ANNUAL REPORT 2010PHI LI PPI NESoPtHAITIPAKISTANI RAQI RANAfghanistan Algeria Burkina Faso Burundi Central African RepublicChinaColombia DRCongoEastTimor Ethiopia Fiji France Geneva GuatemalaGuineaHaiti IranIraqItalyJordan Kenya Kyrgyzstan Lebanon MalaysiaMauretania MyanmarNamibiaNepal NigerNorthKoreaoPt Pakistan Philippines Sierra LeoneSomaliaSriLanka SudanSwitzerlandSyria TanzaniaChadThailand UgandaUzbekistan Venezuela Yemen ZimbabweAfghanistan Algeria Burkina Faso Burundi Central African RepublicChinaColombia DRCongoEastTimor Ethiopia Fiji France Geneva GuatemalaGuineaHaiti IranIraqItalyJordan Kenya Kyrgyzstan Lebanon MalaysiaMauretania MyanmarNamibiaNepal NigerNorthKoreaoPt Pakistan Philippines Sierra LeoneSomaliaSriLanka SudanSwitzerlandSyria TanzaniaChadThailand UgandaUzbekistan Venezuela Yemen ZimbabweNORCAP (Norwegian Capacity) is the worlds most frequentlyused emergency standby roster. Since 1991 we have secondedpersonnel to more than 6000 assignments globally.NORCAP consists of 850 women and men who are readyto deploy to international operations within 72 hours. At anygiven time, some 140 of our roster members are on assignment.NORCAP is an important instrument in terms of civiliancapacity and UN support. The roster is funded by the NorwegianMinistry of Foreign Affairs and operated by the NorwegianRefugee Council (NRC).NORCAPs mandate is to: Enhance the capacity of the international community to preventand to respond to ongoing and future humanitarian challenges. Support efforts to ensure that international operations are car-ried out without consideration to religion, race, nationality and political persuasion. Support international capacity, and in particular the UnitedNations, in all stages of crisis; from prevention/early warningand response, to monitoring, reconstruction, conict resolution, sustainable development and democratic governance. Ensure that people in emergencies receive protection andassistance according to their needs and rights, with particularemphasis on the protection of civilians and the implementationof relevant Security Council Resolutions.The worlds leading emergency standby roster is NorwegianWE WERE THERE3L CRISES, FH beredskapstyrkerAfghanistanAlgeriaBurkina FasoBurundiCARChadChinaColombiaDemocratic Republic of the CongoEast TimorEthiopiaFijiFranceGuatemalaGuineaHaitiIranIraqItalyJordanKenyaKyrgyzstanLebanonMalaysiaMauretaniaMyanmarNamibiaNepalNigerNorth KoreaoPtPakistanPhilippinesSierra LeoneSomaliaSri LankaSudanSwitzerlandSyriaTanzaniaThailandUgandaUzbekistanVenezuelaZimbabweTHE RIGHT PERSON IN THERIGHT PLPREVENTION/EARLY WARNING RESPONSEMONITORING RECONSTRUCTIONSTAGES OF CRISIS:NORCAP personnel are professional andexperienced. They are sent all over the world to work with coordination, project management,education, logistics, distribution, shelter,information, protection, child protection and more. We work strategically on which operations tosupport and how to support them. In difcultand complicated operations it is important to nd persons that not only have the right professional background, but also the right personal skills.We put great emphasis on targeted recruitment,as well as training and capacity building of ourexisting members. This ensures that we always have experts available for assignments.35HE RIGHT PERSON IN THERIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME RECONSTRUCTIONCONFLICT RESOLUTION SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCENORCAP activities and accomplishments in 2010 were the highest in magnitude since its inception. The humanitarian community faced unprecedented challen-ges in 2010 in response to the large-scale natural disasters in Haiti and Pakistan. The massive disasters coupled with emerging needs due to the reform of the humanitarian re-sponse system created an immense demand for manpower and specialized expertise within several UN agencies. In response to those needs stand-by partners (SBPs) such as NORCAP were especially useful for:Mitigating the depletion of UN personnel resourcesFilling specic gaps in strategic sectors of the emergency responses; Ensuring continuity and institutional memory in certain emergency responses by retaining personnel on longer contractsThe priority areas identied for NORCAP support in 2010 were inter-related and thematically formulated as the protection of civilians in natural disasters and com-plex emergencies. This focus guided NORCAP activities throughout the challenges faced during the year. In addition to the priority areas, the disasters of 2010 highlighted an increasing need for the prevention of gender based vio-lence (GBV), an increased focus on disaster risk reduction (DRR), and greater initiatives for institutional and indivi-dual capacity building. Consequently, the 2010 NORCAP included secondments of personnel providing GBV- and DRR-related expertise. In line with the thematic priority of protecting civilians in natural disasters and complex emergencies, and the invol-vement with agencies at the forefront of protection related support, NORCAPs partnership with UNICEF and UN-HCR continued to grow in 2010. In terms of geographical focus, NORCAP supported ten UN agencies in 49 countries across Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The largest volume of sup-port was deployed in response to the disasters in Haiti, Sudan and Pakistan. Substantial support was also provi-ded to Yemen and Kyrgyzstan in response to the evolving circumstances that included protection and relief concerns. NRC NORCAP continued to cooperate with UN agencies by strengthening partnerships and focusing on identied priorities. These efforts were informed by the volume of support needed in 2010, and the strengths and weaknes-ses of the existing system that became apparent during the large-scale response throughout the year. The need for gre-ater efciency in specic areas of cooperation were iden-tied. In response, NRC NORCAP worked with partners to ensure that the options and mechanisms for support through the roster were well known within the agencies and that shared priorities and needs were explicitly understood. The greatest challenges faced in 2010 stemmed from the depletion of personnel during the response to the disasters in Haiti and Pakistan. NRC NORCAP focused on targeted recruitment and strategic dialogue with partners to address some of these challenges. Future plans to address person-nel issues include a greater emphasis on tailoring available expertise to meet the needs of partners, and the possibi-lity of setting up teams of specialised expertise within the roster.The great need and potential for support to the UN system through SBPs was evident in 2010. The volume of support required for emergency responses put the humanitarian system as well as the SBP mechanisms to the test. Rapid deployment of required expertise, identication of priorities through dialogue, and alignment of strategies showcased the strength and efciency of the SBP response. At the same time, there were numerous instances that illustrated challenges and shortcomings that must be addressed. In Pakistan, for example, many UN agencies were quick to signal their general need for personnel but the Country Ofces were often slow in specifying and requesting the actual expertise required. The major lessons drawn from 2010, coupled with an understanding of the prevalent strengths and weaknesses will form the basis for planning and implementation in 2011. NRC NORCAP welcomes the increasing attention and recognition given to civilian capacity, in Norway and more generally in the UN system. 