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Self Report 2019

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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  • 1B
    Act early

    Individual Commitments (8)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • In preparation for the international conference [i.e. World Prevention Forum], Italy will convene a regional forum on conflict prevention to identify and advance elements of successful conflict prevention, which include the participation of the private sector and civil society.


    • Policy
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Italy commits to encourage the Secretary-General to use his prerogative under Article 99 of the Charter as appropriate to brief the Security Council proactively on emerging issues.
    • Advocacy
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Italy commits to support early engagement with countries at risk of conflict, their regional partners and relevant regional/sub regional organizations, using tools such as timely visiting missions, interactive dialogues, and the role of the Presidency.
    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Italy requests that the Secretary-General develop a comprehensive plan to strengthen conflict prevention at the United Nations based on lessons learnt and recommendations emanating from the Advisory Group of Experts on the 2015 Review of the United Nations Peacebuilding Architecture, the Report of the High-level Independent Panel on Peace Operations, and the Global Study on the implementation of resolution 1325, in time for the World Prevention Forum by 2020.
    • Policy
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Italy will actively use early warning findings to identify, address and defuse critical risks before they deteriorate into intractable conflicts by using preventive diplomacy tools such as good offices, peace and development advisors, groups of contact and mediation.
    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Italy will strengthen and if necessary, develop comprehensive, shared frameworks for conflict and risk analysis including early warning mechanisms at the local, national, regional and international level.
    • Policy
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Italy will support the United Nations in convening a World Prevention Forum by 2020 to identify how Member States, the UN Secretariat, the Security Council and regional organizations can work more effectively together on conflict prevention and resolution.
    • Policy
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts

    • Italy will systemize gender and gender based violence (GBV) risk analysis in conflict analysis including the use of community and women informed local early warning mechanisms to identify and defuse conflicts early.


    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Leave No One Behind

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to act early upon potential conflict situations based on early warning findings and shared conflict analysis, in accordance with international law.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Commit to make successful conflict prevention visible by capturing, consolidating and sharing good practices and lessons learnt.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    In the framework of the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU), Grop of Seven (G7) and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Italy stressed the importance of addressing promptly situations at risk of crisis or conflict, including by promoting horizon-scanning meetings. It also welcomed and supported early preventive actions by the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) as well as by regional and sub-regional organizations. In order to strengthen DPA’s preventive capacities, Italy provided a financial contribution to the DPA Fund.

    Italy strongly supported Secretary-General Guterres’s efforts and proposals aimed at prioritizing prevention and sustaining peace. Italy supported, inter alia, the “Action for Peacekeeping” initiative, launched by Secretary-General Guterres in order to reinvigorate the role of peacekeeping as vital tool to maintain peace and make it more effective in the face of today’s challenges. Furthermore, Italy signed the “Declaration of Shared commitments on UN Peacekeeping Operations”, which commits the signatories to a stronger engagement to advance political solutions to conflicts, through a comprehensive approach to peacekeeping.

    The Italian Focal Point for the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) contributed to the discussions on this issue held in the framework of the Global Network of R2P Focal Points and the EU experts group on R2P, and provided inputs to the “Recommendations on promoting and operationalizing the Responsibility to Protect by the EU and EU Member States”, which include a specific reference to a the “EU Responsibility to protect - Atrocity prevention toolkit” to be distributed to all EU Delegations abroad as well as to Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions and operations. Italy strongly supported the “Atrocity Prevention & Responsibility to Protect Project” launched by the (former) Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on R2P Ivan Simonovic, aimed at the elaboration of a United Nations Atrocity Prevention Guidance for Practitioners. Italy co-chaired the Group of Friends of the Responsibility to Protect in New York and contributed to the activities of the one in Geneva.

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Institutional/Internal constraints
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Sometimes they influence the timeframe of actions and initiatives.

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

    Political will is essential in order to prevent and end conflicts and crises.

    Keywords

    Protection

  • 1C
    Remain engaged and invest in stability

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Italy commits to provide political support by organizing high-level meetings with a view to mobilizing support to prevent or resolve a crisis.
    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Italy will increase the number of staff working on conflict analysis, prevention and resolution in governments, regional and international organizations in 2017.
    • Capacity
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts

    Core Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to improve prevention and peaceful resolution capacities at the national, regional and international level improving the ability to work on multiple crises simultaneously.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Commit to sustain political leadership and engagement through all stages of a crisis to prevent the emergence or relapse into conflict.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Commit to address root causes of conflict and work to reduce fragility by investing in the development of inclusive, peaceful societies.
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Italy strongly supported the consolidation of the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, and promoted its activities and the development of synergies with similar networks, the UN, EU, OSCE and North Atlantic Treaty Organiztion (NATO). Italy funded DPA’s mediation efforts as well as specific capacity-building projects, in particular in Libya.

    Italy was an active member of the Peacebuilding Commission, and provided contributions to the Peacebuilding Fund in order to prevent a relapse into conflict. Italy organized high-level meetings with the aim to prevent or resolve a crisis. For example, in November 2018, Italy organized the Palermo Conference for and with Libya, in order to support the Libyan-owned stabilization process.

    Italy followed closely many international crises and engaged on a bilateral basis and in the framework of multinational organizations in order to preserve the stability of countries and prevent conflicts.

    Italy paid special attention to addressing the root causes of conflicts and promoted the meaningful participation of women, youth, religious leaders, civil society. To that end, it financed many projects.

