As country focal point in Pakistan and regional partner for Sphere in Asia, Community World Service Asia has assumed a leadership role in the field of Quality & Accountability (Q&A) among aid organizations in Asia since 2005. It has initiated and supported the recognition, understanding and adopting of Q&A principles in development and humanitarian assistance across Asia. We have been committed to mainstreaming Q&A standards, tools and practices throughout our programming. Our goal has been to promote and develop our internal technical capacity, as well as to support our colleagues and partners in the region to incorporate Q&A into their interventions. Community World Service Asia’s strategy continues to ensure shifts in mindsets and practices leading to a growing capacity to self-monitor the levels of Q&A compliance.
To further support humanitarian and development practitioners/organizations in the region and enhance synergy between current scope of our work and emerging needs on Q & A we have now become the focal point of ADRRN’s Q&A Hub in Asia. The Hub has been developed as part of ADRRN’s marketing strategy for 2020, to Increase the effectiveness of humanitarian response of front line national organizations in Asia through enhanced Q&A mechanisms. The main objectives of the Q&A Hub in Asia for the upcoming three years will be to:
Ensure that ADRRN members/partners comply with the Q&A standards reflected through their organizational policies, procedures and practices
Develop a pool of Q&A expertise amongst ADRRN members/partners to provide peer support in applying Q&A at organizational level during preparedness phase
Mentor and coach ADRRN members/partners to promote Q&A amongst stakeholders at the national level especially the communities, local government and the academia
Deploying Q&A expertise during humanitarian response in Asia to support ADRRN members/partners
Developing a strong and visible Q&A Hub at Asia level to promote accountability through cross learning, peer support, research and advocacy
Read more on the ADRRN Marketing Strategy 2020 and its Hubs Toolkit here.
International Day for Disaster Reduction, held annually on 13th October, celebrates the way that people and communities around the world reduce their exposure to disasters and raise awareness about the risks that they face. This includes disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness (UNISDR). This year at Community World Service Asia we are celebrating and looking back at all the work we have done with the communities we work with on reducing disaster risks and increasing their preparedness to natural hazards.
Essential to our strategic priorities, at Community World Service Asia, we believe disaster risk reduction is vital for building a more equitable and sustainable future. Through our various programming interventions, we have been investing in prevention and preparedness, together with the communities we work with, as a necessary part of all systematic efforts to increase resilience to disasters.
Group photo of students from different universities of Jamshoro and Hyderabad.
A student sharing her input in relation to international peace day activity with media.
A theatre play was performed highlighting issues of discrimination.
Student from audience sharing her input during question answer session.
Salman Chattha sharing an example of Canada’s first Cabinet under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, where there are equal number of men and women in cabinet along with representation of minorities and how diversity is an asset.
Aqsa Rajput emphasized importance of education especially of girls in her session.
Aqsa Rajput welcomed the guests and youth panelists.
The event commenced with the National Anthem of Pakistan.
The Youth Alumni of Hyderabad, Pakistan, organized an event titled “Muktalif Magar Muttahid” (different but united) in celebration of International Peace Day. Aqsa Rajput, a senior member of the Alumni, while welcoming the guests spoke about the value peace, dignity and respect holds as a basic human need irrespective of one’s beliefs or thoughts.
Celebrating the idea of peace among people of different faiths, alumni speakers shared their thoughts and views. Some highlighted issues of racial and religious discrimination prevalent in societies globally while others shared possible ideas to overcome these issues and maintain interfaith harmony.
Aqsa Rajput, among many other Youth Alumni members, has participated in various trainings on governance, democracy, constitutional rights and other such themes in the last three years. This unique event on Peace Day, where all panelists were youth members themselves, was organized by her as a way of sharing her learnings with her peers and other youth members. Aqsa shared that organizing and taking part in such activities also helps youth members like herself in enhancing their leadership and communication skills. Being the first speaker at the event, Aqsa underscored the many types of discrimination that is practiced in various countries, religions and societies and how the most vulnerable suffer the most in such circumstances. With that, she also highlighted the importance of education and how that plays a key role in empowering communities, specially girls. Aqsa had recently visited Nepal as part of a youth exposure and exchange visit, of which she gave an example of how people of completely different faiths and religions live peacefully and happily in one county.
As part of her address, Aqsa focused on the need for building more peace and establishing frequent interfaith dialogues among people of varying religions to develop a relationship of mutual respect and dignity.
Participants, representing various universities in Sindh, shared other similar examples. One youth member, Salman Chattha, used Canada as a good example of a country where people of many faiths live together peacefully. He highlighted how the Canadian government provides equal opportunities to their own people, as well immigrants and minorities, recognizing them as an asset of the country and celebrating religious diversity, rather then seeing it as a liability. Salman also referred to Quaid-e-Azam’s address at the first constituent Assembly on11th August, 1947, in which he shared his vision of Pakistan, being a country that would celebrate and ensure “equality of all citizens”
Another youth activist, Mahrukh Parvez, shed light on the international theme of this year’s Peace Day – Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All. She reiterated that,
the world needs to come forward for fostering peace.
She further added,
I strongly condemn the human rights violations in Myanmar of the Rohingya community.
