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2B Sustaining a community of humanitarian practice

2B Sustaining a community of humanitarian practice. Dr Michele Lipner , Jess Camburn. Professionalisation of the Humanitarian Sector. Preliminary Findings. Study Methodology. The Question: How to progress a professionalisation agenda in Australia and the region?

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2B Sustaining a community of humanitarian practice

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  1. 2B Sustaining a community of humanitarian practice Dr Michele Lipner, Jess Camburn

  2. Professionalisation of the Humanitarian Sector Preliminary Findings

  3. Study Methodology The Question: How to progress a professionalisation agenda in Australia and the region? • With a focus on the practitioner • Looking not at the ‘if’ but the ‘how’ in general • In relation to the global discourse around: • Core competency framework • Standardised/accredited training and educational fora • Professional associations and/or community of practice • Regional Hubs • What can we do here to advance the agenda and do we have a niche role to play • Key drivers • Challenges • Next steps

  4. Study Methodology • A questionnaire developed in consultation with the ACFID Sub-Working Group of the HRG on Professionalisation • Questionnaire sent out to approximately 60 individuals from Australia and the Asia-Pacific • 40 responded and out of that number, 34 agreed to be participate. Two provided written comment; 32 were interviewed via telephone over August/early September • Breakdown of respondents: NGOs, UN, Red Cross, AusAID, Academics, Trainers

  5. Preliminary Findings • It Really Isn’t About Us • “We are talking about people’s rights to receive proper humanitarian assistance” • “The goal of the professionalisation agenda is about improved quality of assistance” • “It is fundamental in us doing better work…it is a means to an end and not an end to itself” • “We should never lose sight we are responding to affected people and we need to be held accountable to them. This should be the way we drive the process”

  6. Preliminary Findings • Change the Discourse • We need to move away from thinking in terms of “if” to the why, the what and the how • The why is our end state/overall objective: saving lives and the right of beneficiaries to receive the best aid possible • If the end point is ‘us’, we have no real imperative to change • If the end point is aid effectiveness and the rights of people to receive the best aid possible, we have a greater imperative to move into a comprehensive discussion/action around the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ • We need to think in terms of good governance of the sector and around those entities that support the sector

  7. Preliminary Findings • What’s the Problem? • There are no clear pathways into or through the sector • Processes are still too subjective and ad hoc • Those we support are increasingly demanding greater professionalisation in response and in those who respond • We do not have industry wide standards or systems of accountability • While we have standards around the quality of work we do, we don’t have any set of standards we apply around our own knowledge, experience and skills • “The time of the well meaning humanitarian has passed”

  8. Preliminary Findings • What Should A Professionalisation Agenda Include? • Consistency in pathways for professional development—and transferable • Focus on skills, knowledge and experience • Continuous/on-going learning opportunities • Flexible core competency framework focused on technical and behavioral competencies • Standardised/certified educational programs/courses blending theory and practice with emphasis on the latter • Professional association • No distinction between host country and international staff

  9. Preliminary Findings • Challenges • It must be seen as core business • There must be an organisational commitment to this agenda • Everyone must own it • Gate keeping and balancing exclusion versus inclusion • Avoid elitism (e.g. big agencies over small) • Newcomers and old timers

  10. Preliminary Findings • Challenges (continued) • Ensure that nationals are central to the process; the agenda should be seamless with no differentiation between national and international • Level of greatest impact: National? Regional? Global? • Where is the money going to come from? • Time • Eat the elephant piece by piece or swallow it whole?

  11. Where Do We Go From Here? • Next Steps • Creation of a working group, a ‘coalition of the willing’, an inter-agency body or consortia—either in Australia or the region—to progress the professionalisation agenda and the recommendations coming from study • As a working group, articulate the vision, set the goal, decide what is achievable, prioritise, develop a road map for moving forward with a time line for development of the agenda. Do not reinvent the wheel but map what is out there

  12. Where Do We Go From Here? • Next Steps (continued) • Begin the socialisation process for consensus building • Use report findings; socialise via regional fora; take it to the IASC • Start moving—the time for complacency is over • Donors and governments expect those who deploy to meet certain standards and competencies • Don’t wait for the next tsunami • Don’t be left behind • Don’t wait to ‘be done to’ ……do it ourselves

  13. Questions/Comments?

  14. ACFID Council 2012 Sustainable Planet, Programs & Organisations

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