As the world moves towards the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic response, equitable access to vaccines and treatments will be vital to saving the lives of the most vulnerable people. Those living in humanitarian emergencies or in settings that are not under the control of national governments are at risk of being left behind and must be part of COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Including all individuals, regardless of legal status, in national allocation plans is critical, particularly in settings characterized by armed conflict, violence and natural disasters, all of which exacerbate the challenges of vaccination activities on the ground. Leaving these people behind would undermine humanitarian principles and compromise efforts to end the pandemic.
Experience shows that even for routine vaccinations, and despite governments’ best efforts, some people inevitably fall through the cracks. Therefore, in support of national government obligations, the IASC has continued to advocate for vulnerable populations to be part of planning processes, including successfully advocating with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance for the establishment of a COVAX humanitarian ‘buffer’. This buffer will ensure that up to 5 per cent of the COVID-19 vaccine doses procured through the COVAX Facility will serve as backup stock and to support providers of last resort for at-risk populations. At the direction of the IASC Principals, a task force on the COVID-19 Vaccine Humanitarian Buffer was formed and is working with Gavi and other partners to better define the operational modalities of this COVAX buffer, such as distribution and allocation criteria for at-risk people and the frontline humanitarian workers assisting them, including NGOs, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and United Nations agencies, among the country allocations.
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LAUNCH OF THE 2021 GLOBAL HUMANITARIAN OVERVIEW
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2020 has been a year of tremendous consequences. The shock of COVID-19 has pushed the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance to record highs. One in 33 people worldwide (235 million) will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2021. On 1 December 2020, the 2021 Global Humanitarian Overview (GHO), the most comprehensive, authoritative and evidence-based assessment of humanitarian needs across the world, was released through a series of five virtual launches. The 2021 GHO sets out 34 response plans covering 56 vulnerable countries. The United Nations and partner organizations aim to assist 160 million people most in need across 56 countries, requiring a total of US$35 billion.
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Photo: OCHA/Michele Cattani
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COMMITMENT TO THE ESSENTIALS OF HUMANITARIAN ACTION
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Photos: (top left to bottom right): OCHA/Giles Clarke, OCHA/Kate Holt, UNICEF/UNI99609/SIDDIQUE, OCHA/Anthony Burke
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The unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 crisis has heightened existing vulnerabilities for people in need. The pandemic has also put the spotlight on areas where the humanitarian system must continue to invest in strengthening accountability and tools. These areas include protection, addressing gender-based violence (GBV), protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) and accountability to affected people (AAP).
Protection
Protection encompasses efforts by humanitarian actors in all sectors to ensure that the rights of affected people and the obligations of duty bearers under international law are understood, respected, protected and fulfilled without discrimination. The IASC Principals have continuously sought to put protection at the centre of humanitarian action. The 2013 IASC Principals’ Statement on the Centrality of Protection and the 2016 IASC Policy on Protection have steered the humanitarian system towards reducing risks and addressing protection concerns collectively. Progress has been made, despite persistent protection threats and their exacerbation under COVID-19.
Against this backdrop, the IASC is commissioning a review of the implementation of the Policy on Protection, with the objective of providing recommendations to strengthen protection outcomes. Led by Results Group 1 on Operational Response and endorsed by the Operational Policy and Advocacy Group (OPAG), the review will examine 1) how ways of working, implementation and understanding of protection outcomes have changed, 2) how humanitarian leadership approaches and implements the IASC Protection Policy and 3) how individual organizations and donors have absorbed commitments of the IASC Protection Policy. The review is expected to be finalized by the end of 2021. Through a small advisory committee of protection experts, OPAG will oversee the review and guide efforts to provide the IASC Principals with recommendations and an action plan.
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Gender-Based Violence
GBV is one of the greatest protection challenges facing women and girls in particular, due to pre-existing inequalities and discrimination. Men and boys and members of the lesbian, gay, transgender, queer, intersex (LGBTQI) community can also be at risk. Sexual violence in conflict situations, intimate partner violence, child marriage and female genital mutilation occur with disturbing frequency. During a humanitarian crisis, many factors can exacerbate GBV-related risks, and this has been the case during the COVID-19 pandemic.
GBV is a chronically underfunded area of humanitarian response. On 25 November 2020, $25 million from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) was released to support women-led organizations that prevent and respond to gender-based violence in humanitarian settings. Additionally, on 20 January 2021, a High-Level Roundtable on Addressing Funding Gaps in Gender-Based Violence Programming will take place, bringing together a group of donors who financially support GBV. The meeting aims to lead to proposals for action that IASC members and donors can take to ensure the availability of adequate funding to mitigate, prevent and respond to GBV.
The IASC Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action were developed to assist in the coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of essential action for the prevention and mitigation of GBV across all sectors of humanitarian response. Guidance on GBV is also included in the IASC Policy on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and Girls (GEEWG) in Humanitarian Action, which makes gender equality central to IASC humanitarian response. It is critical that humanitarian organizations and coordination mechanisms integrate GBV programming in every aspect of their work. Given the direct linkages to gender equality, GBV is also a priority within the IASC Reference Group on Gender and Humanitarian Action, which brings together representatives from United Nations agencies, NGOs and NGO consortia.
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Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) represents a catastrophic failure of protecting those we seek to assist. The IASC is scaling up PSEA across humanitarian response efforts. Following recent reports of SEA, the IASC has stepped up efforts at both the global and field level to strengthen practical mechanisms to protect the most vulnerable people from SEA and sexual harassment through coordinated efforts to prevent and mitigate SEA risks, provide access to safe and accessible reporting, ensure quality assistance to victims/survivors of SEA and accountability and investigation in the event of a case. An IASC PSEA Field Support Team was established under the Technical Experts Group to support Humanitarian Coordinators and country teams to accelerate PSEA response. The IASC also set up a Global Dashboard to chart progress and established an SEA Investigations Fund, managed by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), to scale up investigations into sexual misconduct through the provision of rapid grants to IASC entities.
