Summary: 1 - 3 September 2010 - Workshop, Oasis Centre

This workshop is designed for researchers who are working with or on a research programme, project or organisation. It aims to introduce principles and tools to effectively communicate research to inform pro-poor policy. A two and a half day interactive workshop comprising:

 Two days training to introduce principles and tools to effectively communicate research to inform pro-poor policy.

 A half-day surgery to review participants’ work and seek one-to-one support from facilitators and peers


Participants will be asked to develop and send a summary of their research (or area of work) and identify challenges and opportunities to address during the sessions.

Aims: By the end of the workshop participants will be able to:

1. Identify and prioritise their main audiences

2. Develop three key messages for their main audiences

3. Understand, design and use a range of communications tools including

-policy briefs: participants will be able to outline a policy brief
-the media: participants will be able to write a press release and/or an Op-ed
-a range of web-based tools: participants will be able to edit/create a Wikipedia entry


Course fee: £600 (inclusive of VAT) - The fee includes workshop registration, materials, lunches and refreshments for the three workshop days.


For more information and enrolment details, please visit:

http://www.odi.org.uk/events/details.asp?id=2452&title=communications-policy-influence

Summary: ALNAP is launching a project that will make use of Web 2.0 tools - including forums, blogs, member information pages and others as deemed relevant and appropriate to encourage and foster thematically focused 'communities of practice' (COPs) that we believe exist across the ALNAP membership.

The objective is to better mobilise, facilitate and strengthen these communities to improve knowledge sharing and communication around the common challenges faced by the humanitarian sector.

ALNAP is seeking a consultant(s) to help design, launch and implement this project as well as support its ongoing development. S/He will work with the ALNAP Secretariat to develop the techniques and select appropriate tools to achieve the projects goals. S/He will play an active role in the facilitation of online communities and related activities, as well as supporting ALNAP staff to do the same, to ensure sustainability of the effort.


Outputs and Deliverables
- To identify practices and communication tools that will increase the use of the ALNAP website as a platform for thematically focused communities of practice. Possible themes include impact assessments, evaluations of humanitarian action, innovations, and the role of the media in disasters,
- To identify and help establish appropriate tools to initiate, mobilise and facilitate communities of interest across the ALNAP membership.
- To initiate the use of specific selected tools, and actively facilitate key emerging communities.
- To provide strategic and day-to-day advice and support to ALNAP Secretariat in facilitation of the online communities.

The deadline for expressions of interest to reach ALNAP is 12pm GMT, Friday 23rd July 2010.

For more information, visit:

http://www.alnap.org/vacancy/234.aspx

Summary: For people affected by conflict, livelihoods and protection are intimately linked. People not only face threats to their safety and dignity through violence and displacement, but the destruction of livelihoods is frequently a direct or indirect consequence of war. In response, people are often faced with difficult choices between safety and dignity and economic survival. Yet despite these connections, and despite the increased commitment of many aid actors to protection and livelihoods programming in conflict situations, efforts to link these programmes remain limited.

This event highlights the findings of a new HPG report Challenging Choices: Protection and Livelihoods which aims to understand how greater complementarily between livelihoods and protection can achieve better outcomes for those affected by conflict.

Drawing on case studies from Chechnya, Darfur, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Sri Lanka, the speakers will demonstrate the inter-connections between protection and livelihoods in terms of the threats people face and their actions in response. Arguing for greater linkages between these two programming areas, the speakers will highlight examples of where protection and livelihoods interventions have been linked in practice.

Chair:Helen Young, Professor & Research Director - Nutrition & Livelihoods, Feinstein International Center, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University


Speakers:
Susanne Jaspers - Research Fellow Humanitarian Policy Group.
Sorcha O’Callaghan - Research Fellow, Humanitarian Policy Group.

Discussant:
Margie Buchanan-Smith – Independent food security and livelihoods specialist

For more information, click here

http://www.odi.org.uk/events/details.asp?id=2363&title=challenging-choices-protection-livelihoods-conflict

Summary: Volume 34: supplement 2, April 2010

Guest edited by Dennis Dijkzeul, Joost Herman and Dorothea Hilhorst

This special issue of Disasters examines what one may call ‘the social life of humanitarian action’. It deals with questions of how humanitarian action is shaped in practice and how it affects the societies where it is implemented. The articles constitute a selection of more than 450 papers presented at the first World Conference of Humanitarian Studies (WCHS), held in Groningen, The Netherlands, in February 2009, which was the first conference of its kind to explore the growing field of humanitarian studies that examines how humanitarian crises evolve, how they affect people, institutions and societies, and the responses that they trigger.

The issue distinguishes three dimensions of the social life of humanitarian action: first, the normative dimension where humanitarian action draws on different sets of principles and objectives, which often clash in practice; second, the complex processes that shape humanitarian action in everyday practice; and third, the ways in which it affects society at large, changing people’s outlooks, altering power constellations, transforming institutions and leaving footprints on spatial organisation.


