Global Report on Results

2015

2. NCA's Added Value in Country Programmes

2. NCA's Added Value in Country Programmes

Contents

3.1 Africa
3.2 Asia and the Middle East
3.3 Latin America and the Caribbean
3.4 Europe
3.5 Security Risk Management

Africa

In 2015, NCA had a presence and worked in the following countries in Africa: Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia. In addition, NCA had limited engagement in Zimbabwe and Algeria (Saharawi refugee camps), Botswana, Eritrea, Namibia and Mozambique.

NCA’s presence and added value in the region

There were relatively few changes to NCA’s presence in Africa in 2015. Phase out of programmes in Kenya and Southern Africa continued and will be completed in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Regional programmes will however be managed from these offices following the phase out of the main operations. The Somalia programme continued to be managed by the Kenya office in 2015; however NCA plans to open a joint office in Mogadishu together with ACT member Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe in 2016.

The steady economic growth that we have seen in Africa since 2011 slowed down in several countries in 2015. In Angola, a country which is highly dependent on oil, the drop in oil prices had a serious impact on NCA’s partners, who had to adjust their budgets and plans as the local currency Kwanza devaluated against the USD.

In other parts of Africa, the trend of instability and insecurity continued and even increased in some contexts. In Burundi, as a conseq uence of the contested presidential elections, more than 250,000 people have fled to neighbouring countries, such as the Eastern DRC and Tanzania. An estimated 85,000 people are now internally displaced. NCA works with Burundian partners, including faith-based organisations, to respond to this humanitarian crisis and bring together religious actors to seek common ground to promote peace and non-violence. The vastness and sparse population of northern Mali makes the country prone to human traffickers and non-state armed actors utilising the absence of an effective state control over this territory.

The trend in migration patterns, where traffickers utilise the breakdown of the Libyan state as an entry point to the Mediterranean and Europe, exacerbates the situation. This challenging security situation has negative implications for humanitarian access as will be demonstrated in the case below.

In Sudan, large parts of the country saw continued insecurity, with new displacements in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. It is estimated that 3.1 million people are internally displaced in the country, 304,531 of whom received emergency health services from NCA and partners in 2015.

The number of IDPs and people fleeing South Sudan to neighbouring countries continued to increase in 2015 reaching a total of 2.3 million. Displacement was due to the political conflict and internal crisis, which continued despite the signing of the Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS) in August between the government and opposition.NCA and partners responded to the crisis by providing humanitarian support to almost 150,000 IDPs, in addition to engaging in peace and reconciliation efforts as the case below illustrates.

In Ethiopia, rain patterns were disrupted due to the El Niño weather pattern. The resulting drought left 10.5 million people facing severe food insecurity towards the end of the year, the crisis still deepening. NCA has responded with relief and prevention measures, and will continue to do so in 2016. NCA and partners also responded to the refugee crisis in Gambella in the western part of Ethiopia, providing sanitation and hygiene services for 16,400 South Sudanese refugees in the Jewdi refugee camp. See Chapter 4.1, Improved Response Capacity, for more details.

Whilst NCA’s added value can be seen in the results achieved across all of its programmes in Africa, three examples from 2015 are presented below. An important element of NCA’s added value is its long-term partnership with faith-based organisations, as the example from South Sudan shows. So too is its partnerships with locally rooted civil society organisations, as illustrated through the example from Mali. The third example from Tanzania demonstrates NCA’s innovative approach to programme development through building on lessons from existing programmes.

Examples

South Sudan
Mali
Tanzania

Asia and the Middle East

In 2015, NCA had a presence and worked in the following countries in Asia and the Middle East: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, and Palestine. In addition NCA had humanitarian response programmes in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Nepal and the Philippines as well as providing strategic project support in India.

NCA’s presence and added value in the region

Country offices in Afghanistan and Pakistan continued to follow up their programmes in 2015. Organisational ambitions to work in closer collaboration with ACT sister organisations, and to focus geographically, resulted in a decision to establish a joint country programme (JCP) with DanChurchAid in both Palestine and Myanmar. The Palestine MoU was signed at the end of the year, whilst the one in Myanmar will be launched at the start of 2017. Geographic focus in the form of phasing out also affected the region, with the closing of the NCA programme office in Thailand and the phase-out processes in both Laos and Vietnam progressing according to plan. NCA is expected to complete these processes in 2017 and 2018 respectively. The small programme in India continued to be followed up by Head Office.

The severe crisis in Syria worsened during the year, and NCA continued our humanitarian Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) response for the internally displaced persons (IDP) and the Syrian refugees and host communities in Lebanon. NCA also provided humanitarian WASH assistance to IDPs in camps in Northern Iraq. Due to the increasing need for NCA’s humanitarian interventions in the region, the management of these programmes was moved from NCA’s office in Jerusalem to a new regional programme office in Amman, Jordan. NCA continued to respond to the 2014 devastating Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines together with local and international ACT members, and the 2015 earthquake in Nepal through ACT sister organisations and their local partners. See Chapter 4, Humanitarian Assistance, for details on these responses.

Tensions between Palestine and Israel rose in 2015, and violence increased the needs for protection. NCA and partners continued to respond to the humanitarian needs in Gaza and advocate for allowing building materials to enter Gaza as well as ending the blockade. NCA sustained its focus on mobilising religious actors for peaceful coexistence in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where periodic violent attacks continued. In Myanmar the general elections paved the way for a transition to a civilian government following decades of military rule. In this changing and conflictual context, NCA’s support to civil society actors and FBOs was of significant importance.