The panel sessions then followed a question answer exercise, where participants shared their views and experiences on discrimination, if any, that they had faced. Some girls among the participants, quoted experiences of gender discrimination faced by them. Another youth member shared his own experience of practicing religious discrimination towards people of other faiths, and acknowledged how the panel and speaking sessions at the event made him realize that all citizens are equal irrespective of their belief, caste or creed. Queries on other similar issues were put forward to the speakers and were discussed in detail. Many participants claimed that their understanding on accepting and celebrating diversity has fairly improved since participating at the Peace Day event.
Towards the end of the day, a theatre performance on the theme of religious discrimination by youth group members was held. The event concluded with participants coming together to share messages of peace in solidarity with the Myanmar’s Rohingya community.
Shazia, a participant at the event expressed,
I am now taking a positive message of peace being the only solution for a country’s development and progress.
Many other participants, after the event, committed to being more determined and active in promoting and enhancing peace and tolerance among their communities.
Building resilient organisations in a changing humanitarian sector
During crisis, humanitarian organisations may experience an abrupt change in the ways their operations are run. Download our flyer and join HHR Asia to find out how to increase your organisation’s resilience so that you will be prepared when challenges arise.
Together, we will:
Explore the concept and the principles of organisational resilience;
Work with key stakeholders to identify strategies and practical ways to support organisations to become resilient;
Network with other HR and humanitarian specialists from Asia with the intention to establish a strong Asia-based HR practitioners’ network;
Share our respective experience at a lively and interactive Market Place;
Participate in a World Café group discussion on how to strengthen individual and organisation resilience.
As a result of the conference we aim to identify:
Characteristics of resilient organisations, leaders and aid workers;
The role of HR in building resilient organisations;
The balance between duty of care and high performance especially when funds are limited;
Key challenges of organisational resilience.
Why organisational resilience?
Disasters continue to test the resilience of many humanitarian organisations, and Asia is the most disaster-prone region in the world. In cases of major crises organisations with limited or no prior experience in humanitarian response often experience an abrupt change in the ways their operations are run. It is not only about continuing work and recovering from the disaster, it is the ability to effectively manage change and thrive during the change process and beyond. The aim of this year’s HHR Conference is to improve the ability of participating organisations, both individually and as a community, to find, select, prepare and retain human resources for emergency and non-emergency operations.
Booking
Our early-bird discount fee of GBP 550 for residential and GBP 400 for non-residential places is available until 27 October, after which the conference fee will go up to GBP 650 and GBP 500 respectively.
Please note that this is the postponed HHR Asia Conference which was originally scheduled for May 2017.
An FM radio campaign on monsoon preparedness has been initiated on FM 92 by Community World Service Asia considering the Monsoon outlook issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department. Community World Service Asia is executing this campaign with the support of Christian Aid and in close coordination with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), Sindh. The radio messages are aired six times a day and reaches 12.2 million people in twelve districts of Sindh.
This radio campaign has been appreciated and acknowledged by the Director General, PDMA.
The ongoing monsoon rains in Pakistan have claimed at least fifty-one human lives so far, with fifty-eight people reportedly injured and sixty-seven houses partially or completely destroyed.
Baluchistan province has been the most affected in terms of human loss where seventeen people have been killed since the start of monsoon rains, followed by Punjab, where 14 people have died so far.
Province
Deaths
Injured
Houses Damaged
Punjab
14
32
1
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
9
4
12
Sindh
6
17
5
Baluchistan
17
0
20
Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK)
1
1
29
Gilgit Baltistan)
4
4
0
Total
51
58
67
A series of rains and thunderstorms are expected to hit isolated areas of Sindh, Islamabad, eastern Baluchistan, upper Punjab, upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Bahawalpur, D.G. Khan divisions, Kashmir, FATA and Gilgit-Baltistan during the day today.
Response by Community World Service Asia: Community World Service Asia is gathering information from different sources including Government departments and local partners in the affected areas and will devise its response plan accordingly.
The Q&A HUB, with Community World Service Asia as focal point, as part of ADRRN’s marketing strategy for 2020, has been developed to Increase the effectiveness of humanitarian response of front line national organizations in Asia through enhanced Q&A mechanisms.
Community World Service Asia, continued to promote Q&A in Pakistan during 2016. Where possible, the activities related to the Sphere Project were implemented in coordination with other Q&A initiatives such as CHS and Sphere Companions. The activities are planned to reach wider audiences at various levels in order to ensure that Q&A is high on the agenda during emergency and non-emergency periods.
Through Community World Service Asia’s collaboration with academia, the University of Peshawar has just launched a post-grad diploma course on NGOs Management. Download your copy of the brochure to get complete details on the course and how to apply.
The Start Network officially launched the Start Fund Anticipation Window last week, which enables NGOs to prepare when they see a crisis coming and respond early to mitigate the predicted impacts.
By creating a systematic way for Start Network members to use forecasting information, and with funding to enable forecast-based interventions, the Anticipation Window aims to catalyse a more anticipatory approach to humanitarian crises.
Improved access to forecasting information, analysis and funding helps agencies shift from a reactive model to an anticipatory one, saving lives and costs in the process.
The Start Fund has already supported interventions in anticipation of crises in a number of countries – Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Pakistan, Uganda, Zambia and Mali – and now aim to make this a normal part of the Start Fund.
Community World Service Asia, being a Start member, was able to save thousands of lives by timely responding to the Heatwave Crisis in Sindh, Pakistan this year, by receiving funding through this Anticipation Window initiative.
To know more about the Start Network and the Crisis Anticipation Window, visit https://startnetwork.org.