To access this journal, click on the link below.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123319385/issue

Summary:
• NOW ONLINE - Issue 47 of the Humanitarian Exchange magazine, guest edited by Chris Finucane and Maarten Merkelbach from the Security Management Initiative, focuses on humanitarian safety and security. The articles in this issue are intended to encourage critical thinking on risk management issues and, in some cases, challenge existing security management norms.

• Issue 48 of the Humanitarian Exchange magazine, to be published in September 2010, will explore lessons learned from the international humanitarian response to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

• The revised edition of the ‘Good Practice Review: Operational Security Management in Dangerous Environments’ will be published in September 2010. This publication will also be available in French and Spanish towards the end of the year.

Event Information: Safety with Dignity: Integrating community-based protection into humanitarian programming, by Kate Berry and Sherryl Reddy

22 April 2010 10:30- 12:00 GMT presentation and discussion
12:00 – 13:00 GMT – sandwich lunch and networking


Network Paper 68 explores the concept and practice of community-based protection and identifies means for increasing and strengthening it. This paper draws on ActionAid's publication ‘Safety with Dignity: A Field Manual for Integrating Community-based Protection across Humanitarian Programmes’, which aims to provide practical guidance for field staff working in humanitarian and development settings on how to integrate community-based protection across sectors and contexts.

In this event, the panel will discuss how effective protection for crisis affected people requires strong and genuine partnership between communities, states and international actors, in order to understand and address the complex factors involved in achieving safety and dignity for people in crisis situations. A short film will also be shown.

Speakers:
Amany Abouzeid- Human Security and Policy Coordinator, ActionAid
Brendan Ross- Middle East Director, ActionAid

Chair:
Wendy Fenton - Humanitarian Practice Network Coordinator (HPN)

To register to attend this event, click here-

http://www.odi.org.uk/events/details.asp?id=2163&title=safety-dignity-integrating-community-based-protection-into-humanitarian-programming

Summary: Articles in the latest issue of Disasters explore mental health training following 9/11, the societal impacts of natural disasters and disaster response coordination through social networks.

For the full table of contents or to subscribe or submit an article visit www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/disa

http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/disa

Summary: The Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in humanitarian action (ALNAP) works with key humanitarian organisations and experts from across the humanitarian sector and is dedicated to improving humanitarian performance by producing tools and analysis to increase learning and accountability,

ALNAP’S guide Evaluating Humanitarian Action using the OECD-DAC Criteria , by Tony Beck looks at how to strengthen evaluation of humanitarian assistance, and how to foster more effective use of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) evaluation criteria. It draws on good-practice material including other guides, handbooks and manuals.

If you would like more information on ALNAP, visit the website or download this guide at

http://www.alnap.org/resource/5253.aspx

Summary: Please note the following corrections to the article ‘Internal Displacement in the occupied Palestinian territory,‘ by Karine MacAllister and Karim Khalil which appears in the latest issue of the Humanitarian Exchange.

Corrections

Page 16, 2nd paragraph
"Moreover, for many international and national NGOs the patterns of displacement in their severity and consistency revealed an undeclared Israeli policy of forced displacement, for the purpose of divesting Palestinian ownership guaranteed under international law, and in doing so placing at risk the notion of two state solutions."

Page 18, 3rd paragraph
“There are certainly considerable constraints in searching for durable solutions based on the individual and preferred choice of the IDP, such as return and property restitution. Restitution or return in the West Bank has largely been confined to areas under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction (Areas A and B), whereas most displacement is confined to Area C and East Jerusalem. In Gaza, Israeli sanctions on construction materials mean that reconstruction projects for over 15,000 housing units remain at a standstill, and return to the status quo ante is unlikely. For the vast majority of Palestinians displaced in West Bank and Gaza, the return of those forcibly displaced remains tied to reversal of policies of occupation which entails their displacement."

Summary: The signature of the Sphere-INEE* companionship agreement in October 2008 is a key achievement for humanitarian action as it formally recognises the importance of education as a humanitarian response and the quality of the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, Chronic Crises and Early reconstruction as the reference tool for the provision of these services – along with food, shelter, health, and water and sanitation – in emergency and post-crisis recovery contexts.

Today, the question is no longer ‘is education life-saving?’ but ‘how can the Sphere-INEE companionship better ensure that humanitarian responses meet the needs and rights of populations affected by crises?’ In a joint paper, Sphere and INEE examine the companionship’s history and its implications and promises for greater quality and accountability in humanitarian action.

You can find this paper on the Sphere and INEE websites: www.sphereproject.org and www.ineesite.org.

http://www.sphereproject.org

Summary: The Report is the first biennial global assessment of disaster risk reduction prepared in the context of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR).

The Report was coordinated by the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Secretariat, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the ProVention Consortium, the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute and a wide range of other ISDR partners.

