Managing External Relations - Disaster Management Center ...

Welcome and Introduction
Welcome to to this self-study course on External Relations (EP-04). This self-study course will
provide you with useful information and techniques to improve your ability to manage external
relations before and during a refugee emergency.
Link to UNHCR’s Career Management System
This course supports UNHCR’s Career Management System (CMS) competency, ‘External
Relations.’ This competency, required for emergency preparedness, is coded as EP04 within
the UNHCR competency catalogue system. The competency description from the catalogue is
reproduced below:
The Emergency Preparedness and Response competency (EP04) consists of the ability to
identify a network of relevant contacts and to build and maintain constructive relations,
in order to further UNHCR’s objectives in innovative and creative ways that are also
sensitive to the political and social environment.
To demonstrate competency in the area of managing external relations, the emergency
manager must be able to:
1. Identify and establish a network of useful contacts from other groups or
nstitutions (such as government authorities, implementing partners, and
UN agencies); foster co-operation and trust with contacts in the network;
provide advice and information regarding UNHCR activities; consider the
concerns and information needs of these groups or institutions.
2. Encourage government officials to accept responsibility for refugee issues
through presentation of well-justified arguments.
3. Maintain productive relationships with donors by demonstrating to them
the practical usage of funds through reports or missions to observe UNHCR
programs and actively involve donors in fundraising activities.
4. Maintain positive relations with the media, seeking to put forward UNHCR’s
view in a positive manner; avoid direct, public confrontation with governments
and other bodies.
5. Seek to resolve any significant problems impacting UNHCR’s work through
reasoned and flexible discussion with appropriate bodies, taking care not to harm
relationships or lose sight of longer-term objectives in achieving short-term goals.
Organisation of this Course
This course is divided into six chapters.
Chapter 1, Introduction to External Relations, explains:
♦ Trends in emergency management that emphasise the need to maintain
formal and informal networks and to strengthen inter-agency relationships
♦ How trust underlies successful relationship building in all areas
♦ Building and maintaining formal and informal networks
♦ Sharing information with your network, preparing oral briefings and
creating briefing packages
EP
04
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