2010 was the rst time person-nel were seconded to the African Union (AU) with the aim of strengthening civilian capacity within their operations. In this respect, the NORCAP sub-roster NOROBS is being further developed to meet future needs of peacemaking, peacekeeping and peacebuilding operations.EXECUTIVE SUMMARYCONTENTS:EXECUTIVE SUMMARY6I.INTRODUCTION9II.TRENDS, EVENTS AND CHALLENGES IN 201010III.PRIORITY AREAS IN 2010163.1 UNICEF: The Largest Recipient of NORCAP Personnel183.2 UNHCR: A Revitalized Partnership193.3 NOROBS: A Unique Sub-roster with Potential203.4 Haiti: A Sudden-nset Emergency223.5 Pakistan: A Slow-onset Natural Disaster283.6 Sudan: High-level Response to a Complex Emergency343.7 Kyrgyzstan: Rapid Response to Conict38IV.SECONDMENTS IN 2010404.1 Africa424.2 Asia444.3 Latin-America and the Caribbean484.4 Middle East494.5 The Temporary Int. Presencein Hebron (TIPH)524.6 Special Secondments534.7 HQ Secondments534.8 NORDEM54V.NORCAP ROSTER DEVELOPMENT565.1 Recruitment and Competency Building565.2 NORCAP-UN Project565.3 Staff Care565.4 Reporting and analysis575.5 NORCAP Information Corps585.6 Identity Building and Branding58ANNEX THEMATIC ROSTERS59PROJECT MANAGERKristian BoysenDESIGN & LAY-OUTErik Tresse/NRCPHOTOS:Jrn wre, Truls Brekke, Marta Ramoneda, Rob Reece, Lisa Doherty, Kampal Khadka, Therese Witt, Inger-Johanne Tjoaat, Christer de Saram Larssen, Jan Kolaas, Salam Karam, Mubarak AliRECRUITMENT:Gretha Nyhauggretha.nyhaug@nrc.noPRESS:Benedicte Giverbgi@nrc.nowww.norcapweb.no7NORCAP NRC / FlyktninghjelpenPostboks 6758St. Olavs plass0130 Oslo9The report includes information about the size andfrequency of emergency responses globally, and points to important developments throughout the year. The purpose of this report is to account for the breadth and scale of NORCAPs activities, to review its achievements in 2010 against set priorities, and to highlight the major trends of 2010 and NORCAPs response to those evolving cir-cumstances. Other thematic rosters administrated by NRC NORCAP are also briey presented and thesereviews are separately annexed to the report. NRC, being responsible for NORCAPs operation, isclosely committed to the overarching themes and foci in Norwegian humanitarian policy as expressed in WhitePaper No. 40. A prominent feature of the policy is support to the UN Humanitarian Reform Process that was launched in 2005. The reform process has focused on the cluster approach, humanitarian nancing, strengthening humani-tarian coordination and partnership building, the latter in terms of improving partnerships between UN and non-UN humanitarian actors. As the vast majority of NORCAPs contributions are allocated to UN agencies, NRC NORCAP sees the ongoing UN reform process as an important focus of its activities, which is reected in the analysisof progress in 2010 presented in this report. STRUCTURE The report is structured as follows:Chapter II looks at the general trends and developments that took place in 2010. Chapter III shows how ERD has worked on its strategic priorities and provides prominent examples. Chapter IV summarizes and elaborates the contributions made to countries and agencies. The information is structured by region. Chapter V focuses on the development of the roster in terms of human resources, recruitment and administration. Annexed are short reports from the thematic rosters operated by NRC, namely the Mediation Support Unit (MSU), ProCap, GenCap andAcaps.METHODOLOGYThe contents of this report are based on: NRC-HQ staffs analysis of the 2010 NORCAP contributions, supported by quantitative data compiledthroughout the year. Qualitative information from the eld that was obtainedthrough interviews with and specic requests to secondees who were on contract in 2010. Perspectives emerging from the ongoing dialogue with strategic partners at both HQ- and eld-levels. INTRODUCTIONI. 1 White Paper No. 40 (20082009) to the Storting, Norways Humanitarian Policy.Photo: Truls Brekke, Pakistan 2010.This annual report outlines the Emergency Response Departments (NRC NORCAP) contributions to UN agencies and international operations in 2010.TRENDS, EVENTS &CHALLENGES Cen Cap, 121, 6 MSu, 17, 1 nC8CA, 1,303, 79 nC8uLM, 184, 10 roCap, 74, 4 erson-months per roster, a|| reg|ons 1 3 10 12 13 13 21 34 36 37 72 83 100 113 167 187 210 324 030100130200230300330 lPC8 MlA LAS88lCCM ALC Au LACS unPA8l1A1 CCPA lAC unu un8WA unlA unLSCC lCM Wl 1lP unPC8 unlCLl erson-months per org, NCkCA 2 The thematic rosters MSU, GenCap, Pro-Cap along with NORDEM secondments are included in Diagram 2.1. Person-months for MSU-contracted Stand-by personnel who were not on active mission in the eld, have not been counted.Diagram 2.1 illustrates the support provided in 2010 by all the main rosters operated by NRC NORCAP. It is apparent from the gure that the vast majority of support for international operations goes through NORCAP, which accounts for almost 80% of the total activity. DIAGRAM 2.1 Table 2.1 below gives a brief overview over the volume of NORCAP support per organization in 2010. TABLE 2.1 This was a sharp increase from the 1590 person-months of secondments provided through the NRC NORCAP-operated rosters in 2009. The NORCAP roster alone accounted for 1503 person-months of secondments in 2010, which amounts to an increase of 497 person-months from the previous year.PERSON - MONTHS PER ROSTERII.The total volume of NRC NORCAP support to international operations has growncontinuously in recent years. Compared to previous years, secondments throughall NRC operated rosters2 were at an all-time high with a total of 1899 person-months in the eld. RENDS, EVENTS &CHALLENGES IN 20102010 saw numerous large-scale na-tural disasters, several of which posed unique challenges to the humanitarian community at large. These challenges were most notable with the humani-tarian responses to the earthquake in Haiti and the oods in Pakistan. The are-up of violence in Kyrgyzstan also necessitated extensive resource mobilization, which presented further challenges.These challenges resulting from coin-ciding disasters and conicts created a need for a precipitated response in terms of immediate deployment of per-sonnel at a scale that the UN could not meet alone. In situations of large-scale disasters, Stand-by Partners (SBPs) such as NRC NORCAP can signi-cantly increase the surge capacity of UN agencies. These disasters also put the ongoing humanitarian reform and related priorities to the test. NORCAP has been closely aligned to the reform process, with its priorities set accor-dingly. This chapter outlines the major trends and challenges faced in 2010 in terms of cooperation mechanisms, ongoing and emerging partnerships. STAND-BY PARTNERS (SBPS)In order for SBPs to be effective assets to the UN surge capacity in times of crisis, it is crucial that clear and effective agreements with the UN partners are in place. This brings the cooperation into a steady rhythm and facilitates rapid, high quality respon-ses. NRC NORCAP currently has 11 me-morandums of understanding (MoU) and agreements for NORCAP second-ments with the UN, and an agreement with IOM. NRC NORCAP previously had agreements with OHCHR and WHO that have expired, however both agreements are currently being reviewed. NRC also has agreements with OCHA for the recruitment and contractual administration of the spe-cialized rosters GenCap and ProCap, and an agreement with DPA for the Mediation Support Team. The increased need and more fre-quent utilization of SBPs by the UN highlights the need for NORCAP to be more widely known within UN agencies. Over the last years there has been a change in how UN part-ners utilize SBPs in terms of mutual dialogue entailing strategic directions and priorities. The efciency of the SBP process is heavily reliant upon the informa-tion available to UN agencies about NORCAP support options, as well as the procedures for requests and recruitment. The efciency of the SBP process also requires a clear understanding of mutual priorities, roles and responsibilities. To this end NRC NORCAP has been working to strengthen cooperation with both new and existing partners. In situations of large-scale disasters, Stand-byPartners (SBPs) suchas NRC NORCAP can signicantly increase the surge capacity of UN agencies. 11CONTINUITY AND CHANGE VIS--VIS THE UN PARTNERSMeasured in person-months, statistics for the NORCAP contributions revealUNICEF, UNHCR, WFP and IOM as the four largest recipients for 2010. UNICEF and UNHCR have remained the largest recipients of support since 2008, whereas support to WFP has grown considerably in 2010. IOM is a noticeable recipient of increased con-tributions in 2010 due to the support it has received in Haiti. As the total volume of support through the NORCAP roster has grown, so too has the support provided to individual agencies increased with one notable exception: OCHA. The sharp de-crease in secondments to OCHA is particularly evident as it moved from being the third largest recipient of NORCAP support in 2008 and 2009 to the eighth largest in 2010. UNDP has received far greater NORCAP contributions compared to preceding years. MAINTAINING AND STRENGTHENING COOPERATION WITH PARTNERSFAO has had rapid and targeted growth of NORCAP support in 2010. NRC NORCAP perceives FAO as being strategic in the way the agency utilizes the NORCAP partnership. FAO requests have been focused on complementing the agencys opera-tions in communication, cluster leads and information management areas that have traditionally not been of primary focus for the agency. This has had signicant results in both Haiti and Pakistan, where the agency has become more visible