The over-riding message of the Report is that reducing disaster risk can also help in reducing poverty, safeguarding development and adapting to climate change, with beneficial effects on broader global security, stability and sustainability. Given the urgency posed by climate change, the Report forcefully argues the case for taking action now.

http://www.preventionweb.net/english/hyogo/gar/report/index.php?id=1130&pid:34&pif:3

Summary: A virtual issue of Disasters - The leading journal on disaster studies, policy and management - brings together articles on the impact of the 2004 tsunami and the efforts to provide immediate relief and rebuild.

http://www.wiley.com/bw/vi.asp?ref=0361-3666&site=1#276

Summary: The International Humanitarian Studies Association will create a network of people engaged in humanitarian studies regardless of their ideological opinion, school of thought, scientific discipline or origins. The IHSA equally welcomes academic scholars, consultants, policy researchers, and reflective practitioners among its membership. IHSA will be hosted by Disaster Studies at Wageningen University, the Netherlands. Website: www.ihsa.info

Alex de Waal, Program Director at the Social Science Research Council, New York, is the president, and Dorothea Hilhorst, Professor of Humanitarian Aid and Reconstruction, Wageningen, the general secretary. Board members are: Yasemin Aysan, Mihir Bhatt, Ian Christoplos, Dennis Dijkzeul, Virginia Acosta Garcia, Paul Harvey, Peter Walker.

Membership is free for the first two years.

http://www.ihsa.info

Summary: Developed by Sophia Swithern, Humanitarian and Conflict Policy Adviser, Oxfam GB and Rachel Hastie, Protection Adviser, Oxfam GB.

This training pack is intended to help humanitarian workers to improve the safety of civilians being subjected to violence, coercion, or deliberate deprivation. The pack includes modules on:

• What is protection?
• Planning a programme
• Mainstreaming protection
• Programming for protection

The activity sessions within the modules cover topics as diverse as international standards for civilian protection, objective setting, indicators and monitoring, humanitarian negotiation, co-ordination and alliance building, reducing the risk of sexual violence and advocacy for humanitarian protection. A selection of core exercises at the end of the book is designed to encourage interaction and create debate.

Improving the Safety of Civilians outlines all activities, with detailed trainers’ notes, timings, resources needed, and handouts, feedback, and evaluation sheets. Colour cards and posters are included at the back of the book. An accompanying CD contains the full text of the manual including the cards and posters for users to print.

The materials are designed for use by experienced facilitators, who have some knowledge of protection issues, to train emergency-response teams. Activities can be adapted for participants with different levels of knowledge.

http://publications.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam/display.asp?K=9780855986162

Summary: ALNAP and the ProVention Consortium have published a new Lessons Paper, which aims to provide a distillation of the learning from thirty years of humanitarian response to earthquakes. The main intended audiences are operational decision-makers and relief programme managers working in the response to such sudden-onset natural disasters.

http://www.alnap.org/publications/pdfs/ALNAPLessonsEarthquakes.pdf

Summary: How do staff in leading NGOs perceive risks of corruption in humanitarian operations? What strategies have they put in place to prevent and detect corruption? What can be learned from these strategies and what more can be done?

A recent HPG Policy Brief, which draws on a larger report conducted in partnership with Transparency International and Tufts University's Feinstein International Center, explores these issues. It finds that aid agencies are aware of corruption risks and have developed strategies to prevent it. However, the humanitarian community has not yet addressed this problem jointly, shared information on these practices, or discussed ways to improve their effectiveness. The paper draws on a set of four cases studies (Afghanistan, Liberia, Northern Uganda and Sri Lanka) that look at how aid recipients are affected by corruption.

http://www.odi.org.uk/hpg/papers/hpgbrief32.pdf

Summary: An Oxfam America supported evidence based toolkit 'Gender senstive Disaster Management'and research publication Tsunami though the gender lens: Insights from Tamil Nadu India, were launched on November 1, 2008. We are posting the publication on the website now. For feedback on the publications, please write to pincha.chaman@gmail.com

The toolkit can be accessed from the homepage of www.gdnonline.org Or www.thinkbeyondboundaries.org

http://www.thinkbeyondboundaries.org

Summary: The Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) at the Overseas Development Institute and the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) at the University of York are partnering to offer the ‘Advanced Summer Course on Conflict, Crisis and Transitions’, a week-long programme targeting mid-career and senior professionals.

The past decade has seen a surge in attention to supporting countries affected by and recovering from conflict. A parallel growth has also occurred in the number of professionals working in the fields of humanitarian, development and post-conflict recovery policymaking and practice. They are faced with the myriad of challenges associated with contexts transitioning from conflict to peace yet, rarely have the opportunity to reflect upon critical concepts, practical challenges and policy dilemmas that are crucial in terms of supporting effective transitions.

The Advanced Summer Course on Conflict, Crisis and Transitions will facilitate learning and guided reflection on these critical issues. It will bring together mid-career and senior professionals in York for one week each summer. While there, they will engage in a participatory learning experience that combines lectures with small group discussions and exercises, with the possibility of also publishing an analytical piece.

To register for this course, please visit:

http://www.odi.org.uk/events/details.asp?id=2126&title=conflict-crisis-transitions