What I have learned from Humanitarian Response

Until 2014 I had the pleasure of working for CARE International (one of the biggest NGOs in the World). They provide help and support in crisis and humanitarian emergency, and also help build resilience in communities after the disaster response has finished; to help people long after the cameras have gone.

What I have seen over the last two weeks with Coronavirus has been very similar to a full on humanitarian emergency, so I thought I may be able to help some organisations and charities if I wrote about it.

A standard UN Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) has five different phases to it. This is iterative and a continuous ongoing cycle, until the end of operations:

·        Needs assessment and analysis

·        Planning

·        Resource mobilisation

·        Implementation and monitoring

·        Operational peer review and evaluation

All of this needs to be effectively coordinated and with effective management information to see how the response is going.

This is all very academic in words, but in reality it involves a fast moving response: React and evolve. Fail fast, pivot, try again. Keep listening and learning. Focus on what’s important. And if something isn’t working, stop and rethink your direction.

Sometimes it’s the hardest of times, and sometimes you get a break. A humanitarian response is not business as normal, and organisations need to respond fast to new information and the environment they find themselves in.

The initial phase

The first time I was involved in a rapid onset emergency was Haiti. More than 220,000 people were killed and over 300,000 injured in seven seconds. Think about it carefully, that is the same number of people who live in Brighton, UK killed in seven seconds and the same population again injured, and with little food or water.

Humanitarian organisations have to respond fast and often do so with almost no information; sound like the place we are in at the moment with our C-virus response?

The initial reaction is to respond and fast. Do what you can. Change normal work patterns and try and keep infrastructure going while planning what to do. This may even take the form of two organisations; one set up to respond to the crisis and one trying to keep business as usual going. Divert operational resource from normal operations to help; but check with funders if this includes restricted funds. Check that everything critical is still functioning and operational.

You need ‘situation reports’ (SitReps) from each area of the business and the operational frontline to find out what is going on. You simply can’t do this in an ivory tower. Everyone must know their place and what is expected of them. Everyone has a piece in the jigsaw and a voice in the response. This also relies on clear and frequent communication.

You may need to cut back on costs quickly, and divert resources to helping those most in need. Stop all pet projects, and ‘nice to do’ work. Focus on your core work and focus all effort and resource on this. This is hard to do, but critical to any response.

Fundraisers and finance

Fundraisers and communications people need to step up and find ways to deliver money quickly (often in a really innovative way). They may also work closely with other organisations.

Communication with the public, beneficiaries and to donors is crucial, and we need to position fundraising asks carefully – government, high net-worth individuals and to the general public.

Finance staff need to get management reporting out quickly so that the emergency response can make sound decisions. What I have also learned from a finance point of view is that everything tends to get pooled. Identify what spare cash flow and resource you may have and use it.  

You also get to see how important cash is. You need cash now, and donors will pay in arrears. So getting on top of the cash flow situation is critical. Match this with your reserves.

There are two other things worth noting:

·        Each and every day the situation will change. Be agile and responsive in your thinking. It may be that the normal work patterns just won’t work. For example, involving all trustees in decisions is just not possible, so nominate one of them to join the response team.

·        Secondly, people burn out rapidly, so there is a three-week on, three week off cycle in humanitarian aid response cycles. People will be going through enormous shock and having to manage their own circumstances. Force people to take downtime, otherwise they won’t be productive. Create some division between personal time and work. HR and people functions are critical; as most of the effort is focused on mobilising people. Invest in this.

Have robust and open conversations about what is really going on. Get current management information on the table that is not weeks out of date. Make this good enough and available in two to three days turnaround.

There is no such thing as a ‘stupid question’ in these exceptional times. So allowing everyone to speak, coordinate their thinking, and pull in the same direction may be the single biggest thing you can do to get through an emergency.

But through all this immediate response, you need to be thinking carefully about what happens next.

The response phase

As the dust starts to settle you will form a direction. This may be right or wrong, but as a leader you will need to make decisions about the future direction of the organisation and communicate this clearly. You should be working on scenario plans and putting in place contingencies. This involves asking great questions to unlock what is happening and what could happen. Trustees, management and staff all have a significant role to play in this.

By now, you will have taken enough time to learn. You simply can’t take decisions earlier when the situation is changing rapidly and is fluid. But by now you should have stabilised your response and have an idea of financial reserves, upcoming funding and staff resource which can be focused on the future direction.

As part of this planning its critical to identify all potential stakeholders – beneficiaries, clients, staff, funders and the broader spectrum of interested parties – and discuss the needs of each. What response do you need from each and how will you manage and deal with each? Good stakeholder mapping can help you.

Finance also needs to step away from day to day transaction process and help the organisation to see into the future. It needs to be a more flexible workforce, coordinating with the rest of the organisation as a business partner. It can only do this if it is producing regular, and good enough, information good enough to help take decisions.

You need to live your plan in a flexible and resilient way, and with energy and resilience for the long haul. You need to communicate the direction clearly with all staff and make it happen.

The recovery phase

As the organisation comes back to normal, you need to take time to say thank you to staff and volunteers.

You will also need to reflect on what did and didn’t work well. Some organisations undertake constant implementation reviews throughout the Humanitarian Response Cycle to continue to learn and react.

You will also need to do two other things:

·        Identify those areas where you don’t have expertise and draft in help, or form new alliances and partnerships

·        Keep a list of areas you didn’t use at all. These make prime candidates for change or cost reduction in future. Where elements of your organisation failed, then this will need review.

You need to stay energised and resilient. You will need to determine a new strategy and shape for the organisation.

In conclusion

I hope you found these tips useful. It starts by listening and planning together. However, ultimately senior leaders will need to shape the direction and communicate, communicate, communicate.

The post-Coronavirus world will come around very soon, but there will be hard times before we get there.

The voluntary sector helps and supports people through the toughest of times. Thank you on behalf of those people.