1 of 11

Community Engagement �in Humanitarian Action

Catherine Skehan (Action Against Hunger)

Victoria Maynard + Elizabeth Parker (www.stet.uk)

2 of 11

The Core Humanitarian Standard

Nine commitments to people affected by crises

​

www.corehumanitarianstandard.org

​

3 of 11

Community Engagement

Research and Learning Project

​

Victoria Maynard

Elizabeth Parker

Mhari Gordon

​

2022-2024

​

Research questions:

​

  1. What do we mean by community engagement?
  2. What does community engagement look like in practice?
  3. What are the barriers to and enablers of community engagement?
  4. How can Action Against Hunger improve the implementation and documentation of community engagement?

Community-Led MEAL in Zimbabwe (ACF, 2022)

Community Engagement in Madagascar (ACF, 2023)

4 of 11

Things you might be interested in!

https://yourwaytobehaviourchange.org

www.washem.info

cross-pollination of ideas!

5 of 11

Outputs so far:

  • Community engagement in humanitarian and development action: Barriers, enablers and good practice

​

Based on: Literature review + expert interviews

​

https://knowledgeagainsthunger.org/technical/community-engagement-in-humanitarian-and-development-barriers-enablers-and-good-practice/

6 of 11

Start by defining what you mean by community…

community

stakeholders

partners

7 of 11

Ladders are (still) useful. They help structure thinking

and support project planning/resource allocation.

Inform

Partner

Empower

Consult

Involve

Our organisation will…

​

tell communities what is planned.

Our organisation will…

​

make decisions together with communities and then work in partnership to implement them.

Our organisation will….

​

help communities to implement their own initiatives.

Our organisation will…

​

ask for and respond to feedback from communities.

Our organisation will…

​

ask for ideas, then make decisions together with communities.

Barriers or enablers to community engagement:

​

  • Security/Insecurity
  • Access/Lack of access
  • Strength of relationships/trust
  • Community capacity
  • Urgency of response
  • Social and political power dynamics
  • Communication methods available
  • Level of compensation- financial or in kind

8 of 11

Evaluation

& Closing

Partner

Involve

Consult

Inform

Assessment

& Analysis

Planning

& Design

Implementation & Monitoring

Empower

The level of community engagement might be different:

​

At different stages

of the project

9 of 11

Evaluation

& Closing

Partner

Involve

Consult

Inform

Assessment

& Analysis

Planning

& Design

Implementation & Monitoring

Empower

The level of community engagement might be different:

​

At different stages

of the project

​

Or for

different groups

10 of 11

Evaluation

& Closing

Wash’Em

Partner

Involve

Consult

Inform

Assessment

& Analysis

Planning

& Design

Implementation & Monitoring

Empower

Link NCA

Community-Led MEAL

Community-Led Ebola Management (CLEME)

Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)

Some examples…

​

www.washem.info

​

www.linknca.org

​

​

11 of 11

Community Engagement Research & Learning Project

​

Join our mailing list for updates on publications:

https://bit.ly/AAHComEng

​

Twitter:

@vcmaynard

@eparker000

@mharigordon

https://knowledgeagainsthunger.org/technical/community-engagement-in-humanitarian-and-development-barriers-enablers-and-good-practice/