Minimum Standards for Mainstreaming Protection in
Humanitarian Response: Training Pack
February 2012
1
Introduction
This training pack has been developed to accompany the ‘Minimum Standards for
Mainstreaming Protection into Humanitarian Response’. It aims to build the capacity of
humanitarian workers to mainstream protection into all response programming using the
standards at all stages of the project cycle.
The training pack is set out as a one-day training with four key sessions. The sessions and
accompanying materials can be used flexibly according to the available time and resources.
Session 1 introduces participants to the definition of protection and ensures that
participants understand the different roles of mandated and non-mandated actors in the
field. Session 2 focuses on protection mainstreaming and allows participants to explore and
learn about five key components of mainstreaming (safety, dignity, rights, vulnerability
factors, and response). Session 3 introduces the ‘Minimum Standards for Mainstreaming
Protection into Humanitarian Response’ and provides participants with an opportunity to
use the standards at the different stages of the project cycle. Session 4 allows participants to
use all the skills and knowledge developed during the training to develop a ‘mainstreaming
action plan’ (MAP) for a given case study.
The materials have been produced by Kate Sutton and Louise Searle and include
contributions from the ‘Humanitarian Protection Training Pack’1 developed as part of the
field-testing process for the draft protection mainstreaming standards and the Oxfam GB
‘Humanitarian Protection Training Pack’2. Any part of this pack may be reproduced freely,
but may not be sold for profit. When using these materials please credit World Vision.
Funding support for the development of the training pack has been received from DFID and
AusAID with thanks.
Proposed 1 day Agenda
Session
Introduction and pre-training questionnaire
Time
20 minutes
Session 1
What is Protection?
45 minutes
Session 2
What is Protection Mainstreaming?
1 hour 45 mins
Session 3
What are the Minimum Protection Mainstreaming
Standards?
1 hour 30 mins
Session 4
Developing MAPs
1 hour
Closing and post training questionnaire
20 minutes
1
Caritas Australia, CARE, Oxfam Australia, World Vision, Humanitarian Protection Training Pack, Humanitarian
Protection Capacity Project, 2008
2 Oxfam GB, Humanitarian Protection Training Pack, 2007
2
Introduction and Pre-training questionnaire
Time
Activity
Resources
5 mins

Participant introductions
5 mins

Sharing Objectives and Workshop Agenda
Share the training objectives with the participants:
1. To understand what protection mainstreaming
means
2. To understand how to mainstream protection into
humanitarian response.
3. To introduce the Minimum Standards for
Mainstreaming Protection into Humanitarian
response
4. To be able to develop Mainstreaming Action Plans
using the Minimum Standards
Flip chart with
objectives
written up in
appropriate
language
Share the workshop agenda (see proposed agenda for
possible timings) and any relevant rules with participants
including start and end times; tea break timings; location of
bathrooms etc.
10 mins

Pre-training questionnaire
Pre-training
questionnaire
Ask all the participants to spend 5 minutes completing the
pre-training questionnaire.
Explain that this is not a test but is a way for them to
monitor progress and understanding during the training.
Ask participants to give in the pre-training questionnaire
once they have completed it.
3
Pre-training questionnaire
Name:
1. Do you know the meaning of protection mainstreaming?
Please tick one response
YES ☐
NO ☐
PARTLY ☐
2. Do you believe that protection mainstreaming is part of your job?
Please tick one response
YES ☐
NO ☐
PARTLY ☐
3. Do you currently mainstream protection into your work?
Please tick one response
YES ☐
NO ☐
PARTLY ☐
If yes / partly please give two examples of how you mainstream protection in your current
work:
i)
ii)
4. Which of the following have you heard of and which do you use in your work?
Document
Heard of
Yes
Use
No
Yes
No
Guiding Principles on Internal
Displacement
Convention on the Rights of the
Child
Staff Code of Conduct
5. What would you do if you found out that a woman had been raped while collecting
water in one of the communities where your agency is working? (Circle all those
answers that you agree with)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
Nothing, it’s not your agency’s role to respond
Nothing, it’s a community issue
Report it to my manager
Report it to the police
Interview the women to find out more details about the incident
Talk to the alleged perpetrator/accused to find out if it is true
Provide information to the women of where she can access medical, legal and
psychosocial help
(h) Review your agency work in the community to see if anything needs to be
changed to increase safety
Thank you for your time, and welcome to protection training!
4
Session 1: What is Protection?
Objectives of Session
1. To understand the definition of protection
2. To understand the protection role of non-specialist agencies
Session Plan (approx. 45 mins)
Time
Activity
Resources
 Introduction to session
Put up the session objectives on flip chart
Flip chart and
marker pens
5 mins
 Discussion in pairs
Ask participants to discuss in pairs what ‘protection’ means Cards and pens
and to write down key words or ideas (alternatively you can
hand out blank cards and ask participants to write one word
per card).
