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This research is an output of the Learning Project of the Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme (DEPP). The DEPP was a 4-year programme funded by the Department of International Development and co-led by the Start and CDAC Networks. It was comprised of 14 projects implemented in 10 countries, each led by a consortium of international and local humanitarian agencies, and aimed to improve the quality and speed of response in countries at risk of natural disasters or conflict related emergencies. The programme included initiatives to address gender in emergencies and capacity building for women as humanitarians. This report aims to build on existing literature by examining women’s leadership and influence within humanitarian preparedness in DEPP and other similar programmes. More information can be found on the DEPP learning platform.

The Protection in Practice project, part of the Disasters Emergencies Preparedness Programme, aims to build the capacity of national staff to deliver activities which ensure the protection of civilians during times of crisis, while transforming the sector’s approach to protection. The humanitarian community, along with the United Nations as a whole, has taken critical steps in the last decade to emphasise the fundamental importance of protection in responses to humanitarian crises. Today, in view of the number of complex and concurrent emergencies, it has never been so critical for all humanitarians to ensure that their activities have a positive impact on the protection of displaced and affected populations.

The Protection in Practice project, part of the Disasters Emergencies Preparedness Programme, aims to build the capacity of national staff to deliver activities which ensure the protection of civilians during times of crisis, while transforming the sector’s approach to protection. The humanitarian community, along with the United Nations as a whole, has taken critical steps in the last decade to emphasise the fundamental importance of protection in responses to humanitarian crises. Today, in view of the number of complex and concurrent emergencies, it has never been so critical for all humanitarians to ensure that their activities have a positive impact on the protection of displaced and affected populations.

The Protection in Practice project, part of the Disasters Emergencies Preparedness Programme, aims to build the capacity of national staff to deliver activities which ensure the protection of civilians during times of crisis, while transforming the sector’s approach to protection. The humanitarian community, along with the United Nations as a whole, has taken critical steps in the last decade to emphasise the fundamental importance of protection in responses to humanitarian crises. Today, in view of the number of complex and concurrent emergencies, it has never been so critical for all humanitarians to ensure that their activities have a positive impact on the protection of displaced and affected populations.

The Protection in Practice project, part of the Disasters Emergencies Preparedness Programme, aims to build the capacity of national staff to deliver activities which ensure the protection of civilians during times of crisis, while transforming the sector’s approach to protection. The humanitarian community, along with the United Nations as a whole, has taken critical steps in the last decade to emphasise the fundamental importance of protection in responses to humanitarian crises. Today, in view of the number of complex and concurrent emergencies, it has never been so critical for all humanitarians to ensure that their activities have a positive impact on the protection of displaced and affected populations.

Shifting the Power (StP) is a three-year project that aims to strengthen the capacity and influence of local and national humanitarian actors, and to contribute to the development of a more balanced humanitarian system. StP is part of the three-year Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme (DEPP) and is being implemented by a consortium of six INGOs: ActionAid, CAFOD, Christian Aid, Concern, Oxfam and Tearfund. The consortium is working alongside 55 local and national NGO (L/NNGO) partners in Bangladesh, DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya and Pakistan. The project is comprised of five ‘outputs’, relating to capacity strengthening, supporting representation and voice of local partners, consortium member INGOs ‘walking the talk’, collaboration with other DEPP projects, and learning and evidence sharing. This learning review took place between July and September 2017 (towards the end of the project). It examines how the project has influenced local and national partner’s response to emergencies, and which capacity strengthening activities have been most successful. The data on which the review is based was collected from StP staff, L/NNGO partners, and INGO consortium members through a variety of means including: qualitative surveys, field visits, Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), Skype calls and extensive document reviews. The programme has seen some immediate results and benefits. There are numerous examples from all StP countries of L/NNGO progress in being prepared for and able to respond to emergencies. Positively, reports of the progress achieved as a result of being part of StP was not limited to one or two L/NNGOs, nor were they limited to one area of progress per L/NNGO.  

Learning by doing is the best way to learn, so the Protection in Practice project builds local partner capacity by training, mentoring and co-implementing projects with them simultaneously. This means that vulnerable people are helped at the same time as strengthening capacity.