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Protection is about guaranteeing the integrity, dignity and human rights of all people without discriminations

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- Mental Health and Psychosocial support should be embedded in all protection work.
- Political will is needed by all to respect the rules and implement good practices to strengthen the protection of civilians.

- Why is it so hard to engage people not directly working with protection to apply the basics of protection in their activities?
- How to mainstream protection and develop protection related activities for LGBTIQ+ or minorities groups in "closed societies"?

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Key messages:
1.       A decision to activate clusters may be made when a government’s capacity to coordinate is limited or constrained.

2.       All humanitarian actors and sectors have a responsibility to mainstream protection in their programs and strategies

3.       Safety, dignity, and meaningful access, accountability, participation, and empowerment need to be considered in all programs.

4.       “Humanitarian aid is about reaching out to save life, reduce suffering and support human dignity in time of crises”.

5.       The humanitarian principles guide our work. All humanitarian actors must know, understand, and implement them.

6.       The AoR lead agencies have equivalent responsibilities to cluster lead agencies and should engage alongside the protection cluster in all inter-cluster processes. The IASC Handbook for RCs and HCs on Emergency Preparedness and Response (2010) highlights that the functions and responsibilities of AoR lead agencies are identical to those of Cluster Lead Agencies, including the responsibility of Provider of Last Resort. Each AoR lead agency is also responsible for mainstreaming issues pertaining to its AoR into the work of all clusters, as appropriate.

Questions:

1.       How can the humanitarian architecture or the coordination systems avoid or mitigate overlapping in programmes, no respect for the mandates and competition for funds?

2.       How can we prevent a conflict of interest between the interagency role and the leading agency interests when discussing the distribution of CERF/pooled funds?

3.       “AoR lead agencies have equivalent responsibilities to cluster lead agencies and should engage alongside the protection cluster in all inter-cluster processes. Representation of the cluster should be agreed  between  the  protection  cluster coordinator  and  the  sub-cluster  coordinators  by  consensus.  The protection cluster coordinator or cluster  lead  agency  is  not  able  to  bar  sub-cluster  coordinators  from attending meetings or representing the cluster”. Is this really happening?

4.       Why the AoRs are not independent clusters? Can the PIN determine the need for separation and independence eventually? Why do the AoRs work under the umbrella of the Protection Cluster?

5.       How can the protection cluster and AoRs promote and make more visible the HNO and HRP results in order to ensure more funding for protection?

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Protection is not only an objective, but also an output to be delivered across  all sectors. This is not the exclusive responsibility of the Protection cluster.

Given the importance placed on reinforcing the complementary roles mandates and expertise of all relevant actors, where does the protection cluster fall in its unique role of coordination in its own cluster and other non-protection clusters?

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Key Messages:

·         The centrality of protection is more than protection mainstreaming. This means that, as well as striving to do no harm as a result of their programming, humanitarian actors must work together to identify and reduce protection risks and violations faced by people affected by humanitarian crisis.

·         Centrality of protection, including AAP, is a collective responsibility of all actors throughout the response, not just protection actors.

·         Protection Cluster and AoRs must work together to ensure a strong country protection strategy is developed

·         NPC and AoRs should work in adherence to partnership principles of equality, transparency, responsibility and complementarity, as well as promote consensus decision-making and speak in unison or coordinated way

·         All humanitarian actors must adhere to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.

Questions:

·         How can we demand accountability from existing humanitarian structures, to uphold its own mandate and principles? (Upholding humanitarian principles, the centrality of protection, and accountability to affected populations)

·         As cluster coordinators, how can we ensure response priorities are not dictated by the institutional and operational interests of key agencies and/or stakeholders? (UN, donors, regional platforms, etc.)

·         How can we help ensure meaningful engagement, participation and leadership for NGOs within a cluster system heavily influenced and dominated by UN structures ?

Andrea Verdeja

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Picture of a Venezuelan boy in a child friendly space in Brazil (UNICEF/BRZ/JoaoLaet)

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*All humanitarian programme should be designed considering protection concerns and principles, mainstreaming safety, dignity, and avoiding causing harm, ensuring meaningfull access based on needs and vulnerabilities, and promoting accountability, participation and empowerment.

*"It is more dangerous to be a woman than a soldier in emergencies!" - GBV should be assumed to be taking place in all contexts and has higher risk of happening in emergencies. Emergencies can change gender roles. All sectors should integrate GBV mitigation risks strategies.

* Women and girls are more vulnerable to have their rights to land, property and housing violated. Children can also be particularly vulnerable to mine action, and specific interventions should be designed to ensure protection against mental and physical harm. Risk education is an important part of mine action.

QUESTION:
* How to better integrate and coordinate the work of the different actors responsible for the protection global cluster, in a way that is sustainable and also considerates the potential and protagonism of local NGOs?

