Technical Level Lessons Learned Meeting Thematic Focus on Slow Onset Humanitarian Crises. Lessons Identified and Discussion Points - Overview

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1 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL HUMANITARIAN AID AND CIVIL PROTECTION - ECHO ECHO.B - Humanitarian and Civil Protection Operations B/1 - Emergency Response Brussels, ECHO.B.1./JA/RK (2013) Technical Level Lessons Learned Meeting Thematic Focus on Slow Onset Humanitarian Crises Lessons Identified and Discussion Points - Overview So as to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and viewpoints between States during the Technical Level Lessons Learned Meeting, the main lessons identified and discussion points proposed for this occasion are summarised below. Team Deployments Document 1.) Size of Teams A team of 5 proved to be optimal as it was able to subdivide and make more efficient use of the time spent in-country. A higher number of team members provided a level of man-hours that would otherwise require extension of the mission timeframe. In order to ensure knowledge transfer of experience and that experts for future missions have adequate field experience, teams should continue to be reinforced by team members who are newer to the EU CP Team system. 2.) ECHO Office HA Expertise. Local ECHO offices can provide valuable information on local humanitarian efforts and this should be exploited more fully before missions. Harvesting this via a briefing on HA issues and the ECHO office's information gathering activities to be able to give it to teams should be a specific objective of predeployment videoconferences between the MIC and local ECHO offices. Commission européenne, B-1049 Bruxelles / Europese Commissie, B-1049 Brussel - Belgium. Telephone: (32-2) Office: BU-9 2/175. Telephone: direct line (32-2)

2 3.) Acceleration of in-kind assistance delivery to end-users Follow up teams play a useful role in spreading information about in-kind assistance to actors on the ground which may not be aware of its availability. Having a spreadsheet containing the available assistance and its status (directly inputted by the team from their own assessment activities) was extremely useful. The MIC should systematically inform partners on the ground who have an interest in what in-kind assistance is available (e.g. UN family) of the existence / status of assistance sent via the EU CP Mechanism. 4.) Early Engagement More use of ECHO TAs (field focal points) and MIC LOs could be used for early engagement in slow onset emergencies. However, while sending an full EU CP team may yield a more comprehensive assessment, an official request for activation of the EU CP Mechanism must have been received from an affected State, by which time often the time window for early engagement has passed. 5.) Team Safety and security plans A tailored security plan should always be produced for any deployment of an EU CP Team. The security plan should sit under and be complementary to the security plan of the local ECHO field office. Consideration of What In-Kind Assistance to Send 1.) Consideration of What Quality / Quantity of In-kind Assistance to Send The quality of assistance needs to be tailored to the response, e.g. if it is anticipated that refugees will be in the camp for some time, single use items etc. are not appropriate. Noticeable variations in the quality of items provided by different Participating States should be avoided. Information on the quality of items it would be appropriate to send should be sought from partners already operating on the ground, e.g. UNHCR. 2

3 Discussion Points Participating States are invited to share how they assess what quality of assistance is procured, ways in which the quality of items to be delivered is managed, how humanitarian principles are applied and challenges in doing this. Participating States are invited to discuss what challenges occur when trying to keep the quality of items consistent. Participating States are invited to discuss whether the quality of similar items being donated by other PS is taken into consideration when offers are made. Participating States are invited to discuss whether it would be useful for an exchange of information to take place (e.g. on CECIS) regarding the quality of assistance that PS are proposing to send and whether the MIC should seek information from partners on the ground (e.g. UNHCR) on what quality standards might be appropriate for particular items. Experts are invited to discuss whether it would be useful for MIC to liaise with partners running camps regarding what the minimum quantity of assistance should be for particular items PS are considering offering. 2.) Send Instructions with Items User manuals should be sent with in-kind assistance that is not self-explanatory. Discussion Points Experts are invited to discuss how usual it is to send instructions with in-kind assistance and how this information is made available (e.g. archives). Experts are invited to share how possible it is to translate instructions and when it is appropriate to send someone to explain how to use equipment. Follow-Up of Assistance 1.) Systematic Follow-Up of assistance When a request for assistance is made by a State, it may be useful to communicate that whilst by no means obligatory, an explicit message that follow up would not be a problem could increase the possibility of receiving offers of assistance. The follow up in Jordan was conducted by the smaller second team that was deployed in order to facilitate the handover of the assistance. These kind of teams being sent in the later stages of an emergency can easily incorporate a follow-up function into their primary tasks. 3

4 In certain cases, the DG ECHO field staff (TAs) can assist in following up use of assistance, however it should be noted that this may not always be feasible due to other commitments TAs may have, in which case the deployment of a small EU CP to follow up assistance may be necessary (useful during the Jordan emergency). Discussion Points Experts are invited to share whether knowing that follow-up of assistance will occur would have a bearing on whether offers are made in response to a request for assistance. Experts are invited to share any experience / methods used to follow up assistance on a bilateral basis. 2.) Insertion of Financial Value of Assistance into CECIS Discussion Points Experts are invited to discuss the values their PS has entered and the basis for the calculation e.g. was the new value or depreciated value used. Satellite Imaging as an Operational Monitoring Tool 1.) Satellite Imaging of Refugee Camps The service provided by GIO EMS is versatile and is able to incorporate various kinds of external data as well as providing tailored analysis. If a product other than those explicitly offered by the GIO EMS service is required, it is worth exploring with the MIC if this might be possible. 2.) Sensitivity Satellite mapping in an area where the overall context is sensitive is possible when addressed on a case-by-case basis, using partners to establish the situation in specific sub-areas. This can be extremely useful to inform relief efforts. 3.) Secondary analysis of data Lesson identified The GIO EMS mapping service can be used to refine / validate other data that is available and is useful as a building block in building a better information picture. 4

5 4.) Risk of Duplication Users should check websites of providers of satellite imagery providers before making a request to ensure that no parallel activations are planned / underway. The MIC is in discussion with UNOSAT and the Charter to systematically exchange information on activations to avoid duplication. 5.) On-going Activations In on-going satellite activations, feedback received on maps and complementary information from ground teams should be systematically communicated back to the MIC and GIO-EMS to improve subsequent maps Lessons Learned Civil Protection Exercises Summary 1.) Planning EU CP Team Participation A clear understanding of the EU CP Team's role needs to be given to exercise organisers to ensure that it can play an active part in the exercise (rather than just observing) and achieve the desired learning effect. For instance, specific injects for the MIC could be suggested by the MIC beforehand. 2.) EU CP Team Logistics Exercise EU CP Teams should receive a pre-briefing and have adequate time to meet and discuss roles before beginning their mission activities. Exercise EU CP Teams should be able to play freely in an exercise rather than it being pre-scripted / the team being accompanied throughout. 3.) Exercise Timing An exercise taking place without pauses represents efficient management of exercise time as the maximum amount of exercise play is extracted from the time available. This also allows teams to practice team rotation and is more realistic that having overnight breaks. Consideration should be given to whether it is possible to conduct full-scale exercises overnight to make the scenario more realistic. 5

6 4.) Preparedness of Experts sent to Participate in Exercises Lessons Identified Having undertaken more recent training on the Mechanism would be desirable for exercise participants, so that they are familiar and up-to-date with all the relevant procedures 5.) MIC Participation in Exercises MIC participation in exercises currently runs the risk of being affected by other (real) emergencies and processes. Consequently a MIC Focal Point for Exercises role is in the process of being established. 6