and protection in protracted conflicts.
    • NRC published a study Presence and Proximity - To Stay and Deliver, Five Years On in collaboration with UNOCHA. 
    • For more information, see attached NRC report.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    • NRC has been invited to participate as the NGO representative to the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) in influencing standards and implementation of international financial system measures directly related to humanitarian operations.
    • NRC has developed expertise in the intersection of counter-terrorism measures and principled humanitarian action, and will continue to improve tools in relation to the Risk Management Toolkit. A revision to the Toolkit is slated for 2018.

    Keywords

    Humanitarian principles, IHL compliance and accountability, Protection

  • 2B
    Ensure full access to and protection of the humanitarian and medical missions

    Individual Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC commits to addressing violence and abuse against civilians in all its programmes, and to promote the recognition of protection as a primary need for people affected by crisis. It will lead by example by ensuring that protection is central to its work.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • NRC commits to build upon strategic partnerships with humanitarian actors to ensure protection leadership, coordination, and outcomes are achieved across the whole humanitarian system.
    • Partnership
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • NRC commits to challenging states on counter-terrorism measures that impede principled humanitarian action, and will continue to request exemptions to such counter-terrorism measures for humanitarian actors.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • NRC commits to defending the humanitarian principles through provision of humanitarian assistance and protection, and through courageous advocacy.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • NRC commits to providing impartial assistance and protection based on needs alone, rather than countering violent extremism and other political agendas.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to ensure all populations in need receive rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Commit to promote and enhance efforts to respect and protect medical personnel, transports and facilities, as well as humanitarian relief personnel and assets against attacks, threats or other violent acts.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    For information, see attached NRC report. 

  • 2C
    Speak out on violations

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to speak out and systematically condemn serious violations of international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of international human rights law and to take concrete steps to ensure accountability of perpetrators when these acts amount to crimes under international law.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    For information, see attached NRC report.

  • 2D
    Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC commits to being a courageous advocate on issues vital to the protection of the rights of displaced and other crisis-affected populations.
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • NRC commits to adopt the IASC statement on the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse at the individual agency level.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to promote and enhance respect for international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and refugee law, where applicable.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Commit to speak out and systematically condemn serious violations of international humanitarian law and serious violations and abuses of international human rights law and to take concrete steps to ensure accountability of perpetrators when these acts amount to crimes under international law.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability

    • In 2017, the Norwegian Refugee Council maintained, through various fora, that States must investigate and prosecute serious violations, and demand that warring parties, including their own forces, respect international law and hold perpetrators to account.
    • In NRC country operations seized by armed conflict (International Armed Conflict and Non-International Armed Conflict), specialised legal advice on the interpretation and application of International Humanitarian Law was sought and informed operational decisions (such as in seeking legal expert opinions in relation to operations in Syria, Palestine, Kenya and Somalia).
    • For more information, see attached NRC report.

     

    Keywords

    IHL compliance and accountability

  • 2E
    Uphold the rules: a global campaign to affirm the norms that safeguard humanity

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC commits to uncompromising defence of international legal instruments designed to protect displaced people and will actively work against any movement to weaken the rights accorded by those instruments.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to promote and enhance respect for international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and refugee law, where applicable.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    • The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has engaged in consultations on the Global Compact on Refugees and has played a key role in the rollout of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). NRC has been engaged with the piloting of comprehensive responses in different countries and regions where refugees are hosted, including Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Somalia and the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA). NRC has led consultations with displaced populations in the Horn of Africa and the NTCA to promote the priorities of affected populations in the Compact, and has worked with Member States, to ensure that the Compact process results in a comprehensive regional protection and solutions framework to address forced displacement. 
    • NRC addressed concrete steps to be taken by national governments to integrate the 1998 Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement into relevant national and regional law and practice, and will continue to prompt implementation around the Guiding Principles 2018 anniversary. 
    • Research undertaken in country operations including Jordan, Lebanon, Kenya and Colombia on the obstacles refugees face in accessing administrative procedures, through ICLA programmes, contributed to legal protection of refugees (through recognition of their status) and documentation of that protection - a tangible means to ensure that protection is effective. One such keystone research is Recognising Nairobi's Refugees; the challenges and significance of documentation proving identity and status, which provides a snapshot of the challenges that urban refugees have experienced obtaining documents that recognise their status as refugees and the consequences that flow from lack of documentation.