    In the UN, EU and G7 framework, Italy highlighted the advantages of increasing the meaningful participation of women in conflict prevention and mediation.

    In 2018 Italy supported and promoted the Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, created by Italy in October 2017, in order to increase the number of women from the Mediterranean region involved in peacemaking and reconciliation efforts, in line with the Secretary General’s prevention and mediation agenda.In January 2018 Italy launched the “Responsibility to Protect in schools” project, an awareness-raising campaign on the “Responsibility to Protect” principles, aimed at high school students. Through a role-playing game, students were confronted with a fictitious but realistic scenario of a country at the risk of genocide.

     

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    Keywords

    Gender, Protection, Youth

  • 1D
    Develop solutions with and for people

    Individual Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • Italy commits to strengthening the active participation of women and youth in peacebuilding by linking the implementation of the New Deal to the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 2250 (2015).


    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Leave No One Behind
    • Italy will establish effective partnerships with relevant international and regional organizations, including the OSCE and African Union, for planning and delivering collective conflict prevention and resolutions strategies based on shared conflict analysis.
    • Partnership
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    • Italy will invest in strengthening civil society to work on conflict analysis, prevention and resolution.
    • Capacity
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Italy implemented its third National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security for 2017–2019, which promotes, inter alia, the meaningful participation of women and youth in peacebuilding. Funding (total amount of EUR 1 million) was provided to 8 projects presented by academia and civil society organizations in order to implement the NAP. The Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, launched by Italy in 2017, is meant to enhance women’s capacities and skills and facilitate their appointment as mediators, Special Envoys, etc. at a local and international levels. Italy co-sponsored UNSC Resolutions 2419 and 2427 on Youth, peace and security, and Children and armed conflicts respectively. It also nominated two Youth Delegates. Italy promoted the active involvement of women and youth in many statements and supported a number of projects to that end. Italy worked closely with the United Nations (in particular, with DPA's Mediation Unit and UN Women) in order to enhance UN conflict prevention and resolution capacities. Italy also supported an enhanced partnership between the UN and the EU in preventing and responding to conflicts.

    Italy supported women mediators, gender experts, activists and other civil society representatives in Mediterranean countries i.e. by facilitating their participation to international meetings, events and/or trainings, or by organizing conferences and round-tables. It approved and funded projects presented by civil society organizations.

    In January 2018, Italy launched the “Responsibility to Protect in schools” project.

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    3. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Meaningful engagement by institutions and civil society.

    Keywords

    Gender, Youth

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

    Individual Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Italy commits to support public-information campaigns, education, training and liaison with communities aimed at sensitizing affected populations to the risks posed by landmines and explosive hazards, by providing no less than EUR 2-2.5 million each year to UNMAS or ICRC or other implementing agents.
    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy commits to support humanitarian mine action programs aimed at clearing explosive remnants of war (ERW) by providing information and technical, financial and material assistance to locate, remove, destroy and otherwise render ineffective any type of explosive hazard.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy will support the inclusion of the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict into military manuals, doctrine and other means of dissemination.
    • Policy
    • 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. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    In 2018, Italy approved humanitarian mine action programs for a total amount of almost EUR 3.7 million for activities to be implemented in Afghanistan, Colombia,Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Somalia and Sudan, and in partnership with international organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and its MoveAbility Foundation, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and the Organization of American States (OAS). Advocacy activities are also carried out through UNMAS and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining​ (GICHD). Italy funds de-mining activities as well as sensitization and victim assistance. Moreover, Italy funded a pilot project in Bosnia and Jordan to include Sustainable Development Goals in Mine Action. In 2018, the Italian Cooperation approved the new “Guidelines for disability and social inclusion in cooperation interventions 2018”, aiming at giving an updated reference view of the sector, indicating approaches and strategies and providing useful recommendations for mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities in the interventions of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation. The Guidelines also refer to the importance of endorsing an integrated approach in mine action and humanitarian aid interventions aiming at assisting Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) survivors and their families and community, through sensitization, information and rehabilitation activities. Moreover, Italy funded the publication by GMAP of the “Operational Guidance: Victim assistance responsive to gender and other diversity aspects”, approved in 2018.

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Funding amounts
    • Human resources/capacity
    Keywords

    Disability

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

    Individual Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • Italy commits to actively promote the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence in humanitarian action by involving, whenever possible, faith based organizations in a constructive dialogue aimed at widening the humanitarian space provided that they are capillary, they are credible vis-à-vis the local communities and they are perceived as neutral.


    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy will review military rules of engagement and operational practice to include measures to protect the delivery of humanitarian assistance and health care.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy will train the military on the applicable legal framework for the protection of health care as well as ethical duties of health care personnel.
    • Training
    • 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. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Under 2018 Financial Law, Italy provided EUR 2 million to support the most vulnerable Christian communities. The projects financed under this law provision will be implemented in an inclusive manner, in compliance with the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence in the humanitarian action.

     

    Keywords

    Humanitarian principles, Religious engagement

  • 2D
    Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability

    Joint Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • Italy implements commitments made in the United Kingdom led PSVI "Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict" and ensure that investigations of SGBV crimes suffice the standards set in the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict, by 2018.