10 mins
 Group consolidation of ideas
Ask everyone to give the ideas that have arisen from the
discussion. Write up on flip chart (or ask participants to
stick cards up on flip chart) and underline/highlight words
such as safety/ dignity / rights / vulnerability / response to
abuse
Flip chart and
marker pens
25 mins
 Power point on ‘Definitions’ (PP1 Definitions)
The presentation covers:
 IASC endorsed definition of protection (1999)
 The Sphere definition of protection (2011)
 Key points about the protection definition
 Who is responsible for protection
 What is the role of non-mandated and nonspecialist agencies
PP1 Definitions
See Session 1: Facilitator Notes
5 mins
 Summary of session
Explain that this training is focused on the work of nonmandated / non-specialist agencies. It will provide guidance
and support for minimum requirements for mainstreaming
protection into humanitarian work.
5
Session 1: Facilitator Notes
Notes for PP1
Key points about the definition:
1. The IASC definition provides an umbrella definition for all levels and dimensions
of protection work and it is intentionally broad
2. The Sphere definition provides a more practical and field-based definition for
protection that may be more useful to field-based staff
3. Safety and dignity are the central components of protection
4. Factors may make certain individuals and groups more vulnerable to threats to
safety or dignity
5. Rights protect people’s safety and dignity
6. Appropriate response to abuse of rights is an important part of protection
Key points about ‘Who is Responsible for Protection?’
1. The State: In all cases the primary responsibility and mandate for protection lies
with the State – they hold the legal obligation to provide protection.
2. Non-state actors: In situations of armed conflict all armed actors have responsibility
to protection civilians – even non-state actors.
3. Mandated agencies are those agencies that have been assigned a specific protection
role by a recognized international body or legal instrument. For example UNHCR has
responsibility for the protection of refugees under the Refugee Convention. ICRC has
responsibility for the protection of prisoners and non-combatants during armed
conflicts under the Geneva Conventions.
4. Specialist protection agencies are those agencies that have dedicated protection
expertise in specific protection areas such as rule of law and access to justice. For
example, UNICEF is a specialist protection agency for the protection of child rights.
You may be able to provide other examples from the context in which the training is
taking place, for example, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) frequently fund legal
assistance programmes or International Rescue Committee (IRC) frequently have
specific projects to prevent and respond to sexual and gender based violence.
5. Non-specialist agencies: Ask participants if they think that agencies with no specific
mandate or specialist expertise have a role in protection before going on to final
slide.
6. Not all humanitarian agencies are expected to implement protection programmes,
or have the necessary staff and skills to do so. However, all humanitarian actors
have an ethical obligation to mainstream protection principles and promote safety
in their humanitarian response programmes.
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Session 2: What is protection mainstreaming?
Objectives of Session:
1. To understand the key components of protection mainstreaming
2. To explore the practical implementation of protection mainstreaming
Session Plan (approx. 1 hour 45 mins)
Time
Activity
5 mins
 Introduction to session
Put up the session objectives

Resources
Introduce definition of mainstreaming
‘Protection mainstreaming refers to incorporating protection
principles and promoting safety in humanitarian response.’
15 mins

Room walk to introduce the 5 main components of
protection mainstreaming:
Flip chart and
marker pens
Prior to the session prepare five flip chart posters. Each
poster should have one mainstreaming component as a title
(Safety; Dignity; Rights; Vulnerability; and Response). The
text under each poster title should be copied from the text
in Session 2: Supporting Materials and Exercise Content.
Evenly space the flipchart posters on the wall around the
room. Ask participants to walk around the room and read
each of the protection mainstreaming components.
At the end of the room walk ask participants to stand by one
flip chart that explains the protection mainstreaming
component that they think is most important. They must be
ready to explain why they think it is the most important
one. Ask a couple of participants at each flip chart to explain
why they have chosen this component of protection
mainstreaming as the most important.
20 mins

Large group discussion on Safety and Dignity
Ask the group what the difference is between safety and
dignity. Facilitate a short discussion and summarise:
Safety…. Is about protection from all forms of physical and
psychological harm (e.g. attacks, sexual violence, danger
from natural hazards)
Dignity…. Is about freedom and choices and how people
feel about the way they are being treated
You may want to provide examples of safety and dignity
7
issues from your own experience.
45 mins

Small group work on protection mainstreaming
components: rights, vulnerability and response
Group work
materials
Divide the participants into three groups (if there is a large
number of participants you might want to make six groups).
Set up three tables with one exercise at each table (table 1
rights exercise; table 2 vulnerability exercise; table 3
response exercise). See Session2: Supporting materials and
exercise content for details. Each group should spend 15
minutes at each table completing the exercise before
rotating on to the next table.
The facilitator should rotate to each table and provide
assistance as required.