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Accountability to Affected People
Accountability to affected people is about putting people at the center of humanitarian response and empowering, respecting and engaging affected communities. AAP is a commitment by humanitarians to take account of, give account to, and be held to account by the people they assist. It requires humanitarians to involve those who are affected by crises in key decisions and processes. Providing effective communication and feedback channels that engage all affected people is an essential part of accountability.
The IASC Results Group 2 on Accountability and Inclusion created a remote service that provides AAP support at the national, regional or global level. This Helpdesk can be found on the Results Group 2 Accountability & Inclusion Portal, a one-stop shop providing tools, guidance, policies and standards. In addition, Results Group 2 is developing a Collective Accountability Framework that outlines core commitments and concrete steps for humanitarian leadership to develop joint preparedness and response efforts that put affected people at the centre of these activities.
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BUILDING A CULTURE
OF INCLUSIVITY
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Local actors are critical first responders and providers of long-term support in a crisis. Since the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016, the IASC has reinforced its work on localisation to bring the voices of local communities and NGOs to the centre of discussions that shape humanitarian response. The IASC has promoted meaningful engagement of local actors in IASC structures, worked to channel funding to local NGOs and championed the United Nations Secretary-General’s call for humanitarian response to be “as local as possible, as international as necessary”.
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Photo: Vanuatu Business Resilience Council
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Recognizing that local actors are at the front lines in the COVID-19 pandemic, the IASC fast-tracked the Interim Guidance on Localisation and the COVID-19 Response for the international humanitarian community to respond in a way that is consistent with commitments on localisation of aid and strengthening partnerships with local actors. The IASC Results Group 1 on Operational Response is also working on longer-term guidance to strengthen the participation, representation and leadership of local actors in inter-agency coordination structures, including Humanitarian Country Teams.
National NGOs bring unique knowledge and capacities to policy discussions. The IASC continues working to reinforce NGO representation within its structures. Three national NGO members, from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan (ACBAR, COAST and FRD), participate in the OPAG, and several other local NGOs support various IASC Results Groups. In addition, the IASC Results Groups, in partnership with the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), are enlarging their membership to include more national NGOs. The IASC Results Groups are also exploring ways to further cooperation with local and national NGOs beyond Results Groups through consulting with NGOs on specific outputs and policy priorities.
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CALLING FOR ACTION
TO STRENGTHEN MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT
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WHO has identified mental health as an integral component of the COVID-19 response. While mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) is part of national COVID-19 response plans in most countries, only 17 per cent of these countries were able to provide full services and additional funding for MHPSS. The IASC Principals have recognized MHPSS as a cross-cutting issue, and the IASC has stepped up efforts to provide such support for all people we serve. This includes integrating MHPSS into the Global Humanitarian Response Plan and developing guidance and tools under the leadership of the MHPSS Reference Group to address challenges related to COVID-19. In a commitment to collectively increase efforts to provide MHPSS across all sectors of humanitarian activities, the IASC Principals from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), OCHA, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and WHO launched a Joint Interagency Call for Action on 9 December 2020. They called upon and urged all partners to act and scale up investment in quality MHPSS interventions, which are essential to mitigating the effects of war, natural disasters, displacement and pandemics.
Click here to learn more about the IASC’s work on MHPSS and here for 2020 achievements.
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NEW IASC GUIDANCE
AND RESOURCES
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We will face many challenges in 2021, but together we can take action to help those who need us most. Hear from Mr. Mark Lowcock, United Nations Under-Secretary-General of Humanitarian Affairs and IASC Emergency Relief Coordinator; Mr. David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme; Ms. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA; and Ms. Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, Secretary-General of Care, in the 2021 New Year’s message from the IASC.
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The IASC regularly organizes briefings to provide opportunities to discuss key thematic issues. Check out the recordings and presentation materials of the most recent briefings:
Stay tuned in 2021 for IASC briefings on localisation, protection, data responsibility and more!
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The IASC Peer 2 Peer Support team conducts webinars to bring forward critical operational issues faced by field leadership. The webinars provide an opportunity for Humanitarian Coordinators and Humanitarian Country Teams to share guidance, lessons learned and experience.
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- High-Level Roundtable between IASC Principals and GBV Donors
20 January 2021, 3 - 4.30 p.m. (GVA)
Teleconference
[Participation: invited IASC Principals]
- IASC Operational Policy and Advocacy Group (OPAG) Meeting on Protection
21 January 2021, 3 - 5 p.m. (GVA)
Teleconference
[Participation: OPAG Members]
- Global Cluster Coordinators Group (GCCG) Meeting
27 January 2021, 2 - 4 p.m. (GVA)
Teleconference
[Participation: GCCG Members]
- IASC Briefing on Strengthening the Participation, Representation and Leadership of Local Actors in Humanitarian Coordination
28 January 2021, 3.30 - 5 p.m. (GVA)
Online Webinar
[Participation: public event]
- IASC Deputies Forum Meeting on PSEA
29 January 2021, 4 - 5.30 p.m. (GVA)
Teleconference
[Participation: IASC Deputies]
- IASC Results Group 3 on Collective Advocacy Meeting
2 February 2021, 3 - 4.30 p.m. (GVA)
Teleconference
[Participation: Results Group Members]
- IASC Operational Policy and Advocacy Group (OPAG) Meeting
3 February 2021, 3 - 5 p.m. (GVA)
Teleconference
[Participation: OPAG Members]
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