    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Partners: United Kingdom

    Individual Commitments (9)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Italy commits to actively focus on addressing long standing human rights concerns and grievances, including patterns of discrimination and marginalization, recognizing this as a key structural cause of conflict and instability within societies.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy commits to continuing to implement national legislation preventing, combating and prosecuting all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and ensuring the right of victims/survivors to effective assistance and protection.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy commits to designate focal points in relevant government branches responsible for promoting respect for international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law through diplomatic, economic and military relations.
    • Operational
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy commits to offer international humanitarian and human rights law training/dissemination sessions for armed forces. Italy will continue to offer human rights law training in favor of African peace-keepers provided by the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU) of Vicenza.
    • Training
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy commits to promote implementation of the Code of Conduct regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes
    • Advocacy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy declares its support for the Code of Conduct on mass atrocities.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy implements commitments made under the Call to Action on Protection from GBV in emergencies and its road map. Italy commits to advocate for inclusion of Call to Action considerations in relevant multilateral fora, to publish new national guidelines on addressing GBV and gender equality in humanitarian action,and to strengthen GBV services in Palestine.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy will continue to implement domestic legislation to prohibit/limit the use of schools and places of worship in support of the military effort.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy will review domestic legislation and its implementation to ensure that it is consistent with the obligation to respect and protect health care personnel, their means of transport and facilities, as well as humanitarian workers and objects used for humanitarian relief operations against attack.
    • Policy
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

    Core Commitments (3)

    • 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
    • Implement a coordinated global approach to prevent and respond to gender-based violence in crisis contexts, including through the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based Violence in Emergencies.
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Other

    Italy has a National Focal Point for the Responsibility to Protect and a National Focal Point for Women, Peace and Security, within the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 2018, Italy continued to provide specific training on international humanitarian and human rights law to armed and police forces. Thousands of foreign police officers, mainly from African and Asian countries, were trained by the Italian Carabinieri at the Centre of Excellence for Stability Police Units (CoESPU) in Vicenza. Courses at CoESPU are mainly focused on Rule of Law, International Humanitarian Law, Protection of Civilians, preventing sexual and gender-based violence in conflicts and the broader Women, Peace and Security Agenda. Other Italian institutes or centers also provide training on these subjects. Italy condemned all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, violence against the civilian population, in particular children and women, and called for greater cooperation in holding atrocity crimes perpetrators accountable. It also expressed its strong support to the International Criminal Court, its role and values.

    Gender-based violence prevention and response

    Concerning Italy's commitments under the Call to Action on Protection from Gender-based violence  (GBV) in emergencies, Italy promoted the inclusion of Call to Action considerations in relevant multilateral fora, including in the pledges for its candidature to the Human Rights Council, a number of EU Common Messages and documents, the G7 Development Ministers Declaration on “Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in International Assistance”, a number of statements delivered at formal or informal Security Council’s meetings, in relevant debates at the United Nations General Assembly, as well as in UN General Assembly and Human Rights Council  relevant resolutions and side events. Italy also strengthened its support to GBV services in Palestine in favor of women living in difficult conditions and victims of GBV and discrimination through multilateral and bilateral interventions.

    IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability

    Italy continued to support the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism to Assist in the Investigation and Prosecution of Persons Responsible for the Most Serious Crimes under International Law committed in the Syrian Arab Republic, and provided a financial contribution to enable it to work. Italy continued to support the “Code of Conduct regarding Security Council action against genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes” put forward by the Accountability, Coherence and Transparency Group (ACT). Specific mentions to the Code were made in the framework of the discussions on the UN Security Council’s reform and on the working methods of the Council.

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Adherence to standards and/or humanitarian principles
    • Field conditions, including insecurity and access
    • IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability
    Keywords

    Gender, IHL compliance and accountability

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

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Italy commits to engage constructively in the intergovernmental process as set out in Resolution 2 of the 32nd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 2015, to find agreement on features and functions of a potential forum of States and ways to enhance the implementation of IHL using the potential of the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent and IHL regional forums.
    • Partnership
    • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity
    • Italy will join a coordinated global effort to mobilize States, civil society and global leaders to enhance respect for international humanitarian, human rights and refugee law.
    • Advocacy
    • 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. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Italy attaches great importance to the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, which represents a fundamental and unique forum bringing together the world's largest humanitarian network, including all the States Parties of the Geneva Conventions.

    Italy engaged constructively in the intergovernmental process on strengthening respect for international humanitarian law, as set out by the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.

    In 2018, Italy participated in the informal meetings and in the fourth and five Formal Meetings of this process (May and December 2018), toward the 33rd International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. Italy always supported the creation of a potential forum of States as an important venue for States to exchange views regularly on IHL issues in a spirit of dialogue and cooperation, in order to enhance respect for IHL.

    Italy attaches the utmost importance to the protection and promotion of human rights, which represent a priority issue of its foreign policy. Italy actively participated in the activities of multilateral organizations in this field, such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as Italy believe they are of essence in order to mobilize States, civil society and global leaders to enhance respect for human rights.

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Buy-in
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    Keywords

    Humanitarian principles, IHL compliance and accountability

  • 3A
    Reduce and address displacement

    Individual Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • In support of localized programs, Italy will improve the predictability of both humanitarian and development financing through grant-based and concessional loans in favor of Lebanon and Jordan with large numbers of refugees and IDPs. On the occasion of the Syria donors' conference in London, Italy pledged a three years package (2016-2018) of both humanitarian and development aid amounting $ 400 million ($150 million grants, $200 million soft loans and $50 million debt swap agreement). Italy has already implemented projects in Ethiopia, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Sudan, supported with EUR 10 million from the creation of the EU Valletta Emergency Trust Fund on addressing the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa. The Trust Fund has a huge potential to boost resilience through actions aimed at creating socio-economic development, job opportunities and generate income, keeping a special focus on youth, women and hosting communities.


