Accountability to Affected Populations / PSEA
UNICEF Interdivisional Working Group (IWG)
Quarter One 2014
Participants: OED / EMOPS / Child Protection in Emergencies / Department of Human Resources/ Evaluation Office / HATIS / Communication for Development / Innovation Unit
1. Welcome and opening remarks – Yasmin Haque (Dep Dir EMOPS)
The Deputy Director of EMOPs welcomed all participants to the quarterly meeting of the Working Group and extended a special welcome to Deputy Executive Director Brandt, who was joining the IWG meeting for the first time. She noted the high turnout at the meeting as an indication of the high levels of interest in the topic. She also extended a special welcome to the Communication for Development team and the Evaluation Office to the Working Group, who were also joining the IWG for the first time.
2. Senior Champion update – Yoka Brandt (DED)
DED Brandt expressed her appreciation for the work done so far by the Group, and noted that that AAP and PSEA workstreams had been merged as a result of the review of IASC subsidiary bodies linked to the Transformative Agenda. She pointed out that the engagement with PSEA issues began some time ago and AAP efforts should build on the lessons learned by that work. She highlighted the fact that indicators linked to AAP is now included in the Strategic Plan and encouraged that working together will enhance AAP/PSEA results at the country level, where they are the most important.
DED Brandt reported that the issue of AAP and PSEA were also raised at the IASC Principals Annual Meeting and that the Principals intend to remain abreast of the progress UNICEF and others are (or are not) making on AAP/PSEA issues. She pointed out that it is the responsibility of the DED to report back to the IASC Principals on the progress UNICEF may be making in AAP and PSEA.
As work on AAP will advance, it is important not to lose sight of PSEA issues due to the merger.
3. Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA): “The Creative Challenge” – Bintou Keita (DHR DO)
DHR highlighted its commitment that even though AAP and PSEA have merged, PSEA will not be lost, especially since there are internal accountability links to the work on PSEA.
The challenge at the end of 2013 remains sourcing sufficient funds to support both the internal and interagency work on PSEA. A video is available featuring the Executive Director expressing his commitment to effective PSEA and a contribution of 3000 USD was made by UNICEF to support its development. DHR stated the importance of prevention efforts not being restricted to humanitarian settings as these risks are pervasive in development settings as well. Working with Country Management Teams in support of a PSEA campaign would encourage more general discussions about PSEA at country level. It was noted that Director of EMOPS has already circulated an email with a video link of the presentation ERC Amos had done on AAP when she launched the PSEA video that features the ED. This should be made widely available.
CPiE suggested the establishment of a monitoring system of the roll out of the screenings to assess whether the video is actually being watched. Training activities related to PSEA could also be implemented in conjunction with video screenings.
The Evaluation Office suggested including PSEA in the mandatory basic security trainings that are offered to all UNICEF staff. Simply adding one or two questions in the training would be a strong step forward. It was also suggested to include an article on what country offices are doing in PSEA in the annual report.
The Group emphasized that clear procedures should be in place to address SEA cases. A desire was expressed for more guidance on how to handle SEA reports and investigations. It was suggested to create standard SOPs that can be contextualized in the country offices.
DHR clarified that the Department of Investigation, linked to the Audit Office, is responsible for the investigations of SEA and that these cases normally are given priority. A clear explanation of the investigation mechanism must be included in the Q and A session which should comprise part of the screening sessions at country level.
The IASC global campaign on PSEA will be carried out for both humanitarian and development contexts. The importance of streamlining PSEA procedures, including an interagency committee at country level was also mentioned. There is a plan to establish a common IASC reporting mechanism for SEA and organizations are being asked to contribute 5000 USD in order to hire a consultant to develop it.
- Introducing C4D in AAP (C4D/PD)
The possible synergies and complementarities between the commitment that undergirds AAP and the ongoing work on communication for behaviour change and social inclusion have been noted by the Working Group in the past, and an invitation was extended to the C4D team for this reason.
EMOPS is currently collaborating with C4D/PD in the development of their “Communication in Humanitarian Action Toolkit” (CHAT), which provides support to the operationalization of several AAP commitments, including enhancing the participation of, communication with and feedback from affected populations. It is hoped that the close collaboration between the Humanitarian Policy Section/EMOPS and the C4D team in PD can continue to maximize the opportunities for collaboration and cross-fertilization going forward. The CHAT is an interagency effort which dovetails with the interagency approach to enhancing AAP.
