CARE International, Pakistan office, in collaboration with Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), is launching a research study titled ‘Applying conflict sensitivity to emergency response: current practices and way forward’ on January 16. The study is the culmination of six months’ work which involves field research in Haiti, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, interviews with over 50 humanitarian professionals and a document review of aid agencies and sector-wide guidance and standards. Humanitarian responses to rapid onset emergencies often represent significant challenges in terms of applying conflict sensitivity.
The complexity of the contexts in which these events often occur and the speed with which organisations need to react, leave little capacity for sophisticated analysis or training of frontline, particularly local, staff. In order to maximise effectiveness, agencies must be ready to take advantage of opportunities as they arise to integrate conflict sensitivity across their teams and design systems and guidance that can be readily deployed. The study has retrospectively assessed the degree to which CSAs were explicitly or implicitly carried out in the humanitarian responses in Haiti and Pakistan. This reflective exercise has resulted in both agency-specific and sector-wide recommendations made to ensure greater CSA application in future to rapid onset emergency responses. The study concludes there are clear opportunities for synergy between conflict sensitivity integration and the emergency capacity-building initiatives currently ongoing within many agencies.