    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Leave No One Behind Invest in Humanity
    • Italy will provide long-term, predictable technical and financial support to the countries affected by the Syria crisis and communities with large number of refugees and IDPs, in such ways that improve services and inclusive economic opportunities.
    • Financial
    • Leave No One Behind

    • Italy will work to address the causes of internal displacement, and to support the voluntary return home in safety and dignity, local integration or settlement elsewhere if needed. Italy fully shares the proposal to put the dignity of affected people at the heart of humanitarian action. In this context Italy will focus its humanitarian projects - wherever possible - on the resilience and self-reliance of IDPs and refugees, using the cash-for-work tool. In Lebanon, Italy will double the number of schools rehabilitated (currently 74), and Italy we will bring to 50,000 by 2016 the total number of Syrian children involved in the school feeding program. Italy will continue to carry out - in co-operation with the Ministry of Interior and some Italian NGOs - a resettlement program in favor of the Syrian refugees ("humanitarian corridors") involving no less than 1,000 beneficiaries in the next two years.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • 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
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Other

    Italy funded humanitarian and development programmes to respond to the Syrian crisis for a total amount of EUR 45 million to cover immediate needs and address longer-term needs of both refugees and host communities. Italy rehabilitated 31 additional schools and provided school meals to 17,000 pupils in Lebanon, with projects implemented in partnerships with civil society organizations (CSOs)and international organizations. Italy assisted internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in: Iraq (EUR 5.6 million), countries of the Lake Chad basin (Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria with EUR 10 million), Horn of Africa and neighbouring countries (Ethiopia, Gibuti, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda with EUR 21 million), Libya (EUR 16 million), West Africa (Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conackry EUR 9.1 million), Palestine (EUR 5 million), Algeria (Saharawi refugees with EUR 1 million).

    Under the Africa Fund: In 2018, the Africa Fund transferred EUR 8 million to the European Union Trust Fund for Africa for improving self-resilience of refugees and host communities, along with for addressing root causes for migration, in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Gambia. In addition, EUR 2 milliono were allocated to the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation for projects in Ethiopia (improving birth registrations and fostering jobs for youth and women).

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Funding amounts
    • Human resources/capacity
    3. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Funding for cooperation activities related to protection of refugees and internally displaced persons should be increased.

    Capacities to gather and share data should be reinforced

    Keywords

    Community resilience, Displacement, Migrants

  • 3B
    Address the vulnerabilities of migrants and provide more regular and lawful opportunities for migration

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Italy will keep paying a particular attention to vulnerable migrants. Among them a special position is the one of unaccompanied minors (UM). In this respect Italy commits to increase the places available for UM in dedicated reception facilities (2,000 more places will be available in 2018) and moreover to improve the quality of services provided to UM, granting them services based on the principle of the superior interest of the child (before March 2019).
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Activities financed under the Africa Fund: In Libya, the Africa Fund supported the World Health Organization with more than EUR 1 million for enhancing medical treatment for migrants in detention centers, as well as a EUR 2 million programme implemented by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to protect children, particularly non-accompanied minors, in family support hubs. A similar initiative to protect children with UNICEF was also realized in Gambia. In Egypt, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Africa Fund supported increased healthcare access for 1,000 minor migrants and 400 vulnerable host community members and training activities for Community Health Volunteers. Another initiative in Egypt by UNHCR involved a programme of cash assistance to support 4,500 vulnerable Syrian refugees. In Niger Italy supported UNHCR with EUR 3 million for improving reception conditions in Niamey and Agadez for persons in need, along with support for IOM with EUR 1.5 million to assist migrants abandoned in the desert.

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Funding amounts
    • Human resources/capacity
    3. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    International cooperation to protect vulnerable categories of migrants, such as children and unaccompanied minors, should be strengthened and more coordinated.

    Keywords

    Cash, Displacement, Migrants

  • 3D
    Empower and protect women and girls

    Individual Commitments (7)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Italy commits to continue and tailor to crisis settings their support to the implementation of the targets for the 2030 Agenda on maternal, newborn and adolescent health to ensure safe delivery, emergency obstetric, ante natal and post-natal services in crisis settings, improved access to information on sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, emergency contraceptive services, voluntary family planning, and basic items for safe delivery and sanitary supplies, necessary medical and psychological services for SGBV survivors as well as improved capacity of health systems and workers with immediate effect.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind

    • Italy commits to ensuring that its humanitarian response plans and programs reflect the different needs and capacities of women, girls, men and boys with disabilities, by end of 2020.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Italy commits to providing support to national and local leadership to ensure that longer-term, collective programming incorporates gender equality analysis and concrete steps to empower women and girls.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind

    • Italy commits to request the Secretary General to ensure that all Secretary General Reports and any briefings to the Council from a UN or non-governmental agency include sex and age disaggregated data and take into account findings and recommendations on women's rights and gender equality by human rights bodies and mechanisms.


