IASC Reference Group on Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban Areas
INTER-AGENCY STANDING COMMITTEE
IASC SUBSIDIARY BODIES
IASC Reference Group on Meeting Humanitarian Challenges
in Urban Areas
TWO-YEAR SUMMARY REPORT 2011-2012
Circulated: January 2013
OBJECTIVE: This report highlights the achievements in implementation of the IASCendorsed Strategy and Two-year Action Plan for Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban
Areas Strategy, coordinated by the IASC Reference Group MHCUA. Although implementation
has been satisfactorily steady over the two-year period ending in December, 2012, the Action
Plan has not been fully completed. Two of six strategic objectives have been fully
implemented, two other objectives have been partially completed and two have just been
initiated.
BACKGROUND: At its 78th Meeting in November, 2010, the IASC Working Group endorsed
the Final Strategy and Two-Year Action Plan for Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban
Areas (MHCUA). The IASC WG also agreed to transform the Task Force on MHCUA into a
Reference Group to follow-up on the implementation of the Strategy with a two-year mandate
until the end of 2012, coterminous with the two-year Action Plan. Meetings of the RG
MHCUA, chaired by UN-HABITAT, were regular and well-attended with the active
participation of implementing agencies as well as global cluster, NGO and other IASC
subsidiary bodies’ representatives.
Key Achievements against Two-year Work Plan Targets
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 1: Develop Operational Strategies early-on that ensure multistakeholder partnerships for enhanced coordination, impact and effectiveness of humanitarian
assistance in urban areas
(This objective was PARTIALLY ACHIEVED)

Recommended Action: Develop a simple model framework to map stakeholders
and roles; identify means to strengthen coordination and partnerships; and pilot
in two cities. A model for multi-stakeholder engagement, through improved coordination and strategic planning for more effective responses in urban areas,
was developed through a joint initiative of OCHA-Kenya and UN-HABITAT.
Although Kenya-focused, the model has potential replicability in other country/city contexts. Key elements achieved include: (1) Kenyan National Consultative Forum on Urban Vulnerability formed with participation of 76 NGO, national and local governments representatives; (2) Kenyan Multi-Hazard Urban
Response Plan developed including mapping of stakeholders and vulnerable
populations, strengthening coordination between national and international humanitarian actors and mainstreaming community groups for coordinated response, preparedness and resilience-building in urban areas. Although consensus on the Urban Response Plan and delineation of roles and responsibilities has
been achieved, the Kenyan pilot has not been fully implemented nor has a sec-
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IASC Reference Group on Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban Areas
ond model been developed. Concern about upcoming elections in Kenya has
stimulated donor interest and potential funding for the Kenyan Multi-Hazard
Urban Response Plan and multi-stakeholder partnerships.

Recommended Action: Compile good practices, identify gaps and develop guidance for community-based support and capacity building. A Handbook for Capacity Development of Displaced and Host Communities for Humanitarian Action in Urban Areas was developed through a joint UNICEF-IFRC initiative as
guidance to field practitioners for more cohesiveness in urban community-based
humanitarian programming. The Handbook incorporates ‘Host Families Guidelines’ developed by the Haiti Shelter Country Cluster based on best practices
from the post-2010 earthquake response. The Handbook is ready for broad dissemination beginning in early 2013.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 2: Strengthen Technical Surge Capacity for Emergency
Response in Urban-based Challenges (PARTIALLY ACHIEVED)

Recommended Action: Build stand-by technical capacity by developing/revising
TORs and rosters of urban emergency specialists. TORs and stand-by rosters for
emergency shelter/housing; housing, land and property (HLP) specialists; and
senior urban advisors to HC/HCTs were developed and disseminated by UNHabitat in collaboration with Global Shelter and Protection Clusters, ProCap and
NorCap to enhance the deployment of appropriate urban technical skills in
emergency responses.