20 mins

Plenary discussion on protection mainstreaming
components: rights, vulnerability and response
After all three groups have visited each table ask the
participants to come back to plenary.
Follow the Plenary question guide in Session2: Supporting
materials and exercise content for details to guide a
discussion of the outcomes from each of the exercise tables.
8
Session 2: Supporting Materials and Exercise Content
Room walk to introduce the five main components of
protection mainstreaming: Text for flipcharts
1. SAFETY
‘Ensuring people are safe when they take part in any humanitarian programme or activity’
2. DIGNITY
‘Ensuring all individuals and groups are included and treated with dignity’
3. RIGHTS
‘Ensuring that programmes support disaster-affected populations to claim their rights’
4. VULNERABILITY
‘Prioritising individuals and groups that are most vulnerable to the effects of conflict and
disaster’
5. RESPONSE
‘Responding in the right way to incidents of human rights abuse that might occur to people
participating in your programmes’
9
Table exercises for small group work:
Table 1 – Rights
Table Exercise
Provide handouts on the table that contain key treaties / legal principles that the relevant
country has ratified and key rights within that treaty. The attached example (Handout –
Table 1) is for Timor Leste; in order to find out information for another country refer to
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/. If the training is being conducted at a head office
location rather than a field-based office then you might want to provide some of the
commonly ratified conventions and legal principles with the key rights contained within each
one.
Ask the participants to discuss the following key questions at the table with their group:
 Which of these rights do you think people in this country currently enjoy?
 Are there any individuals or groups who don’t currently enjoy these rights? Why?
 How can these rights be used to keep people safe and dignified?
Questions for Plenary
1. Why is the law important for protection?
2. How do you think the law can be used to keep people safe and dignified in this
context?
Key points for plenary
 The law is important because:
o It provides a benchmark for what rights people ‘should’ have
o It provides a basis for advocacy to the government
o It provides a basis for educating people on their rights and responsibilities
 There is often a gap between the law and the reality: this often relates to
compliance and may be an important basis for advocacy.
10
Handout – Table 1: International Legal Instruments applicable in Timor Leste
Legal Instrument
Key rights and principles contained in instrument
International
Covenant on
Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights (1966)
Rights protected:
 To work (article 6) /enjoyment of just conditions at work (art 7)
 To form and join trade unions (article 8)
 To social security, including social insurance (article 9)
 To an adequate standard of living (article 11)
 To an education (article 13 and 14)
 To take part in a cultural life (article 15)
International
Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (1966)
Rights protected:
 Privacy (article 17) / Marriage and family (article 23)
 Minority rights for language, culture and religion (article 27)
 Participation in public affairs with genuine periodic elections by universal
suffrage (article 25)
 Freedom of expression, movement, association and assembly (article 12, 18
and 21)
 The right to life, liberty and security (articles 6 and 9)
Convention on the
Elimination of
Discrimination Against
Women (1979)
Rights protected:
 Equal rights to nationality (article 9)
 Equal access to education (article 10)
 Equal access to employment, social security, and protection during pregnancy
(article 11)
 Equal standing before the law (article 15)
Convention Against
Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment
or Punishment (1984)
Articles 5 – 7
Torture may not be justified by any circumstance. Any person suspected of having
committed any acts prohibited in the Convention is subject to the principle of universal
jurisdiction. This means that any court anywhere is empowered by international law to
try it and punish it, irrespective of its place of commission or the nationality of the
offender or victims.
Convention on the
Rights of the Child CRC (1989)
Rights protected:
 Non-discrimination. Every child no matter what race, creed or religion come
under the protection of the Convention (article 2)
 Best interests of the child. The best interests will be a primary consideration in
all legal, administrative or social policy actions concerning children (article 3)
 Participation. The opinion and views of the child should be heard and taken
into account in all those situations where it is possible (article 12)
Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement
This is not a treaty that countries sign up to, but the principles are based upon existing
international humanitarian law and human rights instruments, and they serve as an
international standard to guide assistance and protection to IDPs. Key principles include:
 Non-discrimination. IDPs shall not be discriminated against in the enjoyment of
any rights or freedoms (principle 1)
 Protection from displacement (principles 5 – 9)
 Protection during displacement (principles 10 – 27)
 Return must be voluntary, safe and dignified (principle 28)
11
Table 2 - Vulnerability:
Table Exercise
Provide the group with ten white cards each with the details of one individual on the card.
(a 10 year old girl; a community leader; a farmer; a disabled man; a cleaner at a UN PK base;
a worker for a national NGO; a grandmother; a mother with 5 children; an IDP returning to
his village; a newborn baby). Use the white cards in Cards for Vulnerability Exercise.
Ask the group to rank the individuals according to how vulnerable they think they are likely
to be in the present context (where the training is happening at a head office rather than a
field-based office you can provide an example context). Rank from 1 = the most vulnerable
to 10 = least vulnerable.
