Over two days from 25 through 26 October, more than 130 representatives from governments, regional organizations, the UN system, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and non-governmental organizations gathered in Geneva for a results-oriented "Dialogue" on strengthening partnership in international disaster response.
The Dialogue opened with expert presentations and an open and wide-ranging debate on the current state of international disaster response. As one example of the challenges faced by states receiving international disaster assistance, Ambassador Evan Garcia of the Philippines noted the misalignment of the cluster approach with domestic coordination systems in many countries. However, in the Philippines, the cluster approach had been successfully adopted. Government agencies had been assigned to each of the clusters in coordination with international actors, and this has led to more efficient information management and more effective cooperation.
Following the open debate, the Dialogue continued a series of focused group discussions. Emerging from these discussions was a sense that there are gaps of trust between officials in affected states and some members of the humanitarian community, but that they could be bridged by dedicated effort. The Dialogue itself was seen as an important first step in this process, as existing consultative and policy-making fora were not seen to be addressing this issue.
Participants identified a number of shared understandings and key challenges, and put forward several suggestions for future action steps. The co-convenors issued a joint statement summarizing the outcomes of the Dialogue. Among these outcomes is a commitment by the co-convenors to carry forward the initiative and to examine the opportunity to re-convene a second International Dialogue in 2013.
The Dialogue was chaired by Elizabeth Ferris of the Brookings Institution and was co-convened by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
For more information on the International Dialogue, see the IFRC website here or contact Elyse Mosquini, Senior Advocacy Officer, at elyse.mosquini@ifrc.org