The Coronavirus is spreading globally. How can individuals, communities and humanitarian actors best respond to the COVID-19 outbreak? How can the Sphere Handbook guide our response?

The Coronavirus is spreading globally. How can individuals, communities and humanitarian actors best respond to the COVID-19 outbreak? How can the Sphere Handbook guide our response?

This guidance presents Red Cross and Red Crescent staff, members and volunteers with a set of minimum standards for protection, gender and inclusion (PGI) in emergencies. It aims to ensure that the emergency programming of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and National Societies provides dignity, access, participation and safety for all people affected by disasters and crises. It provides practical guidance on how to mainstream these four principles in all sectors, based on a consideration of gender, age, disability and other diversity factors. This includes limiting people’s exposure to the risks of violence and abuse and ensuring that emergency programmes “do no harm”. The standards address protection, gender and inclusion concerns by providing practical ways to engage with all members of the community, respond to their differing needs and draw on their capacities in the most non-discriminatory and effective way. This helps to ensure that local perspectives guide assistance delivery. The standards also support incorporation of the seven Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (hereinafter referred to as “the Movement”).

This Note provides guidance for the assistance, protection and humanitarian diplomacy activities of Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in the Asia Pacific region in the context of labour migration and trafficking. The Note builds upon existing International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement policies, guidance and commitments relevant to migration and displacement. The Note also contains a collection of case studies of existing initiatives by Asia Pacific National Societies, demonstrating the strength and diversity of National Societies’ activities related to labour migration and trafficking. The Note is designed to support the existing initiatives of Asia Pacific National Societies, as well as provide guidance for those National Societies considering new initiatives in the context of labour migration and trafficking. The Note will be useful to National Societies across all departments - from leadership to migration, disaster management, health, shelter, Restoring Family Links (RFL), welfare and beyond.The note will also be useful for representatives from governments, regional institutions, academia, civil society organisations and United Nations (UN) agencies to deepen their understanding of the core mandate and strengths of Asia Pacific Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies in the context of labour migration and trafficking.

The purpose of this guidance note is to provide Humanitarian Coordinators (HCs) with a specific, clear and field-oriented tool to facilitate the integration of human rights into humanitarian action, and to outline the role of the HC in this context. It is hoped that the guidance note will also facilitate and encourage agencies to clarify their role vis-à-vis the integration of the human rights agenda into their activities. The guidance note begins by setting human rights law in context and discusses its relevance to humanitarian action. Subsequent sections provide assistance to HCs for the gathering and assessment of human rights related information and for the application of this information – with particular attention paid to the application of human rights for assistance, protection response and advocacy activities as well as for possible human rights related reporting which might be undertaken. The guidance note concludes with suggestions regarding the forms of human rights partnership and coordination systems which HCs might consider establishing.

Both conflicts and natural disasters produce life-threatening situations for citizens and migrants. While violence is at the core of the threat in conflicts, natural hazards represent the threat in natural disasters. During conflict, citizens and non-citizens alike may be the targets of armed attacks and sexual and gender-based violence, and both groups risk forced recruitment into armed forces. In some cases, migrants may be the specific target of violence, as occurred in Libya in 2011. In natural disasters, both populations may be harmed if there is widespread destruction of habitat and livelihoods. Migrants may be more likely to live in neighbourhoods with poor housing and infrastructure, leaving them particularly vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters. In both cases, individuals, families, and affected communities have limited capacity to overcome the threats without the help of national governments, civil society, and private sector actors and, where added capacity is needed, the international community. This issue brief examines the differential impacts of conflicts and natural disasters on migrants. It goes on to discuss existing legal and policy frameworks that guide actions on conflicts and natural disasters and explores practical constraints in responding to the needs of migrants in each type of situation. These include failures in governance at the national and local levels, particularly during conflict, which make protection of noncitizens by host countries difficult; weaknesses in early warning and emergency preparedness systems; difficulties in mounting large-scale evacuations when non-citizens are unable to remain in the affected countries; barriers to effective collaboration between the military and humanitarian actors, particularly in conflict situations; and challenges to reintegrate migrants who must return to their home countries because of conflicts or natural disasters.

The strategy outlines the CP AoR’s strategic direction and role, specifying four key goals that focus on delivering the core cluster functions9 (for which the CP AoR is accountable) and delivering the transformation articulated through the World Humanitarian Summit. Each goal is positioned to integrate with and complement the work of key actors within the wider child protection community; to support the overall strategic direction of the Global Protection Cluster; and to articulate linkages and partnerships with other Clusters and Areas of Responsibility. These goals are underpinned by four guiding principles that support more inclusive, localized coordination whilst ensuring that core humanitarian values are not compromised.

Professional Standards for Protection Work (third edition) constitutes a set of minimum but essential standards aimed at ensuring that protection work carried out by human rights and humanitarian actors in armed conflict and other situations of violence is safe and effective. The standards reflect shared thinking and common agreement among humanitarian and human rights practitioners (UN, NGOs, and components of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement). The standards were adopted following an ICRC-led consultation process. This third edition takes into account the changes that have occurred in the environment in which protection actors operate and now reflects the distinctive characteristics of human rights and humanitarian actors engaged in protection work. Given the rapid developments in information communication technology and concurrent growth in data-protection law, comprehensive guidelines on protection information management have also been incorporated. There is now a stronger emphasis on measuring the outcome of protection activities in terms of the extent to which identified risks have been reduced, and on monitoring and evaluation. There are more detailed orientations on the need to uphold a principled approach to protection work when interacting with UN peace operations and other multinational forces. This edition also seeks to clarify how counter-terrorism legislation may affect the activities of protection actors

The Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability (CHS) sets out Nine Commitments that organisations and individuals involved in humanitarian response can use to improve the quality and effectiveness of the assistance they provide. It also facilitates greater accountability to communities and people affected by crisis: knowing what humanitarian organisations have committed to will enable them to hold those organisations to account. The CHS places communities and people affected by crisis at the centre of humanitarian action and promotes respect for their fundamental human rights. It is underpinned by the right to life with dignity, and the right to protection and security as set forth in international law, including within the International Bill of Human Rights. As a core standard, the CHS describes the essential elements of principled, accountable and high-quality humanitarian action. Humanitarian organisations may use it as a voluntary code with which to align their own internal procedures. It can also be used as a basis for verification of performance, for which a specific framework and associated indicators have been developed to ensure relevance to different contexts and types of organisation.

Gender-based violence is among the greatest protection challenges individuals, families and communities face during humanitarian emergencies. Accounts of horrific sexual violence in conflict situations-especially against women and girls- have captured public attention in recent years. These violations and less recognized forms of gender based violence -intimate partner violence, child marriage and female genital mutilation- are also being committed with distubing frequency. Natural disasters and other emergencies exacerbate the violence and diminish means of protection. And gender-based violence not only violates and traumatizes its survivors, it also undermines the resilience of their societies, making it harder to recover and rebuild. Despite the scope and severity of the problem, current programming to prevent gender-based violence and provide support for survivors is insufficient to deliver the desired results. The newly-revised Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines for Integrating Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Action: Reducing Risk, Promoting Resilience and Aiding Recovery are designed to address this gap, with clear steps the humanitarian community can take to protect people from gender-based violence. These Guidelines provide practical guidance and effective tools for humanitarians and communities to coordinate, plan, implement, monitor and evaluate essential actions for the prevention and mitigation of gender-based violence, throughout all stages of humanitarian response- from preparedness to recovery.