Following this exercise provide the group with the grey cards in Cards for Vulnerability
Exercise, which provides additional information about each individual. Ask the group t read
the additional information and discuss if they would change the ranking based on the
additional information. Ask the group if they want to make any changes to the ranking.
Questions for Plenary
1. What are some of the factors that make individuals vulnerable?
2. Why do we have to be careful about making assumptions about vulnerability?
3. How can you assess whether an individual or group is vulnerable in a particular
context?
Key points for plenary



Vulnerability is not inherent
Vulnerability will be determined by a number of factors that will change with
context. Factors might include: severe deprivation, serious discrimination, abusive or
exploitive relationships, high levels of distress and unsafe or negative coping
mechanisms.
Protection risks will vary depending on the vulnerability factors in any given context.
12
Cards for Vulnerability Exercise
Profile 1:
A 10 year old girl
Profile 2:
A local committee member
Profile 3:
A farmer
Profile 4:
A disabled man
Profile 5:
A cleaner at a UN PK base
Additional Information Profile 1:
This 10-year old girl has a mother and father
and is currently able to access school on a
regular basis
Additional Information Profile 2:
This local committee member is a woman
who has been supported by an NGO trying to
fulfill gender balance in local committees,
but she is from an ethnic minority group that
is discriminated against. As a result she is
being verbally abused and targeted by men
in the community as she tries to do her job.
Additional Information Profile 3:
This farmer had to leave his land to seek a
safer location for his family. He had all his
crops destroyed and farming equipment
stolen. He has no access to land in his
current location.
Additional Information Profile 4:
This disabled man has a job working with the
local Red Crescent society.
Additional Information Profile 5:
This cleaner is being coerced to provide
sexual favours to one of the UN workers, she
feels she might loose her job if she refuses or
complains.
13
Profile 6:
A worker for a national NGO
Profile 7:
A grandmother
Profile 8:
A mother with 5 children
Profile 9:
An IDP returning to his place
of origin
Profile 10:
A newborn baby
Additional Information Profile 6:
This worker is employed by a local human
rights NGO that is being targeted by the
government. A couple of his colleagues were
arrested last month.
Additional Information Profile 7:
This grandmother is living with her daughter
and her family. They have adequate food
and support.
Additional Information Profile 8:
This mother has lost her husband and two
children are missing after recent flooding.
She has no stable income to support her
remaining 3 children and is in a very
distressed state.
Additional Information Profile 9:
This IDP has received a support package to
return to his place of origin. It will allow him
to rebuild his home and buy some livestock.
Additional Information Profile 10:
This newborn baby is the daughter of a
family that has just been recognized as
refugees by the UNHCR and will shortly be
moving to Norway.
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Table 3 – Response to abuses:
Table Exercise
Give the group the following scenario to read at the table.
Scenario: You are an engineer with no specific expertise in protection. You are visiting a
water and sanitation project early in the morning, while you are there a woman runs over to
your group and tells you that another woman has been attacked over night by two men. She
takes you to see the woman who is distressed.
Give the group the white cards from Cards for Response to Abuse Exercise. Ask them to read
each response card and for each one discuss the following questions:
a) Is the suggested action is safe or unsafe?
b) Why is the action safe / unsafe?
Questions for Plenary
1. Do you think any of the suggested responses could have resulted in more harm than
good? If yes, which ones and why?
2. How confident are you that you know what to do if you see or hear about incidents
of human rights abuses during your work?
3. Does your agency provide any guidance on what you should do?
4. Do you think your agency should provide you with advice on what to do?
Key points for plenary
You must be prepared to comment on each of the response cards – see guidance below:
Response Card
Ask the woman if she is hurt
Ask for details of what happened
Ask who is responsible for attacking her.
Ask when and where it happened.
Ask what specific help/assistance she needs.
Ask if she is happy for you to contact
someone to get support or help.
Guidance for facilitator
Checking if a survivor has any immediate
medical needs is a first step in response
Without proper training to interview
survivors of rights abuses, staff should never
attempt to interview or gain further
information about an incident.
Without proper training to interview
survivors of rights abuses, staff should never
attempt to interview or gain further
information about an incident.
Without proper training to interview
survivors of rights abuses, staff should never
attempt to interview or gain further
information about an incident.
Trying to help a survivor access appropriate
services (medical; counseling; legal) is an
important step. Staff should be provided
with a list of services that can be referred to
15
Give the person contact information for
health, counseling or other relevant services.
Don’t say anything at the time, but later call
the police from somewhere private.
Report the incident to your manager /
Protection staff member and ask for advice
Do nothing if it is a domestic violence or
family/community matter.
