Communication vital element in humanitarian response

Humanitarian operations depend critically on partnerships and information sharing between UN and non-UN actors, governments, and crisis-affected communities, a new statement agreed by aid agencies has just recognised.

The statement emphasised the central role of information management and exchange to support effective humanitarian preparedness and response.

Several key issues were highlighted as requiring follow up: strategic use of information and analysis, communication with affected communities, partnerships, preparedness, and the use of new communication technology.

The statement was the outcome of Global Symposium +5 ‘Information for Humanitarian Action’ held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 22 – 26 October 2007 at the UN's European headquarters in Palais des Nations. Hosted by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) brought together 250 humanitarian information representatives from the international community to build upon a process that began five years earlier.

"We have to share information and analysis because they are essentially common to us all, what binds us together despite our differences," said Sir John Holmes, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator who delivered the Symposium's keynote address.

Read the full statement by Sir John Holmes

TVE Asia Pacific was represented at this Symposium by its Director and CEO Nalaka Gunawardene, who served on the Working Group on 'Communications with Affected Communities in Crisis'. The group presented its analysis and recommendations to the plenary on October 25 (see box for highlights).

The working group noted that, despite recommendations in the 2005 World Disasters Report that communications with local populations was a critically neglected area of humanitarian response, "two-way communications with affected communities is not currently integrated into the planning and implementation of humanitarian response".

The group stressed the role of free and independent media to ensure transparency, accountability and better governance of the humanitarian response.

The Symposium had five Working Groups that consisted of 100 humanitarian information practitioners drawn from across the humanitarian community invited to prepare presentations that highlighted best practices, lessons learned, and recommend future action.

The Symposium called for information management to be recognised as a profession within the global humanitarian sector.

The final statement also called for the humanitarian information community to develop an action plan by March 2008 to implement the Symposium recommendations.

In 2002, the Symposium on Best Practices in Humanitarian Information Exchange, held in Geneva, endorsed the Statement on Best Practices for Humanitarian Information Management and Exchange. The principles flowing from the statement have been further developed in a series of regional Humanitarian Information Network workshops in Bangkok, December 2003, Panama City, August 2005, and Nairobi, May 2006.

All images courtesy UN OCHA and Symposium Flickr site