and con-sequently secured more funding for their operations in food-security and livelihood-reconstruction.WFP is in need of greater assistance for its activities in the context of global food prices. NRC NORCAP has allo-cated resources at WFPs headquar-ter in Rome in order to institutionalise and improve bilateral cooperation. The agency is in the process of chan-ging the modalities of its distribution systems, for example the cash and TRENDS, EVENTS & CHALLENGES 2010Diagram 2.2 presents the NORCAP person-months per UN agency, including IOM, from 2008 to 2010: It illustrates both the continuity and change of NORCAP support to UN agencies over a three-year period.DIAGRAM 2.2voucher systems, which has been supported by NORCAP throughout the year. NORCAP was the second largest contributor of stand-by person-nel to WFP in 2010. OCHA has been restrictive in its use of SBPs compared to other UN agencies.NRC NORCAP raised its concern about this during the 2010 annual consultations, pointing to the challenges created by lack of conti-nuity and stability when OCHA opted to reshufe internal capacity as a key response to a large crisis, as was done in Haiti. During the year a revised agreement with OCHA was signed.UNFPA has predominantly utilized the partnership for requesting GBV and reproductive health expertise. This trend continues, but new areas of interest such as emergency coordi-nation at both country- and regional-levels have emerged. NRC NORCAP sees this development as positive, and recognizes UNFPAs important man-date in empowering women, referring to Security Council Resolution 1889.NEW PARTNERS IN 2010NRC NORCAP signed one new agre-ement in 2010 with the UN Human Settlements Programme (UNHABI-TAT). Being among the more specia-lised UN agencies, UNHABITAT has an important mandate in early recovery processes in terms of housing, land and property. The agency has to a great extent been focused on develop-ment. There is, however, evidence of an increasing need for the role of UNHABITAT in the earlier phases of a crisis, for which UNHABITAT has lacked the necessary resources. NRC NORCAP has contributed to the UN-HABITAT programmes in Iraq and Pakistan, and will also be supporting programmes in Haiti and Sudan.NOROBS Civilian capacity is increasingly seen as an asset for peacebuilding, peace-keeping and peacemaking missions. Recent and forthcoming reports such as the UN-commissioned Civilian Capacity in the aftermath of Conict are expected to endorse the potential of civilian capacity as having compara-tive advantages within peacekeeping operations. For more information on NOROBS, see section 3.3.ENDING THE AGREEMENT WITH THE NOR-WEGIAN CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTSThe decision to discontinue the agreement with the Centre for Human Rights in Oslo was jointly taken in the late spring of 2010. This was seen as necessary due to the modalities of the cooperation being incompatible with the NORCAP secondment mecha-nism. The agreement was phased out on 1 November 2010. DISASTER RISK REDUCTION (DRR)The above-mentioned disasters that came to characterize humanitarian emergencies and response in 2010 illustrate the need for the humanitarian community to strengthen DRR measu-res in all phases of the disaster cycle: the pre-disaster development phase, and the post disaster emergency response and early recovery pha-ses. The high number of casualties, economic losses and interruptions to development caused by disasters, the lack of thorough risk assessments and efcient early warning systems, and the probable increase in the frequ-ency and severity of disasters due to climate change highlight the need for increased DRR efforts.DRR activities have the potential to reduce the human and nancial los-ses resulting from disasters. In 2010 numerous NORCAP personnel have been involved with several successful DRR activities. NORCAP aims to strengthen the DRR competence among person-nel working in the response phase in order to make DRR an integral part of their work. It is vital that DRR is taken into consideration when a society is entering a recovery and development phase. For example, DRR efforts en-sure that new houses and schools are rebuilt according to hazard-resistant guidelines, and that authorities at all levels have the capacity and knowled-ge to plan accordingly.DRR is an in-tegral part of humanitarian responses and early recovery efforts that ensures the commitment to build back better and develop more disaster-resilient societies and nations.NORCAP aims to contribute on a more central, strategic level to enhan-ce the combined DRR efforts within the UN organisations. The total volume of support through the NORCAP roster has grown13Children wash dishes in front of a tent in a camp of Karachi, Pakistan, where people affected by the oods are staying in tents. Due to disrup-tion in water supplies and sanitation services in ood-affected areas, children, especially those under the age of ve, are particularly vulner-able to diseases such as diarrhoea, and cholera. Clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene kits, vaccinations and medicines, high energy biscuits, treatment for the severely malnourished children, and school supplies are urgently needed. UNICEF has already provided a rst tranche of humanitarian supplies and is bringing in more over the next days during this critical life-saving period. UNICEF, along with its part-ners, is supporting the provision of safe drinking water, adequate sanita-tion and hygiene promotion services to more than 1.8 million people. Almost the same number are beneting from health supplies through UNICEF-supported medical camps. Photo: Marta Ramoneda14The core priority area agged in the 2010 annual plan was the focus on the protection of civilians in natural disasters and complex emergencies. In a broader sense, this involves signicant efforts to strengthen our UN partners response activities for child protection, gender mainstreaming, and reduction of gender based violence (GBV). This focus also involves working to strengthen the efforts to roll out Security Council Resolutions 1612, which pertains to monitoring and reporting on grave childs rights violations, and Security Council Resolution 1888, which concerns impunity in relation to gender based violence in armed conict. NRC NORCAP has further assisted the protection-mandated agencies, such as OHCHR, in their operational capacities for protection during responses to natural disasters.Another core thematic area is strengthening the UN response in the elds of food security, livelihoods and prevention of natural disasters. NRC NORCAPs experience from secondments, eld visits and extensive discussion with UN partners is that most agencies want to make a greater effort in these stabilising and important thematic areas, but that the ability to think of new ways to do so and to incorporate elements of change is difcult. In 2010, NRC NORCAP has worked on this effort by strengt-hening the food security and livelihood clusters, as well as strategic secondments in the eld of disaster risk re-duction. Modernising the traditional food distribution phase through assisting WFP in mainstreaming cash and voucher transactions, which in turn boosts local markets and local livelihoods, remains a priority.Two additional programmatic areas were agged in 2010: emergency education and camp management. The support rendered to UNICEF, UNESCO, UNRWA and UNHCR in the area of education has an intentionally broad focus ranging from teacher training, higher education,education cluster support, to provision of basic education and non-formal education. With regards to campmanagement, the nature of the disasters in 2010 together with the insufcient response capacity of UN partners in these areas resulted in NORCAP having to urgently boost recruitment and competency development in all segments, from camp management training to site planning. PRIORITY AREAS IN 2010This section elaborates the overarching priorities for the NORCAP roster in 2010, and provides information on NORCAPs activities and accomplishments. The priority areas for 2010 were thematic-, agency- and project-specic. They are as follows: THEMATICIII.PRIORITY AREAS IN 201017Engaging in a strategic dialogue:NRC NORCAP focused on getting a broader understan-ding of the UN agencies focusing on early recovery, such as UNESCO, FAO and UNDP, as well as the cluster man-dated agencies, such as UNICEF (education, nutrition, WASH and child protection), UNHCR (camp management, protection and shelter), and FAO/WFP (food security). In particular, NRC NORCAP focused on engaging