NCA’s programme in the Middle East and Asia is implemented against a backdrop of high political instability, enormous humanitarian needs and human rights violations. NCA’s added value in this context is to strengthen civil society, advocate for an end to harmful practices, empower marginalised groups and provide humanitarian support. This is demonstrated in the cases below.

Examples

Pakistan
Laos

Latin America and the Caribbean

In 2015, NCA had a presence and worked in the following countries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Cuba, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Guatemala and Haiti.

NCA’s presence and added value in the region

Country offices in Haiti and Guatemala continued to manage their national programmes, while programmes in Cuba and the Dominican Republic were managed from the Haiti office in 2015. The Brazil programme continued to be followed up from Head Office in Oslo, and this will continue until the programme is fully phased out in 2016.

Veillard Guerlenson (left) and Emile Mydvensky refresh themselves on a hot day at the water point installed at their school in Leogane through the Green School Program, Haiti. Photo: Dan Alder / Norwegian Church Aid

In both Latin America and the Caribbean, NCA’s added value is connected to both our long history of partnerships with local organisations in countries where many NGOs come and go, and the ACT Alliance collaboration in a context where churches and other religious institutions are deeply rooted in society. In 2015 NCA made a significant contribution in Brazil under the programme Resources and Finance, which is demonstrated through the case below.

Example

Brazil

Europe

In 2015, NCA provided strategic project support in the following countries in Europe: Armenia, Romania and Russia. In addition, humanitarian response programmes were implemented in Armenia, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia.

NCA’s presence and added value in the region

The most significant change to NCA’s presence in this region in 2015 came as a result of the greatest influx of people seeking refuge in Europe since 1945. NCA responded through local partners in Greece, Armenia, Macedonia and Serbia, providing asylum seekers and refugees with needed services. Most of the refugees came from conflict-affected countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, but other nationalities were also represented. See Chapter 4.1, Improved Response Capacity, for details of NCA’s response. In addition to this humanitarian response, NCA has continued its long-term programmes in Romania, Russia and Armenia in 2015.

As 2015 was the last year of NCA’s country programme in Armenia, NCA focused resources on capacity building of our partner’s fundraising capacity.

David Ionut Iordan is a first grader and happy for the opportunity to go to school. His mother is dead, he does not know his father and he lives with his grandparents. Photo: Aina Johnsen Rønning / Norwegian Church Aid

Since the beginning of the programme in Romania in 2014, NCA’s partner has worked to empower Roma communities to gain sustainable livelihoods, and to access education and dignified living conditions. In 2015 job opportunities were created for Roma people, generating increased income for the targeted families. NCA continued to support the Russian Orthodox Church’s HIV and AIDS and domestic violence programmes in 2015.

The domestic violence programme works with clergy, social workers, volunteers and health personnel to address structural issues related to domestic violence, in addition to changing behaviours and attitudes related to this issue. The palliative care service provided to HIV patients strengthened the engagement of civil society and governmental actors in order to achieve a more holistic approach to people living with HIV.

Security Risk Management

Safety course for NCA employees including realistic exercises like kidnapping and other threat situations. Photo: Arne Grieg Riisnæs / Norwegian Church Aid

Throughout 2015, NCA maintained an emphasis on improving Security Risk Management (SRM) at country and global levels. Institutional oversight and managerial control was improved during the spring of 2015, as SRM briefs became part of the established routines for both NCA’s Senior Management Team and the NCA Board of Directors.

In line with the NCA’s new Global Strategy, global SRM principles were revised to include a Global Security Risk Acceptance Threshold and a global SRM standard for Duty of Care. These are important tools for line managers to ensure that security risks are managed according to global requirements. Induction in these principles was included in NCA’s regional management workshops held in late 2015.

Quality assurance and oversight was further strengthened by the development of an NCA Security Risk Management Guideline, which includes clear standards and formats for SRM documentation required from country offices. NCA offices have as a result produced more concise and analytical security documentation. The new requirement for NCA offices to include security in annual budgets has enhanced their capacity for security planning, increased their levels of trained security manpower, and ensured that security equipment such as satellite phones and alarm buttons are available at the relevant locations.

Stay on the road! Sudan. Photo: Norwegian Church Aid

Despite the pressing security situation in Northern Iraq, NCA was able to quickly respond to the need to expand operations into newly liberated areas, such as in Sinjar Mountain. Due to a robust security management, NCA was able to do this in a responsible and sustainable way, with a minimised risk of being exposed to undesirable security incidents that would temporarily or permanently affect programme implementation.

Security incident reporting has increased in 2015 compared to previous years, due to the introduction of new security reporting routines. These routines aim to establish a more thorough overview of security incidents, which will in turn enable improved organisational learning and interaction between the Head Office and the country offices on security related issues.

Head Office support to the country offices through security support visits were slightly restricted by financial constrains during the latter part of 2015. Despite this, NCA offices with particular contextual security challenges; namely Pakistan, Sudan/Darfur, Somalia and Burundi, were visited and audited by the team. These visits have resulted in a qualitative improvement in country management processes, including increased security awareness and improved understanding and implementation of global guidelines and requirements.

As a measure of cost effectiveness, the security team opened up for participation from like-minded NGOs to NCA Personal Security Trainings. This has allowed NCA to continue to offer a high-quality product for both internal and external participants, and courses have benefited by cross fertilisation of ideas between a more diverse group of participants. This training is a requirement for NCA personnel travelling to medium and high-risk areas, and important in ensuring staff awareness of security risks and securing their informed consent to expose themselves to risks through their work with NCA.

Next Chapter: 3. Global Programmes for Increased Quality

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