Recommended Action: Strengthen inter-agency partnerships to share urban expertise. Existing partnerships to improve the quality of urban skills and practices
in emergency responses were strengthened by UN-Habitat with: UNHCR and
Protection Cluster on HLP issues; IFRC on emergency and early recovery of
shelter/housing, including country shelter cluster coordination;
FAO/WFP/NGOs and Food Security Cluster on nutrition security; IFRC and
UNICEF on community-based relief and host family support; and IASC Group
on IDPs Outside of Camps on information sharing. A new partnership between
UN-Habitat and UNICEF on urban water and sanitation expertise and capacity
building is in its initial stages of development.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 3: Develop or Adapt Humanitarian Approaches and Tools for
Urban Areas (FULLY ACHIEVED)

Recommended Action: Develop cross-sectoral methodology and indicators of
urban vulnerability and resilience. IASC Needs Assessment Task Force’s ‘Operational Guidance for Coordinated Assessments in Humanitarian Crises’ and
MIRA with UN-Habitat’s input provide basic indicators for assessing and identifying vulnerability when undertaken in urban areas. Assessment of urban vulnerability can be strengthened through harmonization of urban assessments with
MIRA at country level.

Recommended Action: Broaden Rapid Protection Assessment Toolkit (RPAT) to incorporate urban vulnerability analysis. UNHCR, with the Protection Cluster and RG
MHCUA support, developed the Initial Rapid Protection Assessment (IRPA) which incorporates preliminary assessments of community vulnerability and coping mechanisms.
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IASC Reference Group on Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban Areas

Recommended Action: Promote improved knowledge management (KM) through tool
repository development. UN-Habitat populated existing KM sites with urban tools and
analyses assembled by the RG MHCUA including: One Response, UN-Habitat’s Urban
Gateway, IASC Secretariat and Shelter Center. A new website for practitioners in urban responses was developed through ALNAP-UN-Habitat partnership: www.urbanresponse.org.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 4: Promote Protection of Vulnerable Urban Populations
against Violence and Exploitation (FULLY ACHIEVED)

Recommended Action: Ensure that Protection Cluster methodologies, including RPAT,
identify and address concerns of affected urban populations and ensure their dissemination. RPAT and related guidelines/tools, if collected on an urban geographical basis,
identify vulnerability, resilience and needs information for urban shelter, basic services
and livelihoods at a basic level. RPAT is being disseminated by UNHCR and incorporated into staff trainings.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 5: Restore Livelihoods and Economic Opportunities in the
Emergency Phase for Expedited Early Recovery (NOT ACHIEVED)

Recommended Action: Develop guidance for food and nutrition security support in
post-crisis urban areas. WFP and FAO forged a partnership with draft TORs with
Oxfam, Concern Kenya and Action Contre la Faim to develop guidance and improved
practices for more effective, harmonized food and nutrition security in urban areas including assessment, targeting, monitoring, contingency planning and partnerships. This
guidance is also a planned key output of the Global Food Security Cluster’s sub-group
on Urban Nutrition Security. Draft guidance will be developed and pilot field tested in
the coming year, subject to availability of funding for staffing and technical analyses. A
FAO and World Vision partnership was formed to improve urban crises responses with
nutrition and livelihood support.
STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 6: Build Preparedness into Humanitarian Assistance Policies
for more Effective Emergency Responses and Save More Lives in Urban Areas (NOT
ACHIEVED)

