People-Centred Approach and Cross-Cutting Dimensions: Best Practices from Food Security Clusters/Sectors

"The promotion of leadership and participation of affected populations in programming, planning, monitoring and evaluating is essential to shape humanitarian response."

This document from the Global Food Security Cluster (gFSC) is meant to initiate a discussion on potential harmonisation of methodologies and approaches for increased global advocacy and awareness on mainstreaming cross-cutting dimensions in humanitarian response. The examples are grouped along the Humanitarian Programme Cycle and were collected during face-to-face and phone interviews with FSC/Food Security Sector (FSS) Coordinators, Cluster Lead Agencies (World Food Programme (WFP)/Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO), and FSC/FSS partners.

The first series of 7 geographic examples is organised under the rubric of the overall humanitarian programme cycle (HPC). For instance, in 2015 in Somalia, an Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) self-assessment tool was developed by a FSC AAP Advisor to get a clear picture of the current status of accountability oversight structures among FSC partners. Following the results of the baseline, FSC embarked on training activities on AAP in an effort to equip participants with practical skills and competencies for mainstreaming accountability, conducting effective community engagement processes, and documenting each process for learning purposes. As a result, an AAP strategy for the FSC Somalia has been developed. To cite another example, in 2016, FSC Pakistan organised a joint capacity building training on mainstreaming cross-cutting dimensions in humanitarian programming. The two-day training was conducted to build capacity of international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) and NGOs on proposal writing, focusing on gender-mainstreaming, protection, gender-based violence (GBV), and AAP.

Several other examples focus on situation analysis. For instance, with the support of gFSC's Programme Quality Working Group, a webinar on AAP was organised in April 2017, presenting different perspectives on mainstreaming AAP in humanitarian food security response. The following presenters took part: CHS Alliance, WFP/Italy, World Vision International, and WFP/FSC Iraq. In addition, gFSC developed a video on AAP-mainstreaming in FSC.

With regard to needs assessment and analysis, in Afghanistan, affected communities are involved at the need identification level through the HEAT (Household Emergency Assessment Tool), which asks for feedback on the needs and preferences of the response. In addition, the government, local, and international organisations are involved in interpersonal communication (IPC) on needs identification, priorities of the areas, and response options. In Bangladesh, there is an in-country Gender in Humanitarian Action (GiHA) working group in which two nominated representatives from the FSC participate. To improve FSC response to the 2017 August floods, GiHA came up with a number of gender analysis questions that should be incorporated into FSC needs assessment.

Illustrations of the people-centred approach are provided in terms of initial planning, including the fact that, between 2016 and 2017, the FSCs/sectors in Colombia, Iraq, Myanmar, Lebanon, Mali, Nigeria, Turkey, and Ukraine participated in the roll-out of the "IASC [Inter Agency Standing Committee] Guidelines for Integrating GBV Interventions in Humanitarian Actions" through specific workshops for the mainstreaming of practices to address GBV in the food security and livelihoods. As an outcome and based on recommendations coming out of the workshop discussions, FSCs/sectors developed a work plan including a series of activities to be implemented throughout the HPC, linked to clear indicators and responsibilities.

Additional examples cover the humanitarian response plan (HRP), monitoring, and peer monitoring and evaluation. For instance, the Food Security & Livelihood Sector (FSLS) in the Whole of Syria (WoS) faced serious constraints to receive any information on the food security situation of the affected populations. In 2016, an Outcome Monitoring Initiative was developed through a participatory process to report on the food security indicators that had been agreed on in the HRP 2016. This also allowed the capacity-strengthening of colleagues and partners on monitoring food security indicators. FSS partners were consulted during the design of the data collection tools, focusing on a people-centred approach and sampling of locations that were monitored in the data analysis process. All partners that participated in the data collection exercise used a standardised monitoring tool that was harmonised and integrated in their existing monitoring systems. The results revealed a number of gender and protection issues; this enabled partners to appreciate the need for evidence-based targeting and food security programming, i.e., cross-cutting dimensions could be strategically reflected in food security activities (e.g., targeting mothers for supplementary feeding).

Established in 2011, the FSC is about enhancing cooperation and partnerships. The FSC works directly with its partners and stakeholders that include NGOs, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, United Nations (UN) organisations, governments, and donors. The FSC coordinate s the food security response during a humanitarian crisis, addressing issues of food availability, access, and utilisation. The Cluster is based at WFP headquarters in Rome and is co-led by FAO and WFP.