PART IV THE PATH AHEAD
Photo: © NRC/Ahmed Kaka
Chapter 8 Continuous competence building and learning
Humanitarian crises generally arise in complex political situations and when circumstances are already difficult. It is therefore vital that the Foreign Service and Norad have the necessary expertise and make the best use of their overall resources.
Norway will interact with a wide range of stakeholders in its humanitarian efforts. In countries where Norway has a diplomatic presence, the embassies will play a key role in assessing the humanitarian situation, following up the organisations receiving humanitarian funding from Norway, coordinating with other donors, and engaging actively in humanitarian diplomacy. Our embassies and other diplomatic missions also play a key role in ensuring a comprehensive approach and seeing the tools and approaches at our disposal in a broader context. Competence building efforts on humanitarian issues will be strengthened, particularly within humanitarian diplomacy.
Faced with increased humanitarian needs and a growing funding gap, humanitarian efforts must be as efficient as possible. Efforts must be based on the best available knowledge regarding needs and means, must apply knowledge, evaluations, reviews, and feedback mechanisms from affected populations to strengthen learning and knowledge development in the Foreign Service and Norad, and ensure sound prioritisation of funds. New initiatives and engaging in new priority areas require specialised competence in the areas we are most keen to focus on.
We will seek to cooperate with other donors, affected countries and neighbouring countries to share knowledge and identify new forms of collaboration that may yield better results and ease both Norway’s and our partners’ administrative burdens. We will seek to engage new supporters for the global humanitarian system. This is important both to strengthen funding for global humanitarian efforts, but also to strengthen universal support for the humanitarian principles and international humanitarian law.
The increased collection, sharing and analysis of data will strengthen the ability of humanitarian actors to anticipate, prevent and respond to humanitarian crises. Support to the further development of data regarding funding streams for humanitarian operations, early warning mechanisms and anticipatory action will be emphasised. The use of artificial intelligence and machine learning also have the potential to improve the basis for decision-making for preventive action and preparedness in the humanitarian sector, while risks must be managed. Improved access to statistics across different demographic characteristics, including gender and age, is also important to ensure that humanitarian programmes are adapted to the diverse needs of crisis-affected populations.
Cooperation with innovation actors and with Norwegian and international research and knowledge centres will be continued with a view to developing new solutions, increasing analysis capacity, and enhancing knowledge-based decision-making in humanitarian response. Here, our humanitarian partners are also valuable dialogue partners.
The Norwegian Government will
- strengthen humanitarian expertise in the Foreign Service and Norad;
- continue cooperation efforts with humanitarian research and knowledge centres to achieve increased knowledge and competence sharing.
Chapter 9 Follow-up of the strategy
This strategy covers the period 2024–2029. A mid-term review will be carried out, and the follow-up of the Strategy will be evaluated at the end of the period.
Updated versions of guidelines will be available on the website Government.no, including guidelines for the humanitarian principles and guidelines for a comprehensive approach, as well as other future relevant guidelines for the implementation of the humanitarian strategy.
Appendix
List of abbreviations
- AU African Union
- ATT UN Arms Trade Agreement
- CERF Central Emergency Response Fund
- DREF The Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
- UN United Nations
- FAO UN Food and Agriculture Organization
- ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross
- IDA International Development Association
- IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development
- IOM International Organization for Migration
- IPC System for Integrated Food Security Phase Classification
- Norad Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
- OCHA UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Efforts
- OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
- UCPM European Union Civil Protection Mechanism
- UNFPA UN Population Fund
- UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- UNHAS United Nations Humanitarian Air Service
- WFP World Food Programme
- WHO World Health Organization
Overview of humanitarian terminology
Accountability to the affected population: Humanitarian organisations should be held accountable by crisis-affected people in relation to the quality and effectiveness of their humanitarian efforts. This principle, known as Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP), also entails that crisis-affected people should be able to participate and influence decisions without discrimination, and that their dignity, capacity, and abilities are recognised.
Protection: In a humanitarian context, protection is understood to encompass strengthening of and compliance with the international legal framework for armed conflict (international humanitarian law), including the obligation of parties in armed conflict to protect civilians and other protected groups against military attacks and other adverse impacts, directly or indirectly, caused by warfare. Furthermore, protection includes humanitarian action in all humanitarian crises that contributes to protection against violence and abuse, including violations of international human rights law or other international legal rules, occurring because of a humanitarian crisis.
