1. Training and raising awareness of staff

Understanding and awareness of the main principles and structures of humanitarian reform is a first step towards ensuring that our staff are able to engage effectively in coordination mechanisms and in debates related to humanitarian response

The following outlines activities that would contribute towards this:

1.1 Establish humanitarian reform focal point/points within the organization, responsible fortraining key staff on the main principles and mechanisms.

1.2 Carry out training of trainers on humanitarian reform and the mechanisms for coordination andhumanitarian response in country for key staff; and ensure that follow up training sessions are held at least once a year.

1.3 Include humanitarian reform and overview of coordination structures in country as part of the standard orientation package for new staff.

1.4 Ensure that hand over packages between key staff include information on how to engage incoordination structures relevant to the position

1.5 Ensure that all staff are aware of and practice the Principles of Partnershipin humanitarianaction.

1.6 Distribute the Basic Information Leaflet series 2(on humanitarian coordination, financingmechanisms and Principles of Partnership) of the NGOs and Humanitarian Reform Project tohumanitarian staff.

2.Clusters and participation in other coordination structures

Steps that enhance the participation of MUWADA' staff in coordination structures

2.1 Ensure that cluster participation is included in job descriptions of keytechnical staff(national and sub national level), and that their performance on this is an integral part of their performanceevaluation.

2.2 Support humanitarian partners to participate in relevant clusterswhere appropriate

2.3 Encourage senior staff to put their name forward to participate in provincial and national structures, such as Humanitarian Country Teams, and the Pooled Fund Review Boards.

3.Project and proposal development

3.1 Ensure that all proposals for humanitarian response projects include coordination as a particular activity; that an outline of what this consists of is clearly delineated and included in proposals; indicators are elaborated and inserted and that we report on progress and measure our coordination-related activities against established indicators.

3.2 Ensure that responsibility for carrying out coordination is clearly delineatedin job descriptions of project staff.

3.3 Support the organisation’s humanitarian partners to develop funding proposals and directly access pooled funds.

4.Working with humanitarian partners

Enhancing the ability of MUWADA to engage in humanitarian coordination mechanisms and to rapidly access humanitarian funding can contribute towards ensuring more effective and efficient delivery of humanitarian assistance. It also builds capacity of civil society organisations and thus plays a role in ensuring sustainability and long term impact of interventions.

4.1 Supporting our NGO partners to participate in a specific cluster in which our organisation is active.

4.2 Share copies of the Principles of Partnership(PoP) with your humanitarian partners and ensure key staff are familiar with the PoP and their implications for humanitarian action.

4.3 Carry out training of current partners on the humanitarian response system and themechanisms for coordination and funding

4.4 Ensure that such training is included in the normal training package of all partners

4.5 Document, in a short (two page) case study, of how your organisation has partnered with others in humanitarian action.

5. Accountability to crisis-affected populations

Increased accountability to crisis-affected people is an important goal of MUWADA working in humanitarian response. In order to progress towards the following steps

5.1 Promote discussion of accountability to affected populations within clusters our organisation is a member of; encourage a cluster working definition or common understanding of accountability to affected populations and encourage the use of a short accountability framework; ensure the cluster has a functioning complaints mechanism.

5.2 Ensure that affected communities are consulted during needs assessments, elaboration of emergency response proposals and through out the project implementation cycle, including monitoring and evaluation.