Managing External Relations - Disaster Management Center ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Chapter 6 (2) Identify key persons and agencies, noting their needs and capacities — Establish firm lines of communication. In order to establish a productive working situation with agency staff, relationships need to be established or strengthened at the onset of the emergency, particularly in the field. All staff having an impact on refugee operations should be identified and become part of a regular communications network. These include: Government and Diplomatic Corps: ♦ Key persons at the ministry or ministries handling refugee affairs in the field ♦ Key persons in the diplomatic corps of the country ♦ Local envoys ♦ Concerned ambassadors, such as the ambassador of the same country as the current EXCOM Chairman, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, and the ambassador of the country currently President of the European Union, and of other regional inter-governmental organisations such as the Organisation of African Unity. (Any of these may help to advise on participants for briefings.) Within the international response system: Staff from other UN organisations, NGOs, the Secretary General’s Office, DPA, the Emergency Relief Coordinator and partner organisations. At field level: The Resident Coordinator, the Humanitarian Coordinator the designated security official, the UNDP Representative (if different from the RC), other UN agency staff, and operational and implementing partner staff. In addition to assembling a list of contacts, gather agency-specific information, including: ♦ The general roles and responsibilities of each organisation and the resources they have to meet emergency needs ♦ The size and capabilities of their staff ♦ The type and quantity of assistance they provide ♦ Geographical areas of operation, and equipment and facilities available ♦ Descriptions of the organisations’ projects ♦ Priority needs and gaps in assistance ♦ Issues relating to the situation or context such as security issues, policies, local conditions, etc. ♦ Other information that defines the parameters and contributions of each organisation. This information can be used to develop a gap identification matrix. (3) Establish policies and procedures for communications and meetings with external relations contacts, such as: ♦ The means you will use to build networks and share information ♦ The procedures for briefing government and diplomatic corps ♦ Schedules for technical meetings with the government, other UN agencies, NGOs and others, if UNHCR is the lead agency ♦ Procedures for relations with operational and implementing partner organisations EP 04 81
EP 04 82 Managing External Relations Establish means by which collaboration will be promoted in the following areas, and others as appropriate: ♦ Joint assessment of local capacities and needs ♦ Agreement on services and standards of assistance ♦ The Consolidated Appeal Process or other forms of joint resource mobilisation ♦ Negotiation related to access to emergency areas ♦ Capacity building for local institutions and organisations ♦ Joint training programs ♦ Joint strategic planning and programming for: – Preparedness and contingency planning – Sharing personnel – Sharing operations support resources (4) Identify staff knowledge and skills that exist and those that need to be developed for improved external relations, such as: ♦ An up-to-date and in-depth knowledge and analysis of political and social issues ♦ An understanding of international protection laws, protection issues, and mandates of UNHCR ♦ An awareness of national priorities and needs ♦ An understanding of agencies’ goals, activities and relationships in the network ♦ An awareness of changes in the international response system ♦ An understanding of situations and needs in the field (5) Establish a timeline for accomplishing goals including meetings, briefings and staff development in facilitation, negotiation, presentation and other required skills. Recommended reading for development of an external relations strategy UNHCR Publications UNHCR Emergency Handbook, 1998. Partnership: A Programme Management Handbook for UNHCR’s Partners, March 1996. The State of the World’s Refugees, The Challenge of Protection, UNHCR, 1993. The State of the World’s Refugees 1997-98: A Humanitarian Agenda, 1997. UNDP-DHA Disaster Management Training Programme Publications Co-ordination Among International Organisations in Complex Emergencies, 1997. Emergency Information Management and Telecommunications, 1997. Developing a Pro-Active Media Relations Strategy A media relations strategy is necessary in order to get the best results from UNHCR’s relationships with the media. This strategy will only be effective, however, if you have something of value to say to the media. What is of substance will be dependent on the context in which you are working. Plainly, advocacy of refugee protection principles and basic human rights issues, will be important in almost all cases. Beyond that, contingency planning situations might require messages about the need for common ground and mutual preparedness for possible refugee influxes or displacements. Active emergency situations may require up to date assessment information and reporting on critical needs. As an active or potential emergency manager you must develop your strategy to meet current needs as well as those that might arise if an emergency operation is needed.
Page 1 and 2:
EP 04 04 UNHCR 04 UNHCR 04 UNHCR UN
Page 3 and 4:
Acknowledgments This course draws o
Page 5 and 6:
EP 04 iv Managing External Relation
Page 7 and 8:
EP 04 vi Managing External Relation
Page 9 and 10:
EP 04 viii Managing External Relati
Page 11 and 12:
2 Answers Unit 1 ■T ■F 15. Part
Page 13 and 14:
EP 04 4 Managing External Relations
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
EP 04 10 Managing External Relation
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Chapter 14 1 Summary Trends in refu
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40: EP 04 30 Managing External Relation
Page 41 and 42: 32 2 Chapter Summary Facilitation s
Page 47 and 48: EP 04 ■ ■ 38 Managing External
Page 57 and 58: 48 3 Chapter Summary For external r
Page 65 and 66: EP 04 ■ 56 Managing External Rela
Page 79 and 80: EP 04 ■ 70 Managing External Rela
Page 89: EP 04 80 Managing External Relation
Page 109 and 110: EP 04 100 Managing External Relatio
Page 117: Disaster Management Center Universi
show all

Managing External Relations - Disaster Management Center ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?