Check safety: your safety, the safety of other
staff members and the safety of the affected
person and the community.
in the area they are working. You must ask
the survivor for informed consent before
contacting any service providers.
If the survivor is not comfortable with you
contacting service providers on their behalf
you can provide them with contact
information of service providers that may be
able to help them.
You should not call the police on behalf of
the survivor unless they have requested that
you do so and have provided informed
consent.
You should always report the incident to
your manager or a protection staff member.
They will be able to provide you will further
support on the appropriate way to respond.
Domestic violence is a serious offence in
most countries. You should provide the same
support to a survivor of domestic violence as
any other human rights violation. Ignoring
domestic violence is not acceptable.
Before taking any action you should check
that you, other staff, the survivor and the
other community members are safe.
16
Cards for Response to Abuse Exercise
Ask the woman if she is hurt
Ask what specific
help/assistance she needs.
Ask if she is happy for you to
contact someone to get
support or help.
Ask for the details of what
happened.
Give the person contact
information for health,
counseling or other relevant
services.
Ask when and where it
happened.
Ask who is responsible for
attacking her.
Don’t say anything at the
time, but later call the police
from somewhere private.
Report the incident to your
manager / Protection staff
member and ask for advice
Do nothing if it is a domestic Check safety: your safety, the
violence or family/community safety of other staff members
matter.
and the safety of the affected
person and the community.
17
Session 3: What are the minimum standards?
Objectives of Session:
 To introduce the ‘Minimum Standards for mainstreaming protection into
humanitarian response’
 To familiarize participants with the tool and how to use the standards as part of the
project cycle
Session Plan (approx. 1 hour 30 mins)
Time
10 mins
Activity
Resources
 Introduction to session
Put up the session objectives
Hand out copies of the ‘Minimum Standards for
mainstreaming protection into humanitarian response’
Flip chart with
objectives
 Introduce the standards
Ask participants to read out loud definitions of standard;
key action; indicator; guidance note and alert as detailed in
the introduction of the ‘Minimum Standards for
Mainstreaming Protection in Humanitarian Response’.
Copies of the
‘Minimum
Standards for
Mainstreaming
Protection in
Humanitarian
Response’
Ask participants to find and read out one example of each
i.e. one standard, one key action, one indicator, one
guidance note and to find one alert.
30 mins
 Exercise on Core Standards
Divide the participants into 5 groups and assign one of the
core standards to each group.
Exercise
materials: case
study
Hand out the Core Standards Case Study provided in the
Session 3: Supporting Materials and Exercise Content
section.
Ask each group to read the case study and consider
whether they think their group allocated core standard is
fulfilled. If not ask them to list the indicators that they think
are not being fulfilled by the case study project. Exercise
output: list of indicators in core standards that are not met
by project.
Ask each group to feed back their responses in plenary:
Guidance for the facilitator on possible answers can be
found in Session 3: Supporting Materials and Exercise
Content section.
18
30 mins
 Exercise on Sector Standards
Ask the participants which sector standards they might also
want to look at in order to mainstream protection into this
same case study. (Food and NFI Programming Standards)
Keep participants in the same 5 groups and ask them to
take 10 minutes to look at the food and NFI standards and
to discuss which standards and indicators are not being
fulfilled in the case study. Exercise output: list of indicators
in food and NFI programming standards that are not met by
project.
Ask each group to feed back their responses in plenary:
Guidance for the facilitator on possible answers can be
found in Session 3: Supporting Materials and Exercise
Content section.
20 mins

Project cycle Exercise
Introduce this exercise by explaining that in the case study
there were several points in the project cycle where the
standards could have been used to better mainstream
protection. This exercise is designed to generate ideas on
what changes could have been made to the case study
project at each stage of the cycle.
Draw the project cycle on a flip chart and ensure that all
participants understand the stages. Maybe ask one of the
participants to explain each stage of the cycle before
beginning the exercise.
Divide the participants into 3 groups: one group to look at
assessment stage; one group to look at design and
implementation stages; and one group to look at
monitoring and evaluation. With reference to the
‘Minimum Standards for Mainstreaming Protection’ the
groups must answer the following questions:
Assessment group:
Draft two questions that should have been included
at the assessment stage to ensure protection was
mainstreamed.
Design and implementation:
List two changes that could have been made to the
design and implementation of the project to
improve protection mainstreaming.
Monitoring and evaluation:
List three indicators that could have been used to
monitor how protection was mainstreamed into
19
the project.
Back in the large group invite the groups to share their
ideas for each stage of the project cycle.
20
Session 3: Facilitator Notes
Introducing the Standards
The following text is taken from the introduction of the ‘Minimum Standards for
Mainstreaming Protection in Humanitarian Response’. It should be read aloud with the
participants in plenary.
Minimum Standards
This tool provides minimum standards that articulate the minimum level of performance
to be reached and maintained in order to mainstream protection into humanitarian
responses including programmes, advocacy and management. The standards are
qualitative and designed to be applicable across diverse humanitarian contexts.