bilaterally in strategic dialogues with UNICEF and UNHCR. As mentioned in the previous chapter, civilian capacity is increasingly seen as an asset for peacebuilding, peace-keeping and peacemaking missions. NRC NORCAP has worked to further develop the NOROBS sub-roster to this end.In 2010 there are four countries in particular that shed light on NORCAPs endeavours with regards to the rst priority area: Haiti, Pakistan, Sudan and Kyrgyzstan. A signicant part of NORCAPs contributions in 2010 focused on the response to the extensive natural disasters in Haiti and Pakistan. In Sudan, the country faces a protracted complex emergency with new developments emerging from the political challenges linked to the recent elections. In Kyr-gyzstan, the conict demanded a swift response in terms of protection and accommodation for IDPs following the turmoil in Osh. In 2010 NRC NORCAP set out to focus particular at-tention on the strategic direction of the partnerships with UNICEF and UNHCR. Important points raised with the two agencies include creating a wider recognition of NORCAP within the organizations and strengthening distinct elds of activity of agencies by increasing NORCAP contributions within specic elds of expertise. AGENCY SPECIFICPROJECT SPECIFICUNICEF continues to be the largest UN agency recipient of personnel from NORCAPs pool of expertise. 2010 saw a signi-cant increase in the support to UNICEF in line with NRC NOR-CAP priorities. A total of 53 per-sons were deployed to UNICEF operations in 21 countries, trans-lating into 324 person-months compared to 243 person-months in 2009. The contribution to UNICEF has steadily increased since 2007.UNICEF has 17 existing SBPs who combined contributed 23 000 days in the eld as of 30 November 2010.Of these, NORCAP secondeesaccounted for 9 500 of those daysin the eld. This is close to 40% ofthe total volume of labour contributed to the agency by SBPs3.As with most of the UN agencies, the crisis in Haiti, Pakistan and Kyrgyz-stan featured prominently for UNICEF. The countries that stand out for NRC NORCAPs contributions to UNICEF are Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen and Iraq. These countries each received between four and eight persons in support of UNICEF opera-tions. The pressure on UNICEF resulting from the disasters in Haiti andPakistan resulted in a depletion the agencys internal expertise. These disasters highlighted the need to increasingly utilize SBPs in order to bolster the surge capacity in certain elds of expertise. This was conrmed by UNICEF at the annual consulta-tion meeting with SBPs in November 2010.UNICEFs greatest need for expertise was the WASH sector, followed by child protection, logistics, coordination and telecommunications. NRCs grea-test support to UNICEF was in child protection, but support to the elds of WASH, education and logistics were also provided. STRATEGIC DIALOGUEUNICEF has carried out a thorough strategic process with all SBPs.Resulting from this, the agency wants to see an equal partnership which goes beyond the traditional SBP support. Other agencies also seem interested in adopting similar appro-aches. The 2010 strategic bilateral discussions on the UNICEF partners-hip with NORCAP focused on wider recognition and usage of the roster, the ability to support cluster proces-ses, UN resolutions 1612 and 1888, and DRR initiatives. UNICEF agreed to increase the num-ber of surge staff both in programme implementation and cluster support. The surge capacity of SBPs is espe-cially needed in the following areas: education, GBV, child protection and DRR. NRC NORCAP is recruiting and developing the roster with this in mind, and providingtraining of NORCAP members in these elds. Specically concerning the educa-tion sector, UNICEF emphasised the need to focus on coordination, needs assessment, contingency planning & preparedness, teacher development and logistics. NRC has been parti-cipating in trainings on education in emergencies and cluster coordination. Regarding GBV, overall eld capa-city has to be strengthened because UNICEF does not have many partners to rely on to support GBV.For child protection, the sub-elds of psycho-social care, monitoring and reporting mechanisms (MRM), demobilisation, disarmament and reintegration (DDR), and coordination require expert support. Concerning DRR, UNICEF regional capacities are increasing but there are great demands for support at the national level.There is also a need for secondees with DRR and climate change adaptation expertise. 3 Estimate for the whole year extrapolated from gures provided by UNICEF staff at the annual consulation meeting.3.1 UNICEF: THE LARGEST RECIPIENT OF NORCAP PERSONNELAs with most of the UN agencies, the crisis in Haiti, Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan featured prominently for UNICEF.The volume of support to UN-HCR has increased signicantly from 2009 to 2010 in line with NRC NORCAPs priorities. NOR-CAP contributed 37 persons de-ployed to 20 countries in support of UNHCR. This translated into 210 person-months to the agen-cys operations throughout the year. NORCAP contributions to UNHCR in 2010 increased by 63 person-months from 2009, which represents a signicant increase.Previously from 2007 to 2009, NORCAP secondments to UN-HCR were decreasing so gures from 2010 indicate a reversal of this trend.Most of the personnel seconded to UNHCR were deployed in Africa, and two equal shares of secondees were deployed in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Two persons were also seconded to UNHCRs headquarter in Geneva, one person to Venezuela and one to Colombia. Overall, the most frequent secondments were in the elds of protection and education, although requests for logistics were also common. NORCAP contributions to UNHCR were signicant in Sudan, Yemen and Kyrgyzstan. NRC NORCAP deployed four Protection Ofcers and one Edu-cation Ofcer to UNHCR in Sudan. Six secondees were deployed to UN-HCR operations in Yemen, which in-cluded three Protection Ofcers, one Operation Data Manager, one Educa-tion Ofcer and one CCCM Ofcer. The support to operations in Kyrgyz-stan focused on shelter as a result of the are-up of violence in the southern part of the country and the subsequ-ent displacement of people. The four secondees deployed to Kyrgyzstan consisted of one Public Information Ofcer, two Shelter Specialists, and a Shelter Cluster Coordinator. AGENCY SPECIFIC TRENDSA number of revealing trends emerged from consultations in December bet-ween SBPs and UNHCR. The frequ-ency of responses to natural disasters linked to UNHCRs role in the cluster system is increasing. The agency is increasingly requested to respond to persons affected by natural disasters, where the agency has, in part, as-sumed responsibility for protection, but not shelter. Furthermore, mega-disasters and coinciding emergencies like Haiti and Pakistan demand an extraordinary response from all actors. Finally, there is a need for increased responses to situations involving IDPs. These three trends currently represent 42% of UNHCR deployments globally.2010 has shown the need for coor-dination with UNHCR on clusters. In the Protection Cluster it is evident that cluster work involves a separate set of soft skills apart from pure technical knowledge. In support of this there is a clear need for Information Manage-ment Ofcers and Reporting Ofcers. In addition, the Camp Coordination and Camp Management Cluster occasionally falls under Shelter or Protection Cluster, for which UNHCR is responsible and requires support. With regards to the registration of IDPs, UNHCR hosts the Joint IDP Proling Service funded by ECHO in which NRC participates. This service collects basic data on a given popu-lation for planning purposes in cases where regular registration is not pos-sible. If this service is to be expanded, there will be a greater need for Data Analysts and Data Management Spe-cialists. Overall, UNHCR believes there is room to expand the use of the NOR-CAP roster in eld operations. STRATEGIC DIALOGUEThe strategic discussions with UN-HCR in 2010 focused on possibilities for wider usage and recognition of NORCAP within the agency, and programmatic priorities such as live-lihoods, camp management, protec-tion and education where UNHCR is cluster lead.Regarding the eld of livelihoods, UNHCR has asked NRC NORCAP to collaborate on designing a training module aimed specically at creating competency for livelihood interven-tions in urban areas. For CCCM it was suggested a team of experts be established for deployment and capa-city building. Such an arrangement, however, would require that