The Regional Organizations Humanitarian Action Network (Rohan) ANNUAL MEETING. 7-9 November 2017 ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA CONCEPT NOTE

Transcription

1 The Regional Organizations Humanitarian Action Network (Rohan) ANNUAL MEETING (Committee Room 2 from 7-8 Nov and Small Conference Hall 2 on 9 November 2017) 7-9 November 2017 ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA CONCEPT NOTE

2 1. BACKGROUND The Regional Organizations Humanitarian Action Network (ROHAN) is an informal network of 13 regional organization secretariats and centres working in humanitarian action. ROHAN was established in February 2015, following discussions between regional organisations at a conference hosted by the International Humanitarian City (IHC) in Dubai, and convened by the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI). The 2015 Dubai conference convened as part of a two-year HPG research project Zones of Engagement: Regional Action and Humanitarian Response aimed to provide a forum for regional organisations to share their experiences of humanitarian work and resulted in consensus on the need for greater collaboration between regional organisations. As a result, ROHAN was formed, and was formally launched in May 2016 at the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in Istanbul. ROHAN s 2016 annual meeting was held in in Jakarta, co-hosted by ODI and the and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre). The meeting was attended by representatives from the African Union (AU), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the European Commission Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS), the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Pacific Community (SPC). Representatives from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Mercy Malaysia, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) also joined proceedings for a session focused on partnerships and external engagement. 1 ROHAN s 2017 annual meeting aims to build on progress from Jakarta and work towards consolidating ROHAN as an emerging network. Jakarta s agreed outcomes were to: 1. Consolidate communications between ROHAN members and ODI as ROHAN s informal secretariat. Regional organisations agreed to re-confirm ROHAN focal points, and ODI agreed to initiate quarterly check-in meetings with focal points from January 2017 onwards. 2. Develop new channels for communication between ROHAN members. ODI agreed to establish a ROHAN Facebook page and mailing list, both of which are now in operation. 3. Continue information-sharing among ROHAN members. ODI and ROHAN members will share relevant documents and event invitations with one another through the above channels. 4. Explore possibilities for new modes of knowledge exchange including developing a more sophisticated web platform for ROHAN information-sharing (building on the current Dropbox page) and coordinating staff exchanges or secondments. 5. Continue to meet on an annual basis. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for November 2017, to be co-hosted by ODI and the AU. Participants agreed that the Further details about the Jakarta meeting can be found in this summary report: [ 2]

3 meeting should be longer than the Jakarta meeting in order to give scope for deeper discussions. 6. Produce materials conveying ROHAN s progress to external stakeholders, including a report on the Jakarta meeting and a one-page summary document if deemed necessary following publication of the meeting report. 2. OBJECTIVES The objectives of the Addis Ababa Conference in 2017 are: a) To provide an opportunity for networking, primarily amongst regional organisations, but also between regional organisations and external stakeholders, b) To provide an opportunity for information-sharing amongst regional organisations on key common areas of interest, c) For ROHAN members to discuss and come to agreement on next steps for ROHAN, d) To provide an opportunity for ROHAN members to learn more about the AU s activities. Following feedback from ROHAN s last annual meeting, the 2017 annual meeting will take place over the course of three days. The meeting will primarily be open only to ROHAN members. However external participants will be invited to the second day of discussions. Sessions will cover the role of regional organisations in the international humanitarian architecture, challenges of working in conflict, the disaster management cycle, technology and innovation, and regional organisations engagement with global processes. For further details of the proposed agenda, see below. 3. FUNDING AND BUDGET The Addis Ababa ROHAN meeting will be co-financed with ODI which will fundraise to cover the costs of international travel and hotels for participants. Please see attached budget. HPG will continue in its role as informal ROHAN Secretariat using existing funds, but additional funds ( 20,000 minimum) are sought to allow international travel costs and hotel accommodation to be covered for RO participants, and to support additional costs incurred by the AU as host (eg intern to support logistics, local travel, catering). 4. VENUE AND TIMING The meeting will be held on 7-9 November PARTICIPANTS The Addis Ababa meeting is expected host participants; one representative of each ROHAN Member (up to 13), HPG/ODI, additional colleagues from AUC, and external participants as below: [ 3]