Core Standards: The core standards are minimum standards that must be adhered to by
agency staff in all humanitarian programmes. They contain the fundamental standards of
agency practice required to ensure protection principles are implemented and the safety of
disaster-affected populations is prioritised. When the common standards are met, agencies
will be able to demonstrate that they:
1. Prioritise the safety of disaster-affected populations
2. Promote dignity, inclusive participation and diversity within disaster-affected
populations
3. Support disaster-affected populations to claim their rights
4. Prioritise those individuals and groups most vulnerable to the effects of conflict and
disaster
5. Respond safely and ethically to incidences of human rights abuses in conformity
with agency mandate and recognised good practice.
21
Sector Standards: The sector standards are to be implemented alongside the core standards
and provide minimum standards for mainstreaming protection into five sectors: Water,
Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Food and Non-Food Items, Livelihoods, Shelter and
Settlement, Health and Education.
Key Actions:
 Key Actions suggest practical ways to achieve the standards but are not intended to
be measurable.
Key Indicators:
A. These are ‘signals’ that determine whether or not minimum standards have been
attained, and can be monitored to measure progress towards achieving the
standards.
Guidance Notes:
These should be read alongside the standards, key actions and indicators, and provide
additional information to assist in identifying specific issues and suggested activities that
need to be considered in application of the standards and indicators.
Alerts: !
The tool includes an ‘alert’ symbol next to selected indicators, represented by a red
apostrophe. This symbol alerts agencies to the likelihood that a protection officer or other
person who has been specially trained, or another agency with a specific protection
mandate or expertise may best undertake the suggested action. This reflects the reality that
while protection mainstreaming is the responsibility of sector staff, generalist humanitarian
staff and managers, agencies may need to quickly access protection expertise when they are
alerted to protection issues, to ensure situations and issues are assessed and managed
safely.
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Session 3: Supporting Materials and Exercise Content
Exercise on Core Standards: Case Study
An outbreak of violence has resulted in 20,000 people being displaced from surrounding
villages to a school field just outside the main town. The government has established the
area as a temporary IDP camp and has asked agencies to assist with the distribution of food
and non-food items in the camp.
Your agency has carried out a rapid assessment by talking to the village leaders and asking
what people need. On the basis of the rapid assessment your agency has decided to
distribute bags of rice, lentils, oil, tarpulins and jerry cans. The government has approved the
distribution, but has also requested that you include leaflets about upcoming local elections
with distribution items, which you have been advised is normal practice in this culture. After
the first week of distribution you receive feedback from the community that they do not
know how to cook lentils, and some pregnant women request additional rations. The
agency decides to give an additional ration to pregnant and breastfeeding women.
During the second week of distributions there are some problems. Distributions have been
chaotic as people are worried they might miss out, and a number of women insist they
should have the same rations as the pregnant and breastfeeding women. There is a lot of
confusion about who is entitled to what and some fighting has occurred. There are rumours
that some people are not coming to the distributions because of the fighting. In addition, a
member of the community has approached your agency reporting that a child went missing
following a recent distribution. The child is 9 years old and arrived with her mother to the
distribution and got separated during the chaos. Your agency emails the head office in
Geneva to request additional staff and budget to assist with distribution management.
During the third week, an external journalist printed a story in the local paper reporting that
young teenage girls are providing sexual favours to the local policemen in order to get
money to buy underwear and sanitary materials because they are not included in the
distributions. The journalist also claimed that many elderly and persons with disability were
not being supported to access distributions because the distributions were lasting late into
the day and the elderly and disabled were not able to get back home safely before dark.
Your agency decides that it will carry out a community consultation in the next week to work
out how to address some of the problems that are arising.
Exercise on Core and Sector Standards: Case Study
Guidance on Answers
Minimum standards and indicators that are apparently not being met in the case study are
included in the text below. Core standards and indicators that are not being met are in red
e.g. (Core Standard 1/ Indicator B). Food and NFI programming standards and indicators
that are not being met are in blue e.g. (Food & NFI standard 2 / indicator C). These provide
only a starting point for the facilitator; there may be other standards and indicators
identified by participants and the facilitator will need to check in the Minimum Standards to
ensure they are correct.
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Case Study Answers
An outbreak of violence has resulted in 20,000 people being displaced from surrounding
villages to a school field just outside the main town. The government has established the
area as a temporary IDP camp and has asked agencies to assist with the distribution of food
and non-food items in the camp.