    Keywords

    Displacement

  • 3A
    Reduce and address displacement

    Individual Commitments (10)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC also commits to continuing to engage in constructive dialogues with national governments to ensure that IDPs are not forgotten or side-lined in policy and operational approaches to prevent, respond and find sustainable solutions to displacement. It commits to addressing the protection gap faced by IDPs worldwide by holding IDP-hosting states accountable for better data collection and data sharing on internal displacement.
    • Advocacy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • NRC commits to actively contributing to all efforts to defend and strengthen the 1951 Refugee Convention and its Optional Protocol, and to supporting all other legal frameworks and policies that ensure the protection of people on the move.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • NRC commits to actively identifying obstacles to durable solutions, and to working towards their resolution with duty bearers and other stakeholders at local, national, and international level.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • NRC commits to actively supporting the right of persons to seek asylum, and will work with states to ensure that their obligation to provide safe, fair and efficient asylum access is fulfilled.
    • Advocacy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • NRC commits to supporting efforts to improve global responsibility-sharing for the protection of forcibly displaced persons, and to speaking out wherever states take steps to outsource their protection responsibilities.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • NRC commits to supporting the ratification, wider domestication and effective implementation of regional protection mechanisms such as the Kampala Convention and the Cartagena Declaration, seizing on opportunities for the regional bodies to improve the protection, assistance and dignity of displaced and crisis-affected people.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • NRC commits to working in partnership with other stakeholders to find durable and sustainable solutions for populations with humanitarian needs.
    • Partnership
    • Leave No One Behind
    • NRC commits to working with states and other stakeholders to prevent and address disaster and climate displacement, including through support to the implementation of the Nansen Initiative's Agenda for the Protection of Cross-Border Displaced Persons in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Through NRC's Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, NRC commits to providing global data, evidence and tools to develop and implement policies and measures that can help prevent and respond to internal displacement worldwide. It also commits to working with partners to improve global monitoring of internal displacement, and to develop approaches that link prevention, humanitarian action, sustainable development, and climate change policy frameworks.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Through NRC's Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), NRC commits to continuously highlighting the plight of people caught in protracted and chronic displacement situations, and to improving measurements of displacement severity and risk in order to target resources to where they are most needed.
    • Advocacy
    • Leave No One Behind

    Core Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new approach to addressing forced displacement that not only meets immediate humanitarian needs but reduces vulnerability and improves the resilience, self-reliance and protection of refugees and IDPs. Commit to implementing this new approach through coherent international, regional and national efforts that recognize both the humanitarian and development challenges of displacement. Commit to take the necessary political, policy, legal and financial steps required to address these challenges for the specific context.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Commit to promote and support safe, dignified and durable solutions for internally displaced persons and refugees. Commit to do so in a coherent and measurable manner through international, regional and national programs and by taking the necessary policy, legal and financial steps required for the specific contexts and in order to work towards a target of 50 percent reduction in internal displacement by 2030.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Acknowledge the global public good provided by countries and communities which are hosting large numbers of refugees. Commit to providing communities with large numbers of displaced population or receiving large numbers of returnees with the necessary political, policy and financial, support to address the humanitarian and socio-economic impact. To this end, commit to strengthen multilateral financing instruments. Commit to foster host communities' self-reliance and resilience, as part of the comprehensive and integrated approach outlined in core commitment 1.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Commit to collectively work towards a Global Compact on responsibility-sharing for refugees to safeguard the rights of refugees, while also effectively and predictably supporting States affected by such movements.
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Commit to actively work to uphold the institution of asylum and the principle of non-refoulement. Commit to support further accession to and strengthened implementation of national, regional and international laws and policy frameworks that ensure and improve the protection of refugees and IDPs, such as the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol or the AU Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala convention) or the Guiding Principles on internal displacement.
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Refugees

    • In 2017, the Norwegian Refugee Council engaged in multiple consultations around the Global Compact on Refugees and the interlinked Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework.
    • NRC increased its investment in understanding the domestic implementation of Refugee Status Determination (RSD) procedures, and promoted access to alternate processes in the absence of RSD or other refugee specific measures to ensure persons seeking international protection are considered under international, regional or national law.
    • NRC produced a position paper, Lessons from Responsibility Sharing Mechanisms reflecting on lessons learned from Europe, Central America, Jordan, Lebanon, Kenya and elsewhere.
    • NRC, jointly with IRC and Oxfam, produced a report entitled The reality of the EU-Turkey statement. The report highlights major gaps in legal counselling and assistance to navigate the constantly changing asylum procedures.
    • NRC continued to promote efforts to ensure safe and regular routes to Europe for people in need of international protection.