Corinne Sciortino

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Key messages:                                      AHMED                                                   1. Coordination is the cornerstone in any humanitarian response and good communication from the beginning means better coordination and efficient responses to our beneficiaries.     2. Accountability and feedback mechanism should be one of main pillars of coordination and it is also good to include beneficiaries and hearing their voice during coordination.                       Questions:                                             1. How to ensure effective and fast coordination during emergencies or during severe civil unrest?                      2. How to ensure effective coordination in presence of nonresponsive government?      

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Key messages:                                      AHMED                                                   1. Coordination is the cornerstone in any humanitarian response and good communication from the beginning means better coordination and efficient responses to our beneficiaries.     2. Accountability and feedback mechanism should be one of main pillars of coordination and it is also good to include beneficiaries and hearing their voice during coordination.                       Questions:                                             1. How to ensure effective and fast coordination during emergencies or during severe civil unrest?                      2. How to ensure effective coordination in presence of nonresponsive government?      

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1. No humanitarian action can be designed or delivered without a protection lens.
2. The GPC supports and coordinates with other sectors to ensure that protection outcomes are achieved
3. Effective coordination between AoRs and sectors is required to obtain full respect for the rights of individuals and reduce risks for communities.

Questions about Coordination:
1. How to make coordination and collaboration real in a very dynamic and changing context where the humanitarian crisis demands a rapid response?
2. How to bring humanitarian actors to work together when they are competing for resources that are often limited and available only for a short period of time?
3. How important is advocacy for coordination?

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1· Protection can be seen as: an objective, a legal responsibility and an activity.

2. Localization – strengthening local capacities must be part of the protection agenda.

3. Protection mainstreaming is not changing what we do but how we do it. Mainstreaming is the responsibility of ALL HUMANITARIAN ACTORS – (Protection leans)

4. According to IASC "The role of the protection cluster is to support the mainstreaming of protection and work closely with other clusters to address the most severe protection risks within their sector-specific response"

Maria Gabriela Villota

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KEY MESSAGES ON COORDINATION: The IASC defines protection as: “... all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the relevant bodies of law (i.e. International Human Rights Law (IHRL), International Humanitarian Law, International Refugee law (IRL)).”The approach to protection emphasizes that under international law authorities at all levels of government hold the primary obligation and responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of persons on their territory or under their jurisdiction.  For a humanitarian response to be protection-oriented, it is essential to understand and  seek  to  prevent,  mitigate  or  end  actual  and  potential  risks,  including  violations  of international humanitarian and human rights law, producing the harm that affected persons.

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KEY MESSAGES ON COORDINATION: The IASC defines protection as: “... all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the letter and the spirit of the relevant bodies of law (i.e. International Human Rights Law (IHRL), International Humanitarian Law, International Refugee law (IRL)).”The approach to protection emphasizes that under international law authorities at all levels of government hold the primary obligation and responsibility to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of persons on their territory or under their jurisdiction.  For a humanitarian response to be protection-oriented, it is essential to understand and  seek  to  prevent,  mitigate  or  end  actual  and  potential  risks,  including  violations  of international humanitarian and human rights law, producing the harm that affected persons.

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QUESTIONS ABOUT COORDINATION: What´s are the key mechanisms to achieve all humanitarian actors are engaged with Protection actions?

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Isabella Flisi Key messages and questions

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Isabella Flisi Key messages and questions

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KEY MESSAGES ABOUT COORDINATION:

·         AAP is a fundamental part of achieving protection outcomes and protection mainstreaming

·         Having regular protection update will not automatically result in better protection outcomes from the groups work. The Protection Cluster Coordinator should work with the Inter-Cluster Coordinator to ensure that presentations are tailored to the audience of Cluster Coordinators and lead to something actionable by the group.

·         Differentiation between HCT protection priorities and HRP and/or cluster protection priorities.

·         Protection mainstreaming should be carried out jointly with the AORs

·         As far as possible, assessment, advocacy and capacity building should be integrated or at least harmonized

·         For meetings such as the ICC and HCT it may be best for the coordinators of the cluster and the sub-clusters to participate as a team.

·         Representation will likely need to be adapted according to context, objective, occasion and the level of confidence and knowledge in different technical areas required. The protection cluster coordinator or cluster lead agency is not able to bar sub-cluster coordinators from attending meetings or representing the cluster.

QUESTIONS ABOUT COORDIANTION:

-          How to coordinate with the Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus

-          Role of the GPC to support efficient coordination in country

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Protection is about people rights. it aims at ensuring that people rights are recognized and respected by states and all stakeholders. Protection can be seen as: an objective, a legal responsability, and an activity
Gender-Based Violence (GBV) incidents are often hidden, and supporting survivors is always complex and sensitive.
Are GBV case management steps being rigorously followed in other countries during the pandemic in safe spaces and other services for survivors of gender-based violence?
How to effectively guarantee full protection to people in an unequal world?