UNHCR commits to use this resource. For Protection there is a lack of experts with information management, commu-nity services and GBV proles. One proposed solution under consideration is to form a Protection Cluster team of experts at NRC-HQ who are ready for deployment. NORCAP has increa-sed its activities on Education, and UNHCR estimates that they will need approximately ten education secon-dees every year.193.2UNHCR: A REVITALIZED PARTNERSHIPNRC NORCAP has extensive experience with secondments of civilian observers on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of For-eign Affairs and the UN. These include deployments to the Sri Lanka Monitoring Team (SLMM), Temporary International Pres-ence in Hebron (TIPH), European Monitoring Mission (EUMM), Nuba Mountains, Nepal (UNMIN) and Ache Monitoring Mission (AMM).During the discussions leading up to the signing of the NORCAP agre-ement in 2009, the NMFA and NRC NORCAP decided to strengthen and formalise the efforts made in this the-matic area through the establishment of NOROBS (Norwegian Standby Roster for Civilian Observers). NOROBS IN 2010The core focus in 2010 was to further operationalise this sub-roster, and to ensure its recognition amongst relevant stakeholders and end users, as well as the internal composition of skills and competencies.The Norwegian Institute of Interna-tional Affairs (NUPI) report The Role and Position of NOROBS in the Context of Norways Contribution to Civilian Peacemaking, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, that was com-missioned by NRC NORCAP as a planned initiative in 2010, explores recent developments within interna-tional peacekeeping, peacemaking and peacebuilding operations with regard to the use of civilian roster capacities, comparing recent develop-ments in the Nordic region. The report makes recommendations on how the NOROBS can be further developed to meet the future needs of international operations, as well as how the NMFA can make better and more strategic use of the Norwegian civilian capacity mechanisms at its disposal through a national Whole-of-Government ap-proach.In the aftermath of this report, MFA established a working group to draft a strategy on Norwegian civilian capa-city in emergency management. The work did not commence in 2010, but NRC NORCAP highly welcomes this initiative and is eager to contribute with lessons learned and ideas for improvement in this thematic area. To-pics to be discussed include strengt-hening coordination, diversication and training of civilian capacity, all of which are key areas for NORCAP.NRC NORCAP participated actively in 2010 as a roster expert in relevant networks of civilian capacity in peace-building and peacekeeping, such as the International Stabilisation and Peace-building Initiative (ISPI) and the UN and Africa Civilian Capacities Re-view processes.NRC NORCAP will continue to provide advice and inputs to similar initiatives in 2011. INTERNATIONAL MONITORING TEAM (IMT)NRC NORCAP was contacted by the MFA in April 2010 to explore the feasibility of deploying civilian obser-vers to the IMT in the Philippines. The southern Philippines has a long history of conict and there are armed groups including separatists, communists, clan militias and criminal groups all active in the area. The most recent major outbreak of conict took place in August 2008 during the controversies surrounding the scrapped Memo-randum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain in Mindanao. However, the number of armed skirmishes has gone down signicantly in the last two ye-ars, with both the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and Moro Islamic liberation Front (MILF) afrming their commitment to observe the ceasere.The International Monitoring Team (IMT) was established in 2004 with a mandate to monitor the ceasere, socio-economic and humanitarian agreements between the Government and the MILF in Mindanao. Since September 2004, the IMT has worked closely with the joint Government/MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) to prevent and address the impact of hostilities in affected provinces in Mindanao. In May 2010, the Civilian Protection Component was added as another arm of the IMT. The IMT is headed by Malaysia, and the European Union (EU) and Norway has accepted the invitation to join the IMT. Following up on an administrative assessment on the feasibility of a Norwegian contribution to the IMT in June 2010, NRC NORCAP prepared the ground for contributing NORCAP personnel for monitoring. Two Norwe-gian observers are currently seconded to the Security Component of the IMT. Their primary task is to monitor, verify and report non-compliance by the parties of their basic commitment to protect civilians and civilian com-munities.TEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE IN HEBRON (TIPH)TIPH has been supported with per-sonnel for 15 positions in 2010. As in the preceding years, these deploy-ment have included a gender adviser, a Head of Research, Analysis and 3.3NOROBS: A UNIQUE SUB-ROSTER WITH POTENTIALInformation Division, a Project Mana-ger, eight Civilian Observers as well as administrative positions. For details on TIPH operations, see section 4.5.AFRICA UNION (AU)The African Standby Force (ASF) was established by the African Union (AU) to enable quick reaction in moments of regional crisis. Envisaged as a means of supplying rapid regional responses to regional problems, a fully operatio-nal ASF would have the potential to supplement the United Nations as a guarantor of African security. Since African leaders agreed in 2002 to set up a rapid-reaction force for peace-support operations and inter-ventions made up of military, civilian and police components, the NRC has been following the process closely. NRC NORCAP was invited to parti-cipate in the 2009 Dar Es Salam me-eting to discuss roster issues related to ASF. Simultaneously, and with means made available by the Royal Norwegian Em-bassy in Addis Ababa, the NRC has seconded two Civilian Liaison Ofcers to the AU to support the Peace Sup-port Operation Division (PSOD) at the AU and to work with the development of the ASF. OTHER EFFORTS TO SUPPORT PEACE-KEEPING AND PEACE-BUILDING ACTIVI-TIESWhile in 2009 the NRC NORCAP supported human right sections in various missions, such as UNAMA, UNMIT and UNAMI, the core contri-bution in 2010 was a ProCap de-ployment to MONUSCO human right sector in the DRC. The deployment focused on strengthening the protec-tion monitoring component. The se-condee worked closely with the Joint Monitoring Team (JMT) that was also supported by NRC NORCAP jointly with Norwegian Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) through the NORDEM agreement.Training for Peace in Africa is an inter-national capacity building programme aiming at improvement and sustai-nability of African civilian and police capacity for peace support operations, and with a view to strengthening the African security architecture. The programmes focus is on training, po-licy advice and research, with a major part of activities being carried out by African partners. Training for Peace in Africa is fully funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and NRC NORCAP has since 2008 seconded a senior police advisor to this program.HOW NOROBS CAN BE INSTRUMENTAL TO POLITICAL AND CIVILIAN MISSIONS.The Centre of International Coope-ration (CIC) launched the report on Political Missions in autumn 2010.4

This report reviews multilateral enga-gement in conict-affected areas by taking a closer look at civilian/political missions. The example of the NORCAPs sup-port to the mission in Nepal is high-lighted in this report as a success that achieved a lot with a small group through rapid and targeted deploy-ment. Ian Martin, who built up theUN mission in Nepal, asserted that the general process of deployment and consequently its overall results were delayed by complicated recruitment and procurement procedures. The importance of qualied personnelavailable for deployment on shortnotice cannot be overestimated.In Nepal such quick deployments were essential for the success of the mission. Another recently released report entitled Bottlenecks for Deployment, published by NUPI in October 2009, found that the extreme vacancy rates at peacekeeping and peace-building missions are severely hampered by heavy and inefcient recruitment rou-tines. This clearly indicate that alterna-tive and complementary means of staf-ng missions should be investigated. This is the signal that NRC NORCAP has received from UN partners in the eld, and hence why NRC NORCAP has managed to support DPKO mis-sions in a pragmatic and needs-based-manner, through loan agreements with our other UN partners.21

