Needs Assessment Roster and Pool & OCHA Stand-by Partnerships NATF Training on Coordinated Assessments Revinge, Sweden October 28, 2010

What is Surge Capacity? Surge capacity can be defined as the ‘ability of an organization to rapidly and effectively increase [the sum of] its available resources in a specific geographic location’, in order to meet increased demand to stabilise or alleviate suffering in any given population. People in Aid

Whole Organization Approach Surge entails more than quick dispatch of personnel Quantity and quality count Work to be done before, during, after crisis WOA ‘trinity’ for good surge: –resources (e.g. staff, money, equipment) –mechanism (e.g. SoPs) –enabling factors (e.g. decision- making, speed, flexibility, organizational mind-set, training

Why assessment expertise as part of Surge? Emergency assessments must be timely - agencies may not have adequate number of staff in situ to lead and participate in rapid assessments Qualified staff with assessment experience are required to supplement country team capacity to conduct quality assessments Push for a common approach to assessments (NATF): surge as a means of disseminating best practice / use of NATF guidance and tools in early onset disasters

What does the NATF propose? NATF Roster and Pool (NARP) Objective Provide rapidly deployable assessment surge capacity to OCHA and Clusters to support emergency inter-cluster assessments to inform humanitarian responses in a timely and predictable manner

Roster Composition –Composed of external ‘free agents’ specialized in assessments –Provided by ACAPS –Managed by Norwegian Refugee Council –Made available to the field through the existing Stand-By Partner arrangements of OCHA and cluster lead agencies –Trained in NATF tools and methodologies by ACAPS –Future inclusion of other SBP organizations?

Pool Composition –Composed of OCHA, cluster members (UN and NGOs) –Deployed through OCHA / cluster own formal and informal surge mechanisms –Financial resources to support deployment provided by own agencies / clusters –Trained in NATF tools and methodologies by ACAPS

Governance of the NARP Inter-agency Steering Committee composed of WFP, WHO, OCHA, UNICEF, ACAPS, UNDP and NGO (TBD) –Key Responsibilities: Oversight of deployments (tracking number, etc.) Review and endorsement of training program of roster and pool members Sets criteria for deployments (including preparedness missions) Reviews lessons learned

NARP Secretariat Housed within OCHA ACE team Organizes meetings of steering committee Liaises with Surge Capacity Sections of host / requesting agencies, and roster management Maintains list of roster / pool members Facilitation function as required for deployments

How do Surge and Stand-by Partnership Programs work? OCHA Example

CRD / NY SCS, ESB Geneva

Surge Capacity Section Surge Mechanisms Managed by SCS Emergency Response Roster (ERR) Stand-By Partnership Programme (SBPP) New Mechanisms: Associates Surge Pool (ASP) Roaming Emergency Surge Officers (RESO) Central coordination and advisory role on surge Cross cutting activities (training, information management, and marketing)

Who are our Stand-By Partners? Government Agencies Non-Governmental Organizations that have signed an agreement (MoU) with OCHA on the provision of ‘gratis experts’ for temporary support to OCHA field and regional offices confronted with sudden emergencies and increases in workload. Two new MoUs were signed in 2010 with iMMAP and Qatar Charity.

When does OCHA needs SBPP support? Criteria for use of SBPP: –emergence of a new crisis/upsurge within an existing crisis; and –need to accomplish specific tasks/bridge a critical staffing gap of limited duration; and –in the event the need turns out to be for a longer period, regular staffing measures are put in place before the end of the of the SBPP deployment –SBPP use not allowed for ‘plannable’ activities for which budget exists;

Legal Considerations Legal basis: GA Resolutions and UN Administrative Instructions “Expert on Mission for the UN” Even though the deployee is not considered as a staff member or a UN Official, the deployee is FULLY integrated in the UN team in the area of deployment SBP or roster origin warmly recognized but not visible Reporting through regular management line

Key developments within OCHA SBPP Number of deployments in 2009 : 59 secondees deployed in 21 countries from 10 partners Average deployment lead time : 38 days Average duration of deployments : 4 months

What can be the deployee profile? Humanitarian Affairs Officer (HAO) Field Coordinator Reporting Officer Public Information Officer (PIO) Information Management Officer (IMO) Civil Military Coordination Officer (CMCoord) Logistics Officer Protection Officer 2009 Deployments by profile

2009 Deployments by Receiving Country

Deployments by Agency