The humanitarian principles. Humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence must be the underlying principles for all humanitarian action. They are derived from the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and are enshrined in international humanitarian law. See Box 3.3.
Do no harm: This is a precautionary approach to prevent humanitarian and development efforts from having adverse impacts.
Education Cannot Wait: This global fund for education in crises was established in 2016. Its aim is to mobilise political will to strengthen education in crises through increased financial support and better coordination of efforts, including better coordination between humanitarian and long-term development efforts.
Refugee: Under the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugees are people who have a «well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion». Furthermore, they must be «outside the country of their nationality», i.e. they must have crossed an international border, and must be unable to, or due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted, unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country. Stateless persons who are outside their country of habitual residence are also considered to be refugees if they meet the same criteria.
International Refugee Law: The 1951 Refugee Convention defines the term refugee, sets out the principle of non-refoulement, which means that refugees may not be returned to a country where their life or freedom would be threatened, and outlines the rights of refugees. The scope of the Convention was extended under the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which was adopted in 1967 and removed the temporal and geographical restrictions of the 1951 Convention.
Displaced persons: The term displaced persons is often used as a general term for persons who are fleeing, or are forced to flee, their homes. If they are still in their own home country, they are often referred to as internallydisplaced persons. If they have crossed an international border, they are considered refugees if they also meet the requirement of a well-founded fear of persecution under the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Good HumanitarianDonorship: The initiative and forum established by donor states in 2003 to share experience and define common principles and standards for humanitarian action. Its objective is to achieve more effective and principled humanitarian action.
The Grand BargainDeclaration: Declaration adopted at the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. The aim is to reduce the humanitarian funding gap through increasing effectiveness, innovation, and coordination with long-term development efforts. See Box 7.1 in Chapter 7.
Humanitarianassistance: Humanitarianassistance is used in a broad sense to include material relief and logistics support. Assistance may e.g. be in the form of health services, medicines, food, water, sanitation, shelter, and education.
Humanitarianinnovation: The development of new products, forms of cooperation or other solutions that increase the effectiveness and/or quality of humanitarian action.
Innovative financing: Financing mechanisms and models that seek to address development challenges and humanitarian needs that are not adequately met by traditional funding sources, and that seek to provide quicker, more efficient funding and achieve better results than traditional models.
International Humanitarian Law: A set of international legal rules governing how parties to armed conflicts are to conduct their military operations. The purpose of these rules is to limit the harmful effects of war and to protect non-combatants. International humanitarian law (also referred to as the law of war) has been developed over more than 100 years by numerous conventions and international customary law and is binding for everyone. The four Geneva Conventions of 1949, together with Additional Protocols I and II of 1977, form the core of international humanitarian law with their rules governing, inter alia, the protection of civilians, the protection of medical personnel and the treatment of prisoners of war and wounded and sick soldiers.
Internallydisplaced persons: Persons who are forced to leave their homes due to armed conflicts, widespread violence, human rights violations, or natural disasters, but who have not crossed an internationally recognised border.
Climate change adaptation: Climate change adaptation involves understanding the consequences of climate change and taking action to prevent or reduce harm on the one hand, and, on the other hand, to harness the opportunities that the changes may entail.
Leave no one behind: The principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that no individual, group, region, or country is to be left behind.
Food security: Food security is when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.
Migrant: A migrant, like a refugee, has crossed an international border, but is not entitled to special protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Nevertheless, migrants may have considerable humanitarian protection needs and are entitled to protection from human rights violations wherever they are.
Safe Schools Declaration: The Safe Schools Declaration was adopted in Oslo in 2015 with the aim of strengthening protection of schools in situations of armed conflict, inter alia by endorsing states using the guidelines for protecting schools and universities from military use in such situations, to prevent them from becoming military targets.
Sendai Framework: International framework containing agreed global targets and indicators for disaster risk reduction. The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction was adopted at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in 2015.
Anticipatory action: The purpose of anticipatory action is to mitigate the humanitarian consequences of extreme weather events through actions in advance of the event.