    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind

    • Italy commits to strengthen measures to prevent and avoid disaster-induced displacement by integrating this risk into climate change adaptation and disaster risk management strategies.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy commits to strengthening the active participation of women and youth in peacebuilding by linking the implementation of the New Deal to the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 1325 (2000) and 2250 (2015).


    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Leave No One Behind

    • Italy will systemize gender and gender based violence (GBV) risk analysis in conflict analysis including the use of community and women informed local early warning mechanisms to identify and defuse conflicts early.


    • Operational
    • Political Leadership to Prevent and End Conflicts Leave No One Behind

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the Outcome documents of their review conferences for all women and adolescent girls in crisis settings.
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Other

    Italy implemented its third National Action Plan (NAP) on Women, Peace and Security for 2017–2019, which promotes, inter alia, the meaningful participation of women and youth in peacebuilding. Funding (for a total amount of EUR 1 million) was provided to 8 projects presented by academia and civil society organizations in order to implement the NAP. The Mediterranean Women Mediators Network, launched by Italy in 2017, is meant to enhance women’s capacities and skills and facilitate their appointment as mediators, Special Envoys, etc. at local and international level. Italy co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2419 and 2427 on Youth, peace and security, and Children and armed conflicts respectively. It also nominated two Youth Delegates. Italy promoted the active involvement of women and youth in many statements and supported a number of projects to that end. Humanitarian Programmes on sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and gender equality were launched in Syria (UNFPA/UNDP - EUR 1 million), Regional - Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan (UNFPA EUR 2 million ; civil society organizations EUR 3.8 million; UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia EUR 200,000), Afghanistan (UNFPA - EUR 1 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (UNFPA – EUR 500,000). Activities on gender equality, sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence and maternal malnutrition were implemented in partnership with CSOs in Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Sudan. More programmes were funded with development funds in Jordan, Palestine, Somalia, and Sudan.

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    Keywords

    Gender, Youth

  • 3G
    Address other groups or minorities in crisis settings

    Individual Commitments (6)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • Italy commits to ensuring that its humanitarian response plans and programs reflect the different needs and capacities of women, girls, men and boys with disabilities, by end of 2020.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Italy endorses the Charter on inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action and commits towards its implementation.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Italy will collect quantitative and qualitative data on persons with disabilities, disaggregated by age and sex, that are comparable, reliable and ethically collected.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Italy will develop and implement advocacy and awareness raising programs to enhance the understanding of the needs of persons with disabilities to all humanitarian actors willing to strengthen their response towards persons with disabilities.
    • Advocacy
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Italy will identify a disability focal point and/or establish technical help desks, in order to mainstream the issue of disability within humanitarian aid programs and manage specific actions for people with disabilities.
    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind
    • Italy will support the development and implementation of global guidelines on disability inclusion in humanitarian action to be initiated in 2016.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    In 2018, Italian Cooperation approved the new “Guidelines for disability and social inclusion in cooperation interventions 2018”.

    Italy is implementing a pilot programme in Jordan (EUR 700,000) to include people with disabilities in humanitarian projects and to collect quantitative and qualitative data, train staff, raise awareness and advocate on the need of persons with disabilities.  A new Linking relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRD) programme was launched in 2018 (EUR 1 million) to improve local services for people with disabilities.

    Programmes targeting people with disabilities were funded in Afghanistan (EUR 500,000), Egypt (EUR 1.5 million), Iraq (EUR 1 million), Lebanon (EUR 1 million), Palestine (EUR 500,000), Senegal (EUR 1 million) and Somalia (EUR 250,000),

    More activities, implemented by CSOs, were funded in Ethiopia,Guinea Bissau, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Senegal and South Sudan.

    In 2018, Italy continued its engagement in the implementation – in partnership with  Spanish Agency for Development Cooperation (AECID), the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the European Disability Forum (EDF) and the International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) - of the project “Bridging the gap"  for implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in Burkina Faso, Etiopia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Sudan. The project is financed by the European Commission and coordinated by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIIAPP).

    In 2018, Italy funded for a total amount of EUR 3 million the Programme for Humanitarian Impact Investment (PHII) established by the ICRC aiming at finding additional ways to finance vital services for people with disabilities in conflict-hit countries.

    See also Commitment  2A on Victim assistance and de-mining.

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action
    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Funding amounts
    • Human resources/capacity
    Keywords

    Disability

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

    Individual Commitments (6)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Italy commits to align its support behind national and local resilience efforts, and provide vulnerable people with a mix of short term assistance to address immediate needs and longer-term assistance to improve self-reliance.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy commits to increase coverage of shock responsive social protection systems, introduce safety nets in fragile contexts, and move chronically affected populations onto these programs incrementally by 2030.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy commits to increase investment in building community resilience as a core foundation of national risk management efforts, the key elements of which could include: raising awareness of critical risks and how all community members may be affected; collaboration between local government, businesses and neighborhoods in tackling their most important risks; ensuring women's participation; reinforcing local infrastructure; and improving communities' capacity to provide a coordinated first response.


    • Financial
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy commits to the participation of civil society, including local women's groups, and the private sector in the design, implementation and monitoring of disaster risk management policies and programs.


