Transformation 4 – Be Diverse, Inclusive and Live our Values

ICVA’s Diversity Policy was approved in 2019. The purpose of this Policy is to reinforce ICVA’s longstanding commitment to diversity, with a specific focus on:

• Consideration of Gender: focusing on girls, women, boys and men; Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA); and protection against violence due to sexual orientation and gender identity;
• Consideration of age: the rights of the child and considerations for the elderly;
• Disability and the rights of persons with disabilities.

ICVA is a Global Partner of the Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies.  In April 2022, ICVA joined the Call to Action on Protection from GBV in Emergencies.

The Call to Action is a global initiative of governments and donors, international organisations (IOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Its aim is to drive change and foster accountability within the humanitarian sphere so that every humanitarian effort, from the start, includes the policies, systems and mechanisms necessary to provide safe and comprehensive services to those affected by gender-based violence (GBV), to prevent GBV, and mitigate GBV risks, especially violence against women and girls.

As a Call to Action partner, ICVA is committed to ensuring implementation of this initiative’s Road Map and will submit an annual public report on progress in meeting commitments. ICVA’s 3 key commitments are:

1. In partnership with members, ICVA will influence IASC policies, partnerships and practices to strengthen system-wide efforts on addressing GBV, promoting gender equality, PSEAH and ensuring accountability.
2. ICVA will support NGOs through capacity strengthening to implement system- wide and institutional policies to address GBV, strengthen gender equality, and ensure accountability, including in key strategic humanitarian documents.
3. ICVA will support local actors, particularly women’s organizations, to lead and engage in GBV response and gender equality coordination at all levels.

With emergency situations, disasters and conflict increasing worldwide, the suffering and humanitarian needs are driven upwards as well, in particular affecting children. While humanitarian principles require that assistance be delivered impartially to those most in need without discrimination, a “one-size fits-all” emergency response tends to overlook the specific, yet wide-ranging, vulnerabilities of young girls and boys in emergency contexts.

Within ICVA’s diversity work, child rights have become priority streams through joint initiatives and partnerships with members, UN agencies and other networks.

In response to the UN Secretary General’s report ‘Our Common Agenda‘ and advocacy by Child Rights Connect, a Guidance Note was drafted to mainstream the right of the child in all UN pillars of work. An inter-agency process involving civil society and children was initiated to develop the Guidance Note, with a concept note being circulated to outline the process. ICVA urged its members and other stakeholders working for and with children in humanitarian contexts to participate in the development of the Guidance Note through an online survey and regional consultations in North America & Caribbean, Latin America, Europe & Middle East and North Africa, Africa, Asia, and Pacific & Australia regions. The online survey was available in English, French, and Spanish.

Beginning in 2019, ICVA and UNICEF agreed to reach out to the NGO sector to gather their feedback and perceptions of current strengths and challenges in the partnership with UNICEF and to explore pathways to improve such partnership. This resulted in the publication of ICVA’s scoping study on UNICEF-NGOs Partnership in Humanitarian Settings. The acknowledgement of both UNICEF and NGOs that more regular exchanges are needed to enable a partnership fit to respond to the challenges faced by children in today’s humanitarian landscape and the scoping study’s findings, led to the joint organisation by ICVA and UNICEF of the UNICEF-NGO Consultation for Partnership in Humanitarian Settings ‘Enhancing the Culture of Partnership’ in November 2019.

In 2020, ICVA, UNICEF, InterAction and SCHR convened a series of NGO briefings on Humanitarian partnerships on COVID-19 response. The briefings aimed at ensuring that the impact of COVID-19 and the response needed are discussed and built upon jointly by UNICEF and NGO partners to ensure a better collaboration on the ground in the collective response for children.

The FAQ, agendas and PowerPoint Presentations and other relevant documents from the UNICEF-NGO consultations and UNICEF-NGO COVID-19 briefings can be accessed in the resources section.

Persons with disabilities are among the most marginalised people in crisis-affected communities and disproportionately affected by conflict and disasters. Facing substantial barriers to accessing assistance, people with disabilities are often not taken into account in humanitarian response or are considered only as recipients of aid and not as actors in the response.

This situation is however changing as people with disabilities have asked humanitarian actors to better consider their rights in intervention. Today a number of key documents and tools support inclusion of persons with disability in humanitarian programming.

ICVA’s online report examining the implementation of IASC Guidelines on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. The report is based on interviews and consultations with various humanitarian actors, including ICVA members, the Organization of persons with disabilities, NGO Fora and other actors. In addition, the report evaluates supplementary measures taken to promote inclusion and offers valuable recommendations for further action.

In 2016, the United Nations Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Working Group agreed on the establishment of a Task Team on the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action, which, through a large number of consultations with member States, organisations of persons with disabilities and/or in humanitarian action and UN agencies, drafted the Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action. They were endorsed by the IASC Principals in 2019.

Following the launch of the Guidelines, ICVA organised a webinar, entitled, Inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian action: what after the guidelines?, to discuss how the Guidelines should be implemented in practice and what actions are needed to translate them into concrete improvements in the daily activities of humanitarian organisations.

A Reference Group was also established to continue to bring together key stakeholders for the implementation of the IASC Guidelines on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities. The group provides support, develops supporting tools and resources and assists in dissemination. ICVA joined the Reference Group and is engaging in its working streams.