The Humanitarian Reform process was initiated by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, together with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) in 2005 to improve the effectiveness of humanitarian response through greater predictability, accountability, responsibility and partnership.

NHRPI (NGOs and Humanitarian Reform Project) aimed to strengthen humanitarian NGO voices in influencing policy debates and field processes related to the humanitarian reform and to propose solutions so that humanitarian response could better meet the needs of affected populations. In October 2009, a Synthesis report: Review of the engagement of NGOs with the humanitarian reform process , highlighted 15 recommendations including issues specific to the role of NGOs in humanitarian reform such as co leadership of coordination bodies, strengthened partnership with national NGOs, accountability, accessing pooled funding and coordinated responses. These findings form the basis of the objectives of NHRPII.

NHRPII kicked off with a workshop held on February 2012 following an initiation period which ended on December 2011. During the initiation period, the project was working in a context where the new cluster system replaced the former sectoral working group system for organizing humanitarian responses and 4 areas were targeted:

  1. Co-ordination mechanisms
  2. Humanitarian leadership including the strength of the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT)
  3. Cluster functionalities
  4. How to work with other humanitarian actors

NHRPII was NGO-led and the aforementioned target areas came out of a dialogue with NGOs. Somalia, along with Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Cote D’Ivoire and Pakistan, were selected as focus countries for the second phase. In Somalia the project was hosted by the Somalia NGO Consortium...View workshop report


For further information on the Humanitarian Reform Process refer to http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/ and on the NHRP, kindly refer to https://icvanetwork.org/doc00005403.html

 

Outcomes of NHRPII

1. Capacity building

Training of Trainers of senior staff of 8 National NGOs on Core Professional Training on Leadership and Management of Humanitarian Action a training conducted by PHAP (Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection) that aims to further refine the knowledge, competencies, and skills necessary to address contemporary humanitarian challenges faced by managers and team leaders in the context of humanitarian response, with a particular focus on building the strategic capabilities of mid- to senior-level professionals working in the field. Selected participants passed on the training to others in their respective organisations and networks.
; Social Media training: Using web based and mobile technologies to enable interactive communication. How NGOs can make use of such resources to create awareness, for visibility purposes and to get the message across. Click here to learn more.


2. Enhanced NGO (national and international) representation, participation and leadership in humanitarian reform and other coordination forums for improved performance

CHF Standard Allocation Process Survey : Following concerns raised by NGOs in different fora about the SAP of the CHF, input was collected through an online survey set up by the Consortium with facilitation from the NHRPII to further elaborate on these concerns. This was shared with the respective actors to facilitate improved performance...View summary of the evaluation.
Transformative Snapshot: Compilation listing elements that comprise the TA with links to further reading. Also used to create awareness on the humanitarian systems and structures among the national NGOs and the participants of the above mentioned trainings.


3. Analysis of the relationship between National and International organisations

‘Aid Partnerships - A Vehicle to Strengthen NGOs in Somalia’
The report examines the nature of the relationships between Somali NGOs and international aid organisations, with particular emphasis on capacity building and partnerships. The key points emerging are: partnerships between IAOs and SNGOs are often structured as sub-contracting relationships, where SNGOs deliver services to the contracting IAOs; capacity building efforts targeting the SNGO sector have been limited and ineffective so far, despite the fact that significant gaps are known and have been repeatedly acknowledged by SNGOs and IAOs alike; and there are low levels of trust between SNGOs and IAOs and on the part of donors towards SNGOs...Read the full report, here.
An immediate outcome of the study and a workshop in which the same was presented, was an increased effort to re-prioritise capacity building for Somali NGOs. The Consortium added capacity building to its priority areas and begun sharing more information on available courses and further developed a two-day course with the aim to give a solid overview over essentials for working in Somalia. NHRPII Somali NGO Capacity Building workshop report on presentation of the findings on the above mentioned report available here.


'NGO voice in the humanitarian response in Somalia - challenges and way forward’
A second study was carried out that further investigated the relationship between NGOs and the resulting weak position of the NGO community in shaping the future of Somalia. The study highlights the causes of the lack of trust that exist between organisations and makes concrete recommendations on how to change the status quo.
View the executive summary here Read full report here