4Richard Gowan (ed.): Review of Political Missions 2010, The Center on International Cooperation, New York, 2010Prior to the earthquake, Haiti was a fragile country struggling with nu-merous political and developmental challenges. The level of corruption was high, as was the illiteracy rate. The infrastructure was poorly develo-ped, and the country was frequently affected by natural disasters. Five percent of Haitians depended on food programmes, such as WFP. The earth-quake exacerbated an already challen-ging situation. The UN lost about 100 staff members (including several from senior level management) and their ofces in the earthquake. Numerous UN employees were sent out of the country due to the trauma they experi-enced. These circumstances severely hampered the vital initial response. THE EARLY PHASENRC NORCAP identied all relevant French-speaking experts available in the NORCAP roster. The list was presented to the liaising ofcers in all operative UN agencies on 14 Janu-ary. The SBP administrations then worked with the County Ofces in Haiti to clear the chosen candidates for deployment as soon as possible. The rst secondees were deployed the next day following their clearance by the receiving agency. In total 46 secondees were deployed to Haiti in 2010, representing close to 200 per-son-months in the eld the largest number of NORCAP experts deployed to a single country in 2010. The secondees that travelled in the early phase were equipped with deployment kits that included com-puters and food rations. The kits also contained 1-person tents because the secondees had to sleep on the rubble besides the airport. Experts in the eld received regular follow-up support be-cause of the harsh working conditions and the occurrence of aftershocks. One of the rst NORCAP secondees to arrive in Haiti was the rosters most experienced Air Movement Ofcer. His main task was to facilitate the inux of food, water, medical kits and other vital equipment to Port-au-Prince Airport in order for it to be transported to their nal destinations. Early on, NORCAP received a request for a service package of manned kit-A SUDDEN-ONSETEMERGENCYWhen the earthquake shook Haiti on 12 January 2010, more than 300 000 people died. The capital Port-au-Prince was severely affected by the earthquake. Major institutions were affected, including the UN headquarters. HAITI A SUDDEN-ONSETEMERGENCYFACTSchen units5 to give WFP the capacity to serve rations of food as the popula-tion had lost all means of cooking. The roster was able to support WFP with the required material and seconded a team of ve persons to run the mobile kitchen units. Three weeks after the earthquake some 1300 national and international NGOs were registered in Haiti, ready to partake in the emergency respon-se. The organisations were quickly deployed on the ground, but their presence often burdened the clusters to the detriment of the overall coordi-nation effort. In the early phase, UN personnel were typically on short-term contracts of only two to four weeks. NORCAP secondees were by and large con-tracted for three to six months, thus facilitating the continuity and institu-tional memory of the various missions. Hence, one lesson learned is the need for longer-lasting assignments to ensure stability, which enables the recovery phase to begin sooner.During the early phase NORCAP se-conded one Child Protection Ofcer to UNICEF, several logisticians two to UNFPA, one to OCHA and one to UNDP and a cluster coordinator, a protection ofcer and camp managers to IOM. FAO agged the need for secondees to support food price monitoring, hurricane preparedness and delivery of seeds to secure crops. There was in particular a need to secure a rapid build-up and distribution in the south-western areas since they had received approximately 500 000 IDPs. The earthquake in Haiti highlighted another essential point: the need to contribute to a quicker transition from a crisis phase into early recovery and development phases. It was difcult On 12 January 2010 an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 Mw shattered Haiti. The hypocentre was located 25 kilometres west of the capital Port-au-Prince. More than 300.000 people were reported dead, 1.6 million people lost their homes and approximately 3 million were affected by the catastro-phe. The earthquake crippled the capital and economic heart of the country, and also destroyed and damaged buildings and infrastructure else-where. UN itself was severely affected by the earthquake. The headquarters of the MINUSTAH collapsed, killing several people. During the period between 12 and 24 January there were 52 after-shocks The October cholera outbreak created social unrest. As of January 2011 nearly 4000 people have been reported dead. One year after the earthquake reconstruction has hardly begun, and the country is still in great need of assistance from the international community.VenezuelaHaitiDen Dominikanske republikkCubaGuatemalaArea: 27 750 km2. Population: 10 millionsIDPs: 1,9 millions1 1 1 1 3 3 4 3 10 17 4.0 9.0 0.3 4.6 13.6 20.3 12.4 23.8 38.0 77.3 0102030403060708090 CCPA unu lPC8 MlA lAC unlA unlCLl unLSCC Wl lCM erson-months and personne|, na|n Man-monLhs worked number of secondees TABLE 3.1 23Canap Vert: from the open-air class-room after the earthquake.Astrid Arne was seconded to conduct the training for the camp cluster.to coordinate the large number of organisations working in Haiti, which in turn prolonged the crisis phase. For Haitians, the ability to face the future and to achieve goals rst and foremost depends on having their basic needs met. The phasing out of camps will de-mand tremendous recourses in terms of enhancing the capacity of local authorities, engaging in work creating schemes, enforcing work on land and housing rights, clearing debris and rebuilding arenas where people may rebuild their positions, social networks and lives. EDUCATION AND COORDINATIONNORCAPs support to the coordinati-on of humanitarian assistance after the earthquake was substantial. Through their involvement with the clusters as well as with specic projects the se-condees contributed to reinforcing the coordination efforts. NORCAP experts have been deployed to seven UN agencies, IOM, IHRC and the Haitian government. The UNESCO ofce experienced little physical damage during the earth-quake and was operational at an early stage. NRC NORCAP seconded three Education Ofcers to support teacher training and psychosocial assistance with UNESCO and with the Education Cluster. An experienced Communi-cation Ofcer has been working with donors and local media. Additionally, a project manager for higher educa-tion and strategy within cultural work was deployed. Continued support to secondary and technical education has been deemed to be both essential and benecial. Currently the organiza-tion is hosting the Ministry of Educa-tion, which makes the task of capacity building easier due to the effective cooperation.NORCAP has continued to support UNESCO and the education cluster. Lessons learned from the Pakistan 2005 earthquake response show that this kind of support is needed for at least two to three years after the earth-quake in order to rebuild the relevant ministries and their capacity to resume their work. The context in Haiti is far more challenging due to the lack of well functioning institutions prior to the earthquake, and because the building back better approach that has been applied to other countries is imperative in Haiti. The UN plays a crucial role in rebuild-ing Haitian society, and NORCAP can play an important role in supporting this effort. Based on feedback from UN and IOM partners in Haiti as well as other sources, the NORCAP response is considered to have been substantial and effective, mainly due to the secondees high level of expe-rience. All partners have stated that they will need further secondments to meet the challenges ahead.NORCAP also supported the Hai-tian government with a senior expert deployed as a Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Haiti.This has entailed assisting the Head of Govern-ment in putting the Haitian authorities in the driver seat of the recovery and development efforts.Notably, this has been done by trying to improve existing coordination mechanisms and ensuring that the ministries are in charge of all activities under their responsibility, whether those activities nanced by the State or by the interna-tional community.It has also entailed advocating with the international community for