    IDPs (due to conflict, violence, and disaster)

    • Through NRC’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC),  NRC managed to continuously highlight the plight of people caught in protracted and chronic displacement situations, and to improve measurements of displacement severity and risk in order to target resources to where they are most needed.
    • IDMC presented the latest data and trends of internal displacement by conflict and disasters worldwide, addressing connections between internal and cross-border displacement, the factors that force IDPs across borders, and the issue of refugees being returned home, only to become internally displaced again. The Global Displacement Risk Model completes the reporting framework through the lens of disaster risk reduction and climate resilience as part of overall sustainable development planning.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    • NRC recognises that in protracted crises, displacement is primarily a political challenge. It requires alignment across humanitarian, development and political endeavours to achieve collective outcomes addressing protracted displacement and to prevent new displacement from becoming protracted. 
    • There are several steps that can be taken to improve data quality and interoperability and ensure it is used more responsibly, including common standards, terms and definitions and guidance to ensure that data is collected in accordance with these standards. 

  • 3E
    Eliminate gaps in education for children, adolescents and young people

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC commits to eliminating gaps in education for children and youth by ensuring its programmes are relevant, responsive, safe and meet global education standards.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Education Cannot Wait (ECW), launched during the Summit, offered the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) the opportunity to engage in an agile, inclusive platform and join forces, at both global and local levels, to support education in emergencies with humanitarian speed and development depth. The ECW is in line with NRC’s collaborative approach intended to ensure that every crisis-affected child and young person where NRC operates is in school and learning; based on the recognition that continuous access to quality learning is a priority for children and families affected by conflicts, natural disasters and displacement. NRC also contributed to the revision of the ECW management structure by providing suggestions for improvement in terms of efficiency.

    NRC's engagement with ECW is complimentary to NRC's longstanding commitment to the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards for Education. NRC had also maintained engagement with the Global Education Cluster; Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack (GCPEA) and the Watch list for Children in Armed Conflict; Global Working Group to End School-Related Gender Based Violence and the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) in Norway and throughout our country operations.

    For more information, see attached NRC report.

    Keywords

    Education

  • 3G
    Address other groups or minorities in crisis settings

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC endorses the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    For information, see attached NRC report.

  • 4A
    Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

    Individual Commitments (11)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • NRC commit to always asking: "Why not cash? And if not now when?" It, therefore, also commit to providing multi-purpose cash payments wherever possible.


    • Advocacy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to advocating for humanitarian and refugee response plans that promote the use of multi-purpose cash assistance, wherever possible. It commits to participating in multilateral efforts to address the challenges in delivering cash safely and effectively.
    • Advocacy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to building capacity within cash transfer programming and coordination by working with INGOs, UN agencies, national and regional institutions, and through our expert deployment rosters.
    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to improving the capacity of the international humanitarian system and national stakeholders to communicate effectively with communities affected by crisis, in order to increase the efficiency and accountability of the humanitarian response.
    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to providing humanitarian assistance and protection that empowers people to meet their most urgent needs.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to scaling up cash programmes, both through contextualised partnerships and systems and by developing "grab and go" platforms that can be used in any crisis.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to sharing risk with local partners. Working in strong and mutually beneficial partnerships is critical to providing humanitarian assistance and protection.
    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Through its deployment instruments, NRC commits to supporting the national, regional and international efforts to strengthen community resilience, by integrating displacement and climate services within disaster risk reduction and management, climate change and development plans. It commits to building the capacity for dissemination of climate information to affected populations, tailored to their needs and changing climates.
    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to make sustained funding conditional on the systematic collection of feedback from affected people on the quality and utility of humanitarian programmes.
    • Financial
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to establishing a common approach to providing information to affected people and collecting, aggregating and analysing feedback from communities to influence decision-making processes at strategic and operational levels.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to adopt the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and International Aid Transparency Initiative Standard, with clear benchmarks for achieving these through the CHS Alliance self-assessment tool.
    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (6)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to reinforce national and local leadership and capacities in managing disaster and climate-related risks through strengthened preparedness and predictable response and recovery arrangements.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to increase investment in building community resilience as a critical first line of response, with the full and effective participation of women.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to ensure regional and global humanitarian assistance for natural disasters complements national and local efforts.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Cash-based programming