    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy commits to translate into operational terms the goal of cash-based delivery of assistance as preferred method, where contexts allow.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Recognizing the potentially transformative power of humanitarian cash transfers Italy commits to ensuring that cash is equally considered alongside other response modalities throughout a humanitarian response and that where feasible, cash is used as the preferred and default modality and to building internal capacity to carry out cash programming.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • 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. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Other

    Italy held the Presidency of the European Platform on disaster risk reduction, by organizing the European Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR), which took place in Rome on 21-23 November 2018. Participants were experts from national governments, UN and international organizations, NGOs, academia, civil society and private sector. The main topic of discussion at the event was “Resilience as a response to natural and man-made risks”. The goal was to continue on the path under way to foster the synergy between structural prevention activities, i.e.  civil protection prevention actions, and building a solid risk culture among the citizens. Among the topics, climate change was also addressed. The Forum discussions focused particularly on the disaster resilience of cities. The mayors of Italian cities who committed to specific resilience objectives within the “Making cities resilient” UN campaign received the certificate of “United Nations resilient cities”. Nearby the Auditorium of Confindustria, where the Forum was held, the Exhibit on Italian earthquakes was hosted, from 20 to 26 November, in a space thought and designed to make visitors and participants visit and experience an earthquake through the “seismic room” and better understand seismic hazards which affect most part of the Italian territory.

    Keywords

    Community resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction, Emergency Response

  • 4B
    Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

    Individual Commitments (14)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • Italy commits to develop or reinforce domestic rules, procedures and institutional arrangements for facilitating and regulating international disaster assistance.


    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy commits to agree on actions that should be undertaken, within defined timelines, once a heightened risk of an El Niño or La Niña event is confirmed.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy commits to create national preparedness strategies and/or partnerships to strengthen national and local emergency management systems for natural disasters, which include: a) inclusive contingency plans for response and recovery that set out clear lines of responsibility, triggers for early action, and pre-committed finance; and include, when regional and global support is required, in what form and how it will be coordinated; b) identification of populations at risk of displacement, and evacuation corridors and sites; c) long-term investment in national and local preparedness, response and recovery capacities capable of responding to natural hazards, including civil protection, social protection, basic services, agriculture and other systems.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy commits to develop bilateral and regional contingency plans that identify transboundary disaster displacement risk scenarios.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy commits to enhance countries'™ preparedness, and accelerate this initially in twenty of the most at-risk countries, so they reach a minimum level of readiness by 2020.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy commits to establish early warning systems with thresholds to trigger urban response protocols for city-level analysis, including urban housing analysis to ensure depiction of affected urban households.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy commits to increase national capacity for disaster risk analysis by the establishment of institutional partnership between the Italian Cooperation and the Italian Civil Protection by 2020.
    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy commits to invest in national early warning capacity in a disciplined manner that leverages global and regional support structures, is cost effective, reaches the last mile, and engages the private sector.
    • Financial
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy commits to make the private sector an integral part of natural disaster response and recovery planning, and to promote business continuity.


    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy commits to strengthen measures to prevent and avoid disaster-induced displacement by integrating this risk into climate change adaptation and disaster risk management strategies.


    • Operational
    • Leave No One Behind Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy commits to take a more systematic and integrated approach to risk management through measures that better integrate planning in climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, response and recovery, and through closer collaboration between different sectors and partners, so that investments in each are complementary, and based on a common analysis of risk and costs.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy commits to the participation of civil society, including local women's groups, and the private sector in the design, implementation and monitoring of disaster risk management policies and programs.


    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy re-commits to, in line with the principles and concepts of the Oslo Guidelines, endorse common humanitarian civil-military standards for deploying, receiving, integrating and coordinating foreign military assets in natural disasters.
    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy will commit to achieve the Sendai Framework target to increase people's access to multi-hazard early warning systems, and disaster risk information and assessments by 2030, including through initiatives, such as the Climate Risk Early Warning Systems.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    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 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. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Other

    In 2018, the Italian Cooperation confirmed its contribution of EUR 2 million to the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR). GFDRR is a grant-funding mechanism, managed by the World Bank, supporting disaster risk management projects worldwide.

    In the framework of the national response plan to El Niño launched in 2016, in 2018 the Italian Cooperation funded a programme to assist people affected by El Niño and La Niña in Southern Africa (Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zimbabwe for EUR 5 million) and Ethiopia (EUR 2 million).

    More activities in the field of disaster risk reduction and response were also funded in Bosnia (Italian Civil Protection and UNDP); Eritrea (FAO); Guatemala (IFRC); Indonesia (IFRC); Laos (IFRC); Niger (FAO); Tonga (IFRC) andTunisia (IFRC).

    Regarding the reinforcement of domestic rules, Italy introduced at national level a law on civil protection which reinforced the legal basis for facilitating and regulating the request and receipt of international disaster assistance as well as the provision of international assistance to third countries.

     

    Preparedness

    Moreover, in relation to national preparedness strategies, Italy compiled a national risk assessment through the cooperation of the main national research centers. Such strategy is the first step in the process of achieving a multi-sector Italian national strategy for disaster risk reduction and will involve the National Platform for disaster risk reduction, where all relevant Ministries and bodies are represented.

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Funding amounts
    • Human resources/capacity
    Keywords

    Climate Change, Disaster Risk Reduction, Preparedness

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

    Individual Commitments (5)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • Italy commits to actively explore ways to increase financing options (eg. short-term and long-term; grants, loans and other financing tools) to ensure humanitarian needs are met, and reduce people'™s risk and vulnerability, aimed at supporting the achievement of collective outcomes over multiple years.