Your agency has carried out a rapid assessment by talking to the village leaders and asking
what people need. On the basis of the rapid assessment your agency has decided to
distribute bags of rice, lentils, oil, tarpulins and jerry cans (Core Standard 1/ Indicator A)
(Core Standard 2/ Indicators B/D/E). The government has approved the distribution, but has
also requested that you include leaflets about upcoming local elections with distribution
items, which you have been advised is normal practice in this culture (Food & NFI standard 1
/ indicator G). After the first week of distribution you receive feedback from the community
that they do not know how to cook lentils, and some pregnant women request additional
rations (Food & NFI standard 1 / indicator D). The agency decides to give an additional
ration to pregnant and breastfeeding women.
During the second week of distributions there are some problems. Distributions have been
chaotic as people are worried they might miss out, and a number of women insist they
should have the same rations as the pregnant and breastfeeding women. There is a lot of
confusion about who is entitled to what and some fighting has occurred. (Core Standard 1/
Indicator B/C) (Core Standard 2/ Indicator F) (Core Standard 3/ Indicator A/D) (Food & NFI
standard 1 / indicator C/E). There are rumours that some people are not coming to the
distributions because of the fighting (Core Standard 1/ Indicator F). In addition, a member of
the community has approached your agency reporting that a child went missing following a
recent distribution. The child is 9 years old and arrived with her mother to the distribution
and got separated during the chaos (Core Standard 4/ Indicator C) (Core Standard 5/
Indicator A/B/D). Your agency emails the head office in Geneva to request additional staff
and budget to assist with distribution management.
During the third week, an external journalist printed a story in the local paper reporting that
young teenage girls are providing sexual favours to the local policemen in order to get
money to buy underwear and sanitary materials because they are not included in the
distributions (Core Standard 4/ Indicator B/D) (Core Standard 5/ Indicator A/B/D) (Food &
NFI standard 2 / indicator C/D) (Food & NFI standard 3 / indicator D). The journalist also
claimed that many elderly and persons with disability were not being supported to access
distributions because the distributions were lasting late into the day and the elderly and
disabled were not able to get back home safely before dark (Food & NFI standard 3 /
indicator B/C). Your agency decides that it will carry out a community consultation in the
next week to work out how to address some of the problems that are arising.
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Exercise on Project Cycle in relation to Case Study
Guidance on Answers
The following provide some possible answers in red, however there are many different
possibilities and the facilitator will need to be able to respond to a variety of suggested
ideas.
Assessment group:
Draft two questions that should have been included at the assessment stage to
ensure protection was mainstreamed.
 What food items do the community commonly eat?
 Are there any groups or individuals that will require specific foods or additional
rations?
 Are there any groups or individuals that will require specific times or locations for
distributions?
 Where is a safe location for distributions?
Design and implementation:
List two changes that could have been made to the design and implementation of
the project to improve protection mainstreaming.
 Display food and NFI entitlements clearly at distribution points in relevant language
and pictorial form
 Organise food and NFI distributions at the safest time of the day ensuring enough
daylight for travel
 Provide information on protection from sexual exploitation and abuse
 Ask whether people felt safe prior to, during and after distributions in post
distribution monitoring
Monitoring and evaluation:
List three indicators that could have been used to monitor how protection was
mainstreamed into the project.
 Food & NFI Standard 1 / Indicator D Disaster-affected populations are consulted
during the assessment or programme design on the acceptability, familiarity and
appropriateness of food and NFI and results are factored into programme decisions
on the choice of commodities
 Food & NFI Standard 1 / Indicator E Distribution rations are clearly displayed in a
language and medium that is understandable to recipients.
 Food & NFI Standard 2 / Indicator A Distribution points are located in a safe area,
with appropriate security if required
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Session 4: Developing Mainstreaming Action Plans (MAPs)
Objectives of Session:
 To develop Mainstreaming Action Plans based on a WASH case study
Session Plan (approx. 1 hour)
Time
Activity
 Introduction to session
Put up the session objectives
10 mins
 Introduction to Mainstreaming Action Plans
Explain that the standards can be used to develop a
mainstreaming action plan (MAP) for projects and
programs that needs to mainstream protection.
Resources
The MAP will document what standards and indicators are
currently unmet by a project or program – this is usually
determined by carrying out a baseline assessment of
alignment (similar to the exercises already completed by
participants in the previous sessions). It will also document
what activities / changes need to take place to meet the
relevant standards and indicators and provide a time frame
and responsibilities for achievement of the action.
30 mins
 MAP Exercise: pair work
Hand out partially completed MAPs to all participants. See
Session 4: Supporting Materials and Exercise Content for
the hand out.
Exercise
materials: MAP
hand outs
Explain that a baseline assessment of a WASH project has
been carried out to determine alignment of a WASH project
with the Core standards and the WASH sector standards of
the ‘Minimum Standards for Mainstreaming Protection in
Humanitarian Response’. The partially completed MAP
contains a list of the standards and indicators that are not
currently met by the WASH project.
Ask all participants to read the partially completed MAP
and to fill in the details of the standards and indicators that
have not been met by the project.