    • Cash based programming has been further integrated into the Norwegian Refugee Council's (NRC) project design and country teams training during the reporting period (through the Global Cash Delivery Consortium; consortia in Iraq and other country operations; and the Remote Cash Project). NRC actively promotes multi-purpose cash (MPCA) whenever appropriate and engages multilaterally to address delivery challenges through initiatives including the Global Cash Delivery Consortium, and Remote Cash Project, developing a unique expertise in delivering cash assistance in high-risk areas. 
    • NRC continued to use cash as a modality within sectorial and integrated programmes, primarily in the emergency phase when sector specific needs have not yet been identified. Recognising that cash-based interventions are not always the most appropriate response, NRC are not modality led, but prioritizes appropriate quality interventions on the basis of broad needs assessments. 
    • A particular focus moving forward is on supporting the transition from MPCA to a durable solution. 

    Keywords

    Cash, Local action

  • 4B
    Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC commits to contributing to disaster risk reduction and management efforts related to disaster and climate displacement through supporting capacity development to national authorities, regional and international institutions.
    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks through the coherent implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as other relevant strategies and programs of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to improve the understanding, anticipation and preparedness for disaster and climate-related risks by investing in data, analysis and early warning, and developing evidence-based decision-making processes that result in early action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    • The Norwegian Refugee Council's (NRC) Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) completed an analysis on the structural drivers of internal and cross-border displacement linked with conflict and disasters and disaster-related displacement risk. IDMC is applying innovative methods through the use of machine learning and big data analysis for an automated learning approach to identify the structural drivers of displacement. IDMC has already completed an initial analysis focused on disaster displacement; preliminary findings on our conflict displacement correlation analysis will be completed in the coming months. IDMC will publish findings in the 2018 Global Report on Internal Displacement. 
    • For more information, see attached NRC report.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    • NRC has been developing the Words into Action Guide for Implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030; addressing the reduction of risk of disaster displacement and strengthening the resilience of disaster-displaced people, expected to roll out to national practitioners and policy makers in 2018. 
    • IDMC will publish findings from its analysis of the drivers of internal and cross-border displacement in the 2018 Global Report on Internal Displacement. 

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    • Disaster risk management activities will have to be further reviewed to ensure they meet the specific needs of vulnerable populations, including those who are displaced or face a high risk of displacement. In particular, activities relevant to reducing disaster displacement risk and strengthening the resilience of disaster-displaced people should be considered, based on the realisation that resilience-building activities for the public at large will also benefit people with a high risk of displacement. 

    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction, Displacement

  • 4C
    Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC commits to bridging the gap between prevention, response and recovery by providing timely expert capacity to national and international stakeholders.
    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • NRC commits to always asking: Are we reaching those most in need of help and protection?
    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to a new way of working that meets people's immediate humanitarian needs, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years through the achievement of collective outcomes. To achieve this, commit to the following: a) Anticipate, Do Not Wait: to invest in risk analysis and to incentivize early action in order to minimize the impact and frequency of known risks and hazards on people. b) Reinforce, Do Not Replace: to support and invest in local, national and regional leadership, capacity strengthening and response systems, avoiding duplicative international mechanisms wherever possible. c) Preserve and retain emergency capacity: to deliver predictable and flexible urgent and life-saving assistance and protection in accordance with humanitarian principles. d) Transcend Humanitarian-Development Divides: work together, toward collective outcomes that ensure humanitarian needs are met, while at the same time reducing risk and vulnerability over multiple years and based on the comparative advantage of a diverse range of actors. The primacy of humanitarian principles will continue to underpin humanitarian action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Other-4C

    • Through NORCA, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) operate several rosters with standby personnel consisting of experienced professionals in areas of expertise that range from education, protection, health and nutrition to cluster coordination, camp management, legal affairs and peacebuilding. The Inter Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Protection Standby Capacity Project (ProCap) was created to build the capacity of relevant actors to strengthen the humanitarian protection response. ProCap is a UN inter-agency project, with a steering committee and support unit in OCHA. The Assessment Capacities Project (ACAPS) was established in 2009 to strengthen coordinated humanitarian needs assessments before, during, and after crises. ACAPS is led by a consortium of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Action Contre la Faim and Save the Children International.  
    • For more information, see attached NRC report.

