The Emergency Capacity Building (ECB) Project's overall objective is to improve the speed, quality and effectiveness of the humanitarian sector's ability to save lives, protect livelihoods and defend the rights of disaster-vulnerable communities.
The ECB Project also aims to collaborate on organisational and staff capacity development in the following thematic areas:
What is Oxfam's involvement?
1. Oxfam leads a country-level consortium in Bolivia
The Consortium of Humanitarian Agencies in Bolivia consists of the national staff of nine international NGOs (ACH, CARE, Christian Aid, CRS, HelpAge, Oxfam, Plan International, Save the Children, and World Vision) who work together with local partners on joint approaches to capacity building, emergency preparedness and response, and coordination with the wider sector
Oxfam provides technical support from our global and regionally-based advisers (on accountability to beneficiaries, impact measurement, disaster risk reduction, and humanitarian capacity development), as well as fundraising and financial management support.
The Bolivia consortium is proactive in seeking funds for joint initiatives, while Oxfam funds core costs and contributes further funding for specific activities. For more on the collaborations of the Consortium in Bolivia visit: www.ecbproject.org/Bolivia
2. Oxfam leads global-level interagency projects on behalf of ECB agencies
Oxfam leads on joint global activities, such as a collaboration with the University of East Anglia on impact measurement.
This project intends to research, pilot and develop a 'good enough' approach to measuring the impact of aid agencies' programmes in response to rapid onset emergencies with the aim of developing a framework for measuring the change brought about by humanitarian interventions. The key priority is to create something that is both credible and usable.
The ECB Project's 'field first' approach will be adopted to develop and pilot methodologies and tools in partnership with ECB agencies. The timeframe for the project is two years from April 2011, funded by DFID, and the main outcome will be the preparation of a 'Good Enough Guide' to impact measurement modelled on the ECB Project's popular practitioner's Good Enough Guide to Accountability.
Oxfam will also be leading on three new ECHO-funded staff capacity development initiatives based in the five ECB Project countries and regions (Bolivia, Niger, Horn of Africa, Bangladesh and Indonesia):
-
Development and delivery of technical modules (WASH and EFSL) aimed at national staff
-
Development and delivery of vulnerability and capacity analysis with communities training course
-
Delivery of core humanitarian skills, and management and leadership learning courses
3. Oxfam mainstreams ECB Project approaches and shares learning
The ECB Project provides Oxfam with a focus and a collaboration platform to continue to develop our organisational and staff capacity to deliver high-quality, appropriate and effective preparedness and emergency response programmes within high-risk countries, alongside other agencies.
We seek to integrate successful approaches and tools from the ECB Project within our own organisation and also share Oxfam experiences openly with our ECB colleagues, in order to learn from one another.
The Building Trust in Diverse Teams facilitation handbook is an example of an ECB tool that Oxfam uses widely in staff development.
One unexpected area of learning has been around fundraising in consortium for joint agency capacity development initiatives. We have captured the ECB Project's learning in a case study which is available in English, French and Spanish. This has been shared widely with our funding teams around the world, as well as with the other ECB agencies.