    • Financial
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Italy commits to improve synergy between humanitarian and development actors in West Africa and in countries affected by the Syrian crisis and by the Niño (Horn of Africa and Mozambique by 2020 based on demonstrated comparative advantage relevant to each context).
    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy commits to increase expenditures on and/or technical assistance provided for research and development to promote innovative solutions that reduce risk and vulnerability.


    • Financial
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Italy commits to investing in capacity building and deployment mechanisms, particularly in the global south, so that requesting countries can more effectively receive pre-verified and quality assured capacities, such as emergency medical teams.
    • Capacity
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • Italy re-commits to the proper and coherent use, and the effective coordination of foreign military assets in humanitarian action.


    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Other

    The 3-year Programming and Policy Planning Document 2019-2021 foresees the revision of the Italian Development Effectiveness Plan of Action per OECD-DAC recommendations, which includes the introduction of the Policy Guidelines on the humanitarian-development-peace nexus (Triple Nexus). The new Guidelines, currently under preparation, will provide: 1) an overall policy strategy on coordination, programming and financing ; 2) conflict sensitive and context specific tools to address fragility. They will also provide incentives to implement a more coherent, complementary and collaborative humanitarian, development and peace action, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected situations and protracted crises.  A joint working group was formed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI), the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), civil society organizations and academia to draft the guidelines.

    Significant elements of flexibility and complementarity have been already introduced in the programming and financing of humanitarian and resilience interventions. Together with the EU and EU Member States, Italy participates on the nexus operationalization process carried out in Sudan, as an EU pilot country, in two selected areas (under-nutrition and forced displacement). In the field, Italy continues its efforts to respond to crises using both humanitarian and development instruments wherever possible. It is the case of the response to the Syrian and Libyan crises.

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Grand Bargain
    • New Way of Working
    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Joined-up humanitarian-development analysis, planning, funding and/or response
    Keywords

    Humanitarian-development nexus

  • 5A
    Invest in local capacities

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Italy commits to contribute to a reconfiguration of the international humanitarian financing system to allow critical front-line responder to access adequate, timely and quality funding on a fair basis by: 1) empowering national NGOs to play a central role in programming and delivering principled and coordinated humanitarian assistance; 2) ensuring front-line responders are included in collective coordination platforms and have a seat at the table in collective response processes, thereby promoting stronger partnerships and increased direct access of local and national front-line responding NGOs to humanitarian funding.
    • Financial
    • Invest in Humanity

    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. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Other

    Italy continues to favour an approach towards localization of the response and participation of affected communities as key drivers to enhance efficiency and sustainability of humanitarian action. Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) local offices strive to enhance partnerships and consortia between international and local civil society organizations in order to boost local capacities. The current legal framework and operational procedures have been revised with a focus on new modalities aiming at strengthening the participation of local civil society organizations. Further improvements currently under discussion include the translation of Calls for Proposals for bilateral initiatives and project template into different communication languages e.g. project proposal and monitoring reports to tackle linguistic barriers and the revision of procedures according to international standards. Out of 48 call for proposals launched in 2017-2018, a total of 5 projects implemented by local civil society organizations were awarded to be implemented in Lebanon (2), Palestine (2) and Mali (1). Local responders participation was confirmed for 2 years in a row in Palestine and Lebanon, and for the first time in Mali, as evidence of increasing interest. As for initiatives carried out through international organizations s, AICS continued to fund IFRC programs worldwide, implemented through Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies (EUR 2.5 million in 2018).

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Grand Bargain
    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Information management/tools
    Keywords

    Local action, Quality and accountability standards

  • 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. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    In 2018, Italian Civil Protection carried out the following projects financed or co-financed by the European Commission:

    - PRO NEWS (Program for Improving National Early Warning System and flood prevention) continued to provide technical assistance to Albanian partners meeting under the coordination of the Directorate General for Civil Emergencies in order to increase flood risk management capabilities.

    - IPA DRAM (Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance - Disaster Risk Assessment and Mapping) improved the Civil protection authorities’ capacities in beneficiary countries of managing risk analysis and mapping. In this regard, technical workshops, exchange of experts and a regional workshop were carried out.

    In the Mediterranean area:

    - PROMEDHE project (Protecting Mediterranean Cultural Heritage During Disasters), focused on the protection of cultural heritage in case of natural disasters. It ended its activities with an international exercise involving all beneficiaries, namely Cyprus Civil Defence, Palestinan Civil Defence, National Emergency Management Agency of Israel and Jordan Civil Defence.

    - IPCAM II (Increasing Preparedness Capacities Across the Mediterranean) project, which had the National Office of civil protection of Tunisia as a beneficiary, supported the development of national operational procedures for requesting international assistance and for receiving and deploying European civil protection modules under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

    - PPRD SOUTH 3 (Prevention, Preparedness and Response to Natural and Man-Made Disasters in Middle East and North Africa Partnership Countries).

    - CULTURE CANNOT WAIT project, aimed at defining elements of a European methodology to address protection of cultural heritage during emergencies and supporting interested countries in the development of national capacities for the protection of cultural heritage during disasters, and at establishing a multinational, multi-sectoral capacity for supporting national and international response in case of emergencies.

    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Institutional/Internal constraints
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    • Strengthening national/local systems
    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction, Preparedness

  • 5C
    Invest in stability

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • Italy commits to allocating additional, predictable resources to the Peacebuilding Fund of at least EUR 2.5 million by 2020 to allow the Fund to continue operations at the current level of $100 million per year.