Recommended Action: Prepare a coherent implementation plan for the strategic
objective and pilot test it in at least one at-risk city. Improved urban preparedness, strengthening resilience and local government and community engagement, including assessment of good practices, have been mainstreamed in interagency preparedness initiatives including field work of the IASC SWG on Preparedness. Field assessments of the Preparedness Group of SWG Humanitarian
Financing in Haiti and Philippines will have an urban focus and will be undertaken with support from UN-Habitat. The implementation of a new UN-Habitat
City Resilience Profiling Program in the coming year will contribute to defining
elements of an implementation plan for this strategic objective. The Program
will measure urban resilience (including preparedness), assess risks, identify
means to strengthen resilience and overcome vulnerabilities through improved
urban planning and management in ten pilot cities. Building synergies between
urban preparedness and multi-stakeholder partnership frameworks developed
under Strategic Objective 1 is strongly encouraged.
Challenges faced in 2012
 Inadequate funding has constrained field implementation of the Action Plan.
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IASC Reference Group on Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban Areas
o
Kenyan stakeholder partnership and Multi-Hazard Urban Response Plan
implementation are partially completed through OCHA-Kenya and UN-Habitat
efforts. But thorough field-testing and application to an emergency requires
further funding. Donor interest in this urban response readiness planning and
action is increasing given the potential for conflict in upcoming Kenyan
elections.
o
Development of an urban preparedness plan and its implementation as a pilot
activity is still under consideration by the SWG Preparedness. Fundraising for
the UN-Habitat City Resilience Profiling Program is underway. The Program’s
implementation in the coming year will also advance this strategic objective.
o
Fundraising for the development of urban nutrition security guidelines is
underway. Guidelines development will require funding for a staff person to
coordinate the WFP/FAO/NGO partnership and technical studies.
 New partnerships to share urban expertise for emergency responses have taken
longer to develop than anticipated. For example, the emerging partnership
between UNICEF and UN-Habitat on urban water and sanitation infrastructure
and services will fill an important gap or weakness in urban emergency
responses but will require another year to be operational.
 The IASC Secretariat should consider again developing a comprehensive
process/approach for the dissemination to the field (HC/HCTs) of IASC
products rather than each subsidiary body undertaking its own product
dissemination since HCs and HCTs are common target beneficiaries for most
subsidiary bodies.
Any outcomes of your Subsidiary Body in relation to the
Transformative Agenda in 2012
The products and outcomes of all six strategic objectives of the IASC Strategy MHUCA, as
coordinated by the RG MHCUA, directly support the implementation of all priorities of the
IASC Transformative Agenda including strengthening leadership, improved strategic planning,
strengthened needs assessments and planning, improved cluster and inter-cluster coordination,
enhanced accountability and strengthened preparedness and community resilience. These are
summarized in Attachment 1.
Outstanding work of your Subsidiary Body requiring the attention of
the IASC Working Group in 2013
The RG MHCUA strongly recommends that the IASC Working Group consider the following
action points. The RG MHCUA proposes these Action Points recognizing that natural
and man-made emergencies with significant urban dimensions are on the increase. In
light of this and based on past performance, there is an overwhelming need to strengthen the responsiveness and effectiveness of IASC’s humanitarian operations in urban areas. The RG and its coordination of the IASC MHCUA Strategy implementation is an
important means for the IASC to achieve this. The RG and participating agencies are
developing important tools and programs to address high priority needs for improving
urban-based humanitarian responses including: strengthening resilience and reducing
vulnerabilities; preparedness and risk reduction; partnerships with local governments
and communities; and enhanced accountability to affected populations. The RG has and
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IASC Reference Group on Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban Areas
should continue to serve as a body of peer reviewers of these tools, programs, services
and knowledge management vehicles.
ACTION POINTS:
A. The IASC Working Group extends the IASC MHCUA Strategy and Action Plan
implementation period by one year to December, 2013 in order to provide sufficient time for
their implementation.
B.
The IASC Working Group extends the Reference Group for MHUCA by one year to
December, 2013 to coordinate the full implementation of the IASC MHCUA Strategy and
Action Plan. However, if the IASC Working Group adopts the creation of IASC Expert
Groups, it is recommended that the RG MHCUA be converted to an Urban Expert Group with
no specified time frame.
Prepared by:
IASC RG on Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban Areas, January 2013
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IASC Reference Group on Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Urban Areas
ATTACHMENT 1
HOW THE IASC STRATEGY FOR MEETING HUMANITARIAN CHALLENGES IN
URBAN AREAS SUPPORTS THE CONCRETE ACTIONS OF THE IASC
TRANSFORMATIVE AGENDA
Strategic
Objectives
TA Priority Strengthen
Concrete
leadership
1
Actions
capacities
all levels
Improved
strategic
at planning
with clear
collective
results
Strengthened
needs
assessment,
information
management,
planning,
monitoring,
and
evaluation
Improved
cluster
coordination,
performance,
and
participation
Enhanced
accountability
for results with
performance
and monitoring
framework
linked to the
strategic plan
SO1: Develop multi- XX
stakeholder partnership
models, including hosting
communities
XX
SO2: Strengthen urban XX
technical surge capacity
XX
XX
XX
XX
SO3: Develop urban XX
humanitarian tools
XX
XX
XX
XX
SO4: Promote protection
of vulnerable pops
XX
SO5: Restore Livelihoods
and
Food/Nutrition
Security
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
SO6: Build Community
Preparedness
and
Resilience-
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
1
XX
Strengthened
accountability
to
affected
communities
XX
XX
XX
XX
Priority Concrete Actions defined by the ERC and IASC Principals in their IASC Transformative Agenda
Communication documents of May, 2012.
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