the reinforcement of the capacity and resources at the disposal of the Haitian institutions.In parallel the holder of this position has acted as a special advisor on Haiti to the government of Norway.Consequently, the Special Advisor has helped shape the programmes nanced by Norway. The bulk of the Norwegian nancing is being channelled to one specic region to address the closely related issues of watershed management, sustainable agriculture and disaster risk reduction.DISASTER RISK REDUCTION:A KEY TO SUSTAINABLE RECOVERY AND DEVELOPMENTAs the earthquake exacerbated Haitis pre-existing vulnerability to ooding and other disasters, Haitis main chal-lenges today, in relation to DRR, can be summarized as:Frequent natural disasters thatundermine growth and stability. Increased pressure and demands ona decreasing resource base. Unstable socio-political conditionsand growing immediate needs whichmake it difcult to maintain long-termvisions and plans. Local hazards in the approximately1300 makeshift settlements thatarose after the earthquake. The recent cholera outbreak, whichitself is a result of socio-politicalnegligence of adequate water andsanitation infrastructures.Although NORCAP secondees to IOMs Site Planning were not or-ganizationally responsible for DRR, they were involved in DRR activities through several projects.HAITI Bideonville shacks in central Port-au-Prince shows the fragile state of the housing in the slum areas.In coordination with the inter-cluster Mitigation Task Force (MTF), the IOM Site Planning team and UNOPS con-ducted physical hazard assessments and reporting of high-risk makeshift settlements. This process involved identifying risks such as oods and landslides, recommending ways to mitigate those risks, advocating for increased activities by responding agencies, and when possible imple-menting those mitigation measures in high-risk camps. The information gathered by MTF helped prioritize IDP relocations and improve the provision of services such as drainage, latrines and retai-ning walls. To date MTF has visited 274 priority sites. The responsibility for this activity is currently transferred to the IOM WASH Unit. The results of the MTF have been presented to the CCCM Cluster and the WASH Cluster with the aim to attract respon-ding agencies to implement necessary mitigation measures.In collaboration with the IOM Prepa-redness Unit and the Governmental Civil Protection Directorate (Direction de la Protection Civile, DPC), a num-ber of camps at risk of ooding on a macro level were assessed to verify a mapping study by the World Bank. It was found challenging to implement local mitigation measures, and it was concluded that the camps at risk were mainly in need of clear emergency evacuation guidelines when exposed to risk. It has also been hard to locate temporary evacuation shelters in Port au Prince as the Government of Haiti has been hesitant to provide informa-tion on larger institutional buildings that could possibly provide shelter during emergencies. The unit assisted CCCM Operations in emergency pre-parations for hurricane Thomas, and a team assessed possible safe havens for 2000 IDPs.Disaster risk reduction requires sys-tematic efforts to analyse and ma-nage the causal factors of disasters, including through reducing exposure to hazards, lessening the vulnerability of people and property, wise mana-gement of land and the environment, and improving resilience and prepa-redness for adverse events. It calls for a simultaneous development of long term, overall strategies combined with local case-by-case approaches. The Haitian government needs a unied contingency plan that accounts for the probability of various risk events.After the earthquake in January 2010 many IDPs settled in the open spaces in Port-au-Prince. These spaces are often unsuitable for human habitation and have been left for other land uses due to their exposure to risks such as oods and landslides. Before the earthquake, Haiti suffered from a lack of disaster management infrastructu-res, a lack of awareness of risks and a lack of knowledge of how to prevent or mitigate those risks. As a response to an intensifying rainy season and hurricane season, the Government of Haiti set up The National Early War-ning Program. In the eld of DRR the CCCM Cluster has played an impor-tant role in advocating participation in hazard mitigation activities in IDP camps. IDPs are most vulnerable to natural hazards, and awareness raising in terms of mitigating oods, landsli-des and hurricane risk is needed in the camps.The Earthquake not only changed the topography of Haiti through landslides, but also led to a build-up of debris in the drainage. The disruption of normal methods of waste disposal and the displacement of people into unfamiliar environments have also lead to a build-up of waste in the drainage. Not only must the population face displacement to ood prone areas and the socio- economic hardships resulting from this, but they are also vulnerable to the threats posed by ood, hurricane and landslide hazards which have been increased by the effects of the earth-quake. HAITI After the earthquake in January many IDPs settled in the open spaces in Port-au-Prince. These spaces are often unsuitable for human habitation.

5 Units were funded by the Artist Galla in the Oslo Opera.The infrastructure was shattered, build-ings had collapsed and nearly 4000 schools were destroyed or damaged in the Haiti earthquake. Annelies Ollieuz was seconded to Haiti in February 2010, and stayed for six months. In the beginning my function as an Education Liaison Of-cer was important in order to develop the contact between the clusters. However, once this contact was in place, I was reassigned as an Education Coordinator, Ollieuz explains.After the earthquake over 2.5 million primary school chil-dren had no access to schools in both affected and non-directly affected areas. The challenges were numerous and sometimes unforeseen.There were factors that inuenced the progress of our coordination work to a larger extent than rst anticipated, such as the difculties of clearing enough space to set up temporary school tents. Later on, landownership was a big issue. For example, we had to avoid that a new school building was used for other purposes than education, since the person who had agreed to the construction plan turned out not to be the landowner, Ollieuz points out.She had many tasks during her six months secondment to UNICEF. Initially she played an important role in making sure education was part of the plans for new camps. She also became responsible for establishing and coordinating education facilities in these planned camps and worked closely with different NGOs. For the planning of school re-openings she collaborated with the Ministry of Education on both the national and the municipal level.Avoiding overlaps was essential. For instance we did not want two different NGOs building classrooms in the same school. Identifying our additional needs was just as impor-tant as lling the gaps. All efforts were aimed at one thing: Getting children back to a safe school as soon as possible. The longer they are away from school, the larger the risk is that they never return. To us, education is a primary need, Ollieuz explains. SCHOOLSSchools offer education, psychosocial support and nu-trition through a school feeding programme. In addition, they represent a relief for the parents who can focus on re-establishing normality in the family situation knowing that their children are safe at school.We managed to achieve a lot in a relatively short time span. In April the rst schools were re-opened to children who were already registered as pupils at the time of the earthquake. By mid-June the Education Cluster had sup-ported the re-opening of approximately 80 per cent of the schools in the earthquake-affected areas. In October, the focus was on including children who had not attended school before, says Ollieuz who feels that despite the impact of the disaster in Haiti, the work done in the Educa-tion Cluster during the rst phase and early recovery is an example of how well the cluster system can function.I stayed in Haiti for six months and thus represented conti-nuity to my team, which was of great use. During those six months I had three different team leaders, and the last one called me the teams institutional memory Ollieuz says.Anneliea Ollieuz came back to Norway in August 2010, where she has returned to her PhD position at the Univer-sity of Oslo. She has previously worked for both UNESCOand UNICEF.COORDINATION IN THE EDUCATION CLUSTERGetting children back