In pairs try to fill out the remaining columns of the MAP
with suggested activities and time frames, as well as
responsible persons (e.g. management / field staff) and
required resources to achieve the activities. Encourage the
participants to refer to the standards to complete the
remaining columns.
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20 mins
 Plenary
As a large group go through the MAP and ask for ideas from
different pairs.
Once all the ideas for the MAP have been shared, ask the
participants the following questions:
1. What challenges did they have in completing the
MAP?
2. What challenges do they think there might be in
implementing the MAP?
See Session 4: facilitator notes for plenary discussion.
Session 4: Facilitator Notes
MAP Plenary Session
In the discussion you might want to highlight some of the following points:
 Allocated resources are often necessary in order to implement many of the required
activities and changes to effectively mainstream protection
 Management support is a requirement for many changes in approach and policy
that are required to effectively mainstream protection
 Systems must be in place to monitor the implementation of the MAP if it is to be
effective
 Initially protection staff members may be required to assist with the development of
MAPs and to set up the systems to implement changes. Ultimately, all sector staff
need to take responsibility for mainstreaming protection and being aware of
meeting the time frames set out in the MAP.
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Session 4: Supporting Materials and Exercise Content
Hand out: Partially Completed MAP (3 pages)
Core Standard 1:
Baseline findings:
 There is no information about whether people feel safe accessing water points in the assessment report.
 Some staff have signed a code of conduct on commencement of employment, but there has been no training on codes of conduct and staff
member can’t describe the Code of conduct content.
 Communities don’t know that a code of conduct exists.
Indicator
A
Planned activity
Time frame
Responsible Person
Resources
G
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Core Standard 2:
Baseline findings:
 An ethnic group reports not being allowed to access the water source until members of the dominant group are not around.
 The community has chosen representatives for the water committee including the local teacher, community leaders and the mayors wife.
 There are no opportunities to provide feedback on the WASH project, except directly to engineers when they visit the site.
Indicator
Planned activity
Time frame
Responsible Person
Resources
D
E
H
WASH Standard 1:
Baseline findings:
 The WASH facilities are located up a steep narrow path.
 NGOs are building a school and only have enough money to build the classrooms. School children will have to use the camp toilet facilities.
Indicator
E
Planned activity
Time frame
Responsible Person
Resources
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F
WASH Standard 2:
Baseline findings:
 The WASH facilities have no lighting at night and there are trees and bushes surrounding the WASH facilities.
 The pit latrines have no covers and no locks on the doors.
Indicator
A
Planned activity
Time frame
Responsible Person
Resources
Responsible Person
Resources
E
WASH Standard 3:
Baseline findings:
 There has been no consideration of women’s hygiene and sanitary needs.
Indicator
B
Planned activity
Time frame
D
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Closing and Post-training questionnaire
Time
15 mins
Activity
 Post-training questionnaire
Resources
Post training
questionnaire
Ask all the participants to spend 10 minutes completing the
post-training questionnaire. Ask participants to give in the
post-training questionnaire once they have completed it. If
participants want to see the changes in responses since the
beginning of the course they can speak with the trainer at
the end.
5 mins
 Feedback Form
Participants should spend an additional 10 minutes
completing the feedback form and submitting it
anonymously.
Feedback form
Thank all the participants for their time.
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Post-training questionnaire
Name:
1. Do you know the meaning of protection mainstreaming?
Please tick one response
YES ☐
NO ☐
PARTLY ☐
2. Do you believe that protection mainstreaming is part of your job?
Please tick one response
YES ☐
NO ☐
PARTLY ☐
3. Do you intend to mainstream protection into your work in the future?
Please tick one response
YES ☐
NO ☐
PARTLY ☐
If yes / partly please give two examples of how you intend mainstream protection into your
work over the next 6 months:
i)
ii)
4. What would you do if you found out that a woman had been raped while collecting
water in one of the communities where your agency is working? (Circle all those
answers that you agree with)
(i) Nothing, it’s not your agency’s role to respond
(j) Nothing, it’s a community issue
(k) Report it to my manager
(l) Report it to the police
(m) Interview the women to find out more details about the incident
(n) Talk to the alleged perpetrator/accused to find out if it is true
(o) Provide information to the women of where she can access medical, legal and
psychosocial help
(p) Review your agency work in the community to see if anything needs to be
changed to increase safety
Thank you for your time!
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Feedback Form
CIRCLE THE MOST APPROPRIATE ANSWER
What did you think of the training workshop overall?
POOR
ADEQUATE
GOOD
EXCELLENT
What did you think of the materials that were used?
POOR
ADEQUATE
GOOD
EXCELLENT
GOOD
EXCELLENT
What did you think of the facilitation?
POOR
ADEQUATE
What recommendations would you make to improve the training in the future?
Thank you for your participation
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