4 REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS African Union Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) European Commission Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) League of Arab States Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Pacific Community (SPC). EXTERNAL PARTICIPANTS UN agencies (OCHA, UNDP) Civil society (national and international NGOs) Private sector Red Cross/Crescent Movement Experts FURTHER INFORMATION Mr. Olabisi Dare African Union Commission, Political Affairs Department, Po ox 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Tel. + (251) , bisidee@yahoo.co.uk; Renny Mike Wafula (Consultant) African Union Commission, Political Affairs Department, Mob :+ ( 251) : wafula.rm@gmail.com; Ms. Elizabeth Sirengo lizsirengo@gmail.com African Union Commission, P o Box 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, + (251) Barnaby Willitts-King, Senior Research Fellow, Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute, 203 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8NJ, United Kingdom, Tel: +44 (0) E- mail: b.willitts-king@odi.org.uk [ 4]

5 2017 ROHAN Conference 7-9 November 2017, Addis Ababa DAY 1 INTERNAL PARTICIPANTS ONLY 09:00-09:45 Welcome and opening remarks 09:45-10:15 Coffee Break and photo 10:15-11:30 Teambuilding/icebreaker exercise (TBC) This would involve a simple exercise around planning a regional response to a disaster, where participants would play different roles (UN, regional org, member state etc) and simulate a coordination meeting after some breakout discussions 11:30-12:00 Jakarta Meeting recap/progress update (Presentation by ODI or AHA Centre) 12:00-13:00 Lunch 13:00-14:30 Nationally led response, backed by regional organisations and supported by international organisations : What does this mean in practice and how do we get there? (Roundtable, chaired by AU?) This session would pick up on discussions from the Jakarta conference and consensus that around this model, discussing what this means in practice, how this goal might be achieved and what role ROHAN could play. Could start with presentations from a few ROs on what this would mean from their perspective. 14:30-14:45 Coffee Break 14:45-16:30 Breakout sessions: a) The disaster management cycle & b) working in conflict this session would split into two breakout groups, one addressing the disaster management cycle and the other working in conflict/ihl. The idea would be to get an RO to lead each session, possibly presenting how they [ 5]

6 approach this issue and then soliciting reactions from others but this would be flexible, and we could work with the ROs to develop the sessions. 16:30-17:00 Breakout session feedback to group and discussion DAY 2 EXTERNAL PARTICIPANTS INVITED 09:00-09:15 Welcome to external participants, recap of day one and introductions this would include representatives of UN agencies, national and international NGOs, Red X movement, private sector 09:15-10:30 Nationally led response, backed by regional organisations and supported by international organisations : What does this mean in practice and how do we get there? (Roundtable) This session would revisit this question, but this in discussion with external participants. An RO representative could recap discussions from this session on day 1, then give time for reactions from external participations to discuss how they might collaborate with ROs toward this goal. 10:30-10:45 Coffee 10:45-12:00 Technology and innovation: Lessons from the private sector (Roundtable) This session would address the topic of technology and innovation, with a particular focus on connections with private sector engagement with humanitarian activities. This could involve presentations from private sector actors detailing their involvement in humanitarian work and/or ROs who have worked with the private sector in innovative ways. 12:00-13:00 Lunch 13:00-15:00 Breakout session: Engaging with global processes This session will split into two breakout groups, one focused on the Grand Bargain/WHS and the other on the refugee/migration compacts. These would address how ROs are engaging with these processes so far, what other opportunities exist, and how ROs would like to engage in the future. These could be chaired by external participants involved with the processes e.g. OCHA and UNHCR 15:00-15:30 Coffee Break 15:30-16:00 Breakout session feedback to group and discussion 16:00-17:00 Civil society and humanitarian action This session would focus on the role of civil society in humanitarian response [ 6]

7 by regional orgs, how ROs have worked with civil society, partnership models (funding/implementing or consultative), challenges and opportunities. DAY 3 INTERNAL PARTICIPANTS ONLY 09:00-09:10 Welcome and opening 09:10-09:40 Next steps: Vision and ODI s role (Group discussion) This session will address ROHAN members vision for the network going forwards, including the role ODI will play. 09:40-10:00 ROHAN Future Activities (Group discussion) This session will aim to isolate two/three key areas for future activity, for further discussion in the next session e.g. secondments, working groups 10:00-10:45 Breakout session: Activity planning In this session ROHAN members will split into groups as required to discuss different possible activities in greater detail, how this would work, what kind of support is needed etc. 10:45-11:00 Coffee Break 11:00-11:20 Breakout session feedback to group 11:20-11:50 Action plan finalised 11:50-12:00 closing remarks 12:00-13:00 Lunch 13:00-17:00 AU site visit (TBC) [ 7]