    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Invest in Humanity

    • Italy commits additional funding in the amount of at least EUR 2 million by 2020 to support the UN's conflict prevention capacities, in particular conflict analysis and the good offices function and will advocate for the use of regular budget funds for conflict prevention.


    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Invest in Humanity
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    In 2018, Italy pledged EUR 600,000 to the Peacebuilding Fund. The total contribution to the Fund since 2016 has been EUR 2.2 million. In 2018, Italy pledged EUR 1.4 million to support the conflict-prevention and mediation activities of the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA). Since 2016, Italy has disbursed a total amount of approximately EUR 3.3 million to DPA.

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Grand Bargain
    • New Way of Working
    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Field conditions, including insecurity and access
    • Funding amounts
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    3. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Efforts by all UN Member States in order to increase their financial contributions to the Peacebuilding Fund and to DPA, and willingness to find a compromise solution to the issue of sustainability of funds for conflict prevention and sustaining peace

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

    Individual Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • In support of localized programs, Italy will improve the predictability of both humanitarian and development financing through grant-based and concessional loans in favor of Lebanon and Jordan with large numbers of refugees and IDPs. On the occasion of the Syria donors' conference in London, Italy pledged a three years package (2016-2018) of both humanitarian and development aid amounting $ 400 million ($150 million grants, $200 million soft loans and $50 million debt swap agreement). Italy has already implemented projects in Ethiopia, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Sudan, supported with EUR 10 million from the creation of the EU Valletta Emergency Trust Fund on addressing the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons in Africa. The Trust Fund has a huge potential to boost resilience through actions aimed at creating socio-economic development, job opportunities and generate income, keeping a special focus on youth, women and hosting communities.


    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Leave No One Behind Invest in Humanity

    • Italy commits to actively explore ways to increase financing options (eg. short-term and long-term; grants, loans and other financing tools) to ensure humanitarian needs are met, and reduce people'™s risk and vulnerability, aimed at supporting the achievement of collective outcomes over multiple years.


    • Financial
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Recognizing that, within a country context, humanitarian, development, peacebuilding, stabilization and climate finance should be more coherent, Italy commits to 1) removing the internal institutional barriers between humanitarian and development finance, both in capitals/headquarters and at country level, in order to mobilize the right mix of humanitarian and development finance and to 2) strengthening the mechanisms for coordination at country level and globally to maximize policy coherence.
    • Operational
    • Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • 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. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    See information under: 5E on earmarking, 4C on Humanitarian/Development Nexus, 3A on the Syrian crisis.  See also the attached Grand Bargain self-report. 

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Grand Bargain
    • New Way of Working
    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Information management/tools

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

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Italy commits to increase by 100% (from EUR 1 to 2 million) its contributions to the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help ensure its expansion to $1 billion annually by 2018, and to increase the percentage of ODA targeted at the most fragile and conflict affected countries.
    • Financial Contribution ()
    • Invest in Humanity
    • Italy commits to: 1) endorsing the commitments under the Grand Bargain; and 2) agreeing to reporting requirements that are simplified, proportionate, and coherent (harmonized to best practice).
    • Policy
    • 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. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Italy uses revolving funds (Emergency Bilateral Funds - EBF), replenished yearly through voluntary contributions to specific International Organizations, to allow timeliness in humanitarian response. In 2018, Italy funded EBFs for a total amount of EUR 17.5 million.

    Italy increased the use of cash-based assistance in humanitarian aid and fragile states initiatives, funding 18 humanitarian aid programs including cash-based assistance. A significant increase of contributions to initiatives including cash-based assistance was registered (from EUR 12 million in 2017 to EUR 24.5 million in 2018). Programs including cash-based assistance were developed in Bangladesh, Libya, Mali, Myanmar, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen. In general, women's households are the priority target of cash-based assistance.

    Italy participated to the "Harmonized Narrative Reporting Pilot" in 3 countries (Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia). Italy continued to revise, simplify and harmonize current bilateral procedures and modalities, also taking into due consideration feedbacks coming from partners. The common reporting format (8+3 template) was adopted by civil society organizations in the Call for Proposals launched in the 3 pilot countries. International organizations that received funds from Italy and endorsed the Common Reporting as implementing partners were requested to adopt the 8+3 template in reporting to Italy.

    Italy funded increased the support to the Central Emergency Response Fund (EUR 2.5 million) and the use of country-based pooled funds (2.000.000 euro). Out of the total humanitarian aid budget for 2018 (EUR 131.5 million), a total amount of  EUR 9.97 million were directed to  un-earmarked/softly earmarked initiatives.        

    Italy is a Grand Bargain signatory. See also GB self report 2018. 

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Grand Bargain
    2. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Information management/tools
    Keywords

    Cash, Country-based pooled funds

Attachments

  • Italy - Grand Bargain self-report narrative 2018
    Transformation - 4A, 4C, 5A, 5D, 5E | Cash, Country-based pooled funds, Humanitarian-development nexus, Quality and accountability standards | Grand Bargain
  • Italy - Grand Bargain self-report spreadsheet 2018
    Transformation - 4A, 4C, 5A, 5D, 5E | Cash, Country-based pooled funds, Humanitarian-development nexus, Quality and accountability standards | Grand Bargain