5. Update on AAP and PSEA in current major humanitarian situations
The IASC Emergency Directors Group aspires to put in place AAP plan for all L3 emergencies. These plans target humanitarian coordinators, humanitarian country teams, cluster leads and implementing partners by identifying simple ‘must do’, ‘should do’ and ‘could do’ actions. Country level AAP Action Plans are a good practice that the Working Group wants to continue to support.
The emphasis of 2014 will be to better operationalise and contextualize the EDG AAP plans. The existing AAP plans for the CAR and the Philippines are quite similar. There is an identified need for more information about how to increase AAP and prevent SEA work, specifically in conflict settings. The Philippines OPR identified several weaknesses with the Philippines AAP plan, including its generic nature and its exclusive focus on Manila. The OCHA led work on Communication with Communities (CwC) was also a good practice, which the TT wants to see continue.
The work on PSEA in the Philippines did not get enough traction and buy-in around the humanitarian table. AAP and PSEA have different modalities and separate ways forward for each must be clarified. This may be a gap in future emergencies. The DED mentioned that these concerns were raised at the IASC Principals meeting; while the two work streams may be merged they remain two different work streams with different approaches.
There has been a request by South Sudan and CAR for extra support to use C4D modalities to inform the development of local communication plans. In the Philippines, C4D has given support for the development of ministerial plans in the past. The CDAC network has received funding from DFID in order to set up country level coordination mechanisms and UNICEF is to play an important role as co-lead. Possible C4D entry points will be identified to advance the AAP/PSEA agenda, the example of the upcoming training in the Philippines was given as a suggestion.
AAP plans have been developed internally within UNICEF and AAP has been placed on the agenda for several technical EMT calls. There will be a dedicated call on AAP for South Sudan. The organization is currently ‘learning by doing’, worth noting that we are not starting from scratch but there is much work that still remains to be done.
Focal points designated for work on AAP/PSEA:
There are current PSEA focal points existing in-country and it was suggested that these focal points become focal points for both AAP and PSEA focal points. The Group agrees that it is crucial that AAP be demystified on the ground and that establishing a network of in-country focal points is a good approach.
The evaluation office noted that increased AAP and better engagement with affected communities ensures that our assistance is provided according to need rather than supply. Using the example of Goma, the Group recognized that modern technologies and innovative approaches could be used to improve two way communications with affected populations. A challenge remains to address AAP and complaints mechanisms at a systems level, rather than piecemeal.
6. Updates from IASC TF (EMOPS GVA)
Update from the first quarterly meeting of the AAP/PSEA Task Team:
- AAP and PSEA advocacy: WFP is looking to develop a common language around AAP/PSEA with UNICEF
- Country level technical support: HAP International has carried out a survey at field level in order to get feedback to establish a 'helpdesk' mechanisms on AAP/PSEA.
- Work to infuse recruitment policies of agencies and performance appraisals with AAP elements is to be led by UNICEF and WFP. OCHA and UNDP have already incorporated PSEA in their induction trainings.
- Much of the pre-existing work on PSEA was lost when the new workplan was developed. This issue will be looked at in the next Task Team meeting. A PSEA communication subgroup is being proposed at interagency level.
- All agencies are currently discussing how AAP/PSEA can be included in the guidelines of the humanitarian programme cycle.
- There is a new AAP advisor deployed to CAR
- A better understanding of the definitions of AAP/PSEA is needed.
7. A.O.B
- Suggested that a one pager be drafted on what each department/Division/Office can and should do with regards to AAP/PSEA, as well as consolidate what is the role of the focal points. Good to organize a dedicated call on this.
- Find offices that have been doing good work on AAP/PSEA and target countries of best practice –
- Identify the focal points globally in 2012 – can go back to pool drafted by DHR in 2012 and see what can be adapted
Action points of meeting:- Video viewing and Q and A session to be organized at the RMT meeting in New York.
- Draft a roll out plan for country level screenings
- Draft document on investigation mechanisms, alternatives and costing. Presentation of this at next WG meeting
- Prepare a work plan and budget for the AAP/PSEA work
- Send info on consultant that the IASC Global Campaign wants to hire. Contribution of UNICEF of 5000 USD requested.
- Draft one pager on each departments/ Division’s role in AAP/PSEA
- Develop list of AAP/PSEA focal points dedicated call to be set up on this
- Identify countries with best practices in AAP/PSEA
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