  • 5A
    Invest in local capacities

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Other-5A

    For information, see attached NRC report.

  • 5B
    Invest according to risk

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks through the coherent implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as other relevant strategies and programs of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to invest in risk management, preparedness and crisis prevention capacity to build the resilience of vulnerable and affected people.
    • Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    For information, see attached NRC report.

  • 5D
    Finance outcomes, not fragmentation: shift from funding to financing

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC commits to encouraging donors to develop flexible funding mechanisms to bridge the gap between humanitarian and development action. It commits to advocating that funding for durable solutions to displacement is available during a humanitarian response, not after.
    • Advocacy
    • Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to enable coherent financing that avoids fragmentation by supporting collective outcomes over multiple years, supporting those with demonstrated comparative advantage to deliver in context.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
    • Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to broaden and adapt the global instruments and approaches to meet urgent needs, reduce risk and vulnerability and increase resilience, without adverse impact on humanitarian principles and overall action (as also proposed in Round Table on "Changing Lives").
    • Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    • Multi-year humanitarian financing. Endorsed in the Grand Bargain by donors, UN agencies and NGOs, multi-year humanitarian financing (MYHF) is assumed by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and related work stream co-conveners to bring a variety of benefits. NRC is currently acting as NGO co-champion in support to co-conveners of the multi-year funding work stream. The study commissioned by NRC, FAO and OCHA - Living up to the Promise of Multi-Year Humanitarian Financing -  explores when and where MYHF can have the greatest impact, and identifies the investments and enabling conditions required at the organisational and systemic levels for it to live up to its potential. The research also points towards the challenges that humanitarian actors now face in building a more predictable and responsive humanitarian system and identifies a set of new and emerging challenges related to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Building on the discussion stimulated by the report, NRC is now conducting an analysis of obstacles and solutions to transfer MYHF to partners.  
    • For more information, see attached NRC report.

  • 5E
    Diversify the resource base and increase cost-efficiency

    Individual Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • NRC commits to drawing upon its extensive experience with a diversity of donors to review current reporting practices, and advocate for harmonised narrative and reporting templates.
    • Operational
    • Invest in Humanity
    • NRC commits to maintaining strong risk management systems to minimise the risk of diversion of humanitarian assistance.
    • Operational
    • Invest in Humanity
    • NRC commits to adopt the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and International Aid Transparency Initiative Standard, with clear benchmarks for achieving these through the CHS Alliance self-assessment tool.
    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
    • Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    • Harmonisation and simplification of reporting. The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) played a key role in promoting the testing of a standard template (called 8+3) on narrative reporting. The pilot is currently ongoing in three country operations - Myanmar, Iraq and Somalia (encompassing more than 12 donors and 8 UN agencies joining the initiative). NRC is participating with 42 projects. Several other donors are now expressing an interest in discussing harmonisation of financial templates and harmonisation of cost classification system building on suggested solutions put forward by NRC and Boston Consulting Group in the Money where it counts project in line with workstream four. 
    • Reduce earmarking. In line with the Grand Bargain commitment to reduce earmarking, several donors are investing in pooled funds. To better understand the potential and challenges of these tools, NRC conducted a study to map pooled funds and provide recommendations for efficiency. Understanding Humanitarian Funds: Going Beyond Country-Based Pooled Funds maps the various pooled funds available for humanitarian response and resilience programming, identifies good practice and lessons, and provides recommendations for the existing pooled funds, which may also be useful for new and future pooled funds. Findings from the report were shared with OCHA as the Country-Based Pooled Funds manager, and with EU trust fund managers. Further thinking on complementarities between flexibility and predictability of funding is underway.
    • For more information, see attached NRC report.

    Keywords

    Country-based pooled funds

Attachments

  • WHS Commitments Attachments
    Transformation - 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, 2E, 3A, 3E, 3F, 3G, 4A, 4B, 4C, 5A, 5B, 5D, 5E | Displacement, IHL compliance and accountability, Protection