to school after a disaster is vi-tal to help them get through the trauma. After the Haiti earthquake, Annelies Ollieuz contributed to UNICEFs efforts to do just that.Cluster coordination meeting in the eld, Haiti 2010. (Photo: Lisa Doherty)STORY FROM THE FIELD27During the onset of the disaster, water masses equal to the landmass of the United Kingdom ushed through almost the entire length of the coun-try. In a country with a mainly rural population and an economy largely based on agriculture, the oods led to massive destruction of life, property, food stocks and economic activity. At one point approximately one-fth of Pakistans total land mass was under water and crops were destroyed in a vast area. Farmers lost not only their homes but also livestock, seeds for the next sea-son and important tools. A major con-cern was that they would be unable to meet the fall deadline for planting new seeds in 2010, which would result in a massive loss of food production in 2011 and potential long-term food shortages. In that case the crisis would have been prolonged, leading to further delays in the transition to recovery and development phases. FAO needed assistance to convey this urgent message to the public in order to raise awareness and to increase funding. NORCAP was asked for a Communications Ofcer to be se-conded to Pakistan. During his three months secondment the Communica-tions Ofcer contributed greatly to an increase in funding for the Pakistani operations by making FAO heard in the international media.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had initially asked for $460 million for emergency relief to Pakistan, noting that the ood was the worst disaster he had ever seen. Only 20 per cent of the relief funds requested had been received by 15 August 2010. The lack of economic resources as well as the will to contribute funding has been a major challenge in this crisis. Adding to this was also the fact that OCHAs funding mechanism was slow to pick up pace in the early phase of the crisis. The Haiti earthquake occurred only six months before the Pakistan oods, which caused a formidable dilemma: Two major catastrophes competing for the worlds attention and funds. Furthermore, the public did not easily perceive the impact of the oods as A SLOW-ONSET NATURALDISASTERIn 2010 Pakistan experienced the worst oods in its history. Over 20 million people, more than one-tenth of the population, were affected. It is the largest natural disaster ever faced by the UN. At least 1700 people lost their lives during the crisis, which is still ongoing.PAKISTANNATURALDISASTER In July and August 2010 heavy monsoon rains in northwest Pakistan caused severe ooding in the massive Indus valley. It is the largest natural disaster the UN has ever handled. More than 20 million people were affected. Many of the victims were already affected by earlier catastrophes, such as the 2005 earthquake and the recent conicts in the Swat Valley and FATA regions. In addition, Pakistan has one of the biggest refugee populations in the world. 1.5 million of the 1.7 million Afghan refugees live in the ood-affected areas. About 80 % of the affected were subsistence farmers. In addition to tending to the immediate humanitarian needs, re-establishing a viable agricultural production has been a priority for relief efforts.IndiaAfghanistanIranNepalPakistanOmanBangladeshTajikistanArea: 803 940 Population: 184 404 791Refugees: 1 743 141IDPs : 1 230 000the long-term consequences were less visible than the immediate destruction observed in Haiti. Predictions in terms of the enormity and far-reaching consequences of the oods were slow to emerge. Too much emphasis was given to the North whereas the response to the increasing problems in the southern regions was not estab-lished quickly enough.THE EARLY PHASEIn the early phase before tapping into other resources, agencies generally relied on SBPs to provide them with experts who were Pakistani nationals in order to facilitate access and a rapid response. These experts would, to a large extent, avoid obstacles to obtai-ning a Pakistan visa and could travel with ease. Security in the countrys northern tribal areas quickly became an issue for the UN agencies. The larger UN agencies were early signalling a general need for person-nel, however, the country ofces were often late in specifying and requesting the actual expertise and positions that needed to be lled. NORCAP recei-ved requests for secondments from several UN agencies at an early stage of the crisis. There was a particular need for Coordination Ofcers inPunjab, Multan and Islamabad. A Shelter/Hub Coordinator was secon-ded to IOM in Islamabad. The oods had destroyed existing shelters and one important task was to distribute emergency shelters in districts directly 29As table 3.2 shows, in total, 19 NORCAP secondees were deployed to Pakistan in 2010. They were deployed to FAO, IOM, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNHABITAT, WFP and OCHA. The rst secondee was in place three days after the initial request. The decision made by the Pakistani authorities to allow humanitarian aid workers enter the country without visas helped speed up the process and facilitated access to a larger pool of inter-national expertise.1 1 2 2 4 4 3 1.6 3.6 3.1 8.2 12.3 12.6 16.2 024681012141618 unPC8 CCPA Wl lCM unPA8l1A1 unlCLl lAC erson-months and personne|, ak|stan Man-monLhs worked number of secondees FACTSand indirectly affected by the oods. The oods in Pakistan occurred shortly after both the Haiti earthquake and the political conict in Kyrgyzstan. Seconding personnel to respond to the Pakistan crisis was therefore a challenge to NORCAP because there was a shortage of staff. Several of the secondees to Pakistan were newly recruited to the roster. Contributing to cluster coordination became an important role for the NORCAP secondees in Pakistan.One example is the Education Coor-dinator who was sent to the south of the Punjab region in order to assist UNICEF in their joint effort with Save the Children to bring pupils back to school. The key was to include govern-ment leaders in the cluster coordinati-on. The secondee, who knew Pakistan well, managed to organize meetings with all the essential actors and toget the project en route.The lack of functioning infrastructure after the catastrophe worsened the situation. Roads were completely destroyed making it difcult to distri-bute basic goods such as food, water, and medical equipment. WFP recei-ved two secondees to support their operations. The Air Movement Ofcer coordinated air trafc and made sure that goods were correctly distributed in the affected areas. The Logistics Ofcer was part of the LogisticsCluster and working under WFPs supervision, facilitating the dialogue between stakeholders and actors in targeted areas. The Logistics Cluster in Pakistan is providing helicopter services forcargo movement. Pakistan now has the worlds largest helicopterfacilitated response and 95% ofthe helicopter services are used by WFP for food distribution.GENDERReports from our secondees wor-king on Gender indicate massive displacement, poor living conditions, overcrowding in camps and lack of privacy, disruption of social networks and social norms and destruction of health and other support facilities signicantly exacerbated the acute vulnerabilities of women and girls. The situation exacerbated the risk to girls and women of sexual and other forms of gender-based violence (GBV). Although accurate data is not available on the magnitude of pre- and post-ood GBV, experience from previous disasters and mass displacements around the world shows that inciden-ces of GBV tends to rise during and after emergencies. Anecdotal data from the affected provinces indicate that GBV has increased during the emergency. The reason for this being that camps and informal settlements lack security, women have no access to appropriate shelter and sanitation facilities, and social networks and tra-ditional protection mechanisms were destroyed. Existing capacity to respond to GBV was very limited both before and after the oods. There was a pre-existing misconception of GBV held by huma-nitarian actors, the government, UN agencies and NGOs. The term GBV was associated to womens rights movements, lobbying and advocacy. There was also a limited understan-ding of the multisectoral approach to GBV, service provision and a GBV survivor-centred approach. Violence against women was mainly referred to as domestic violence and there was little consideration of other forms ofviolence, particularly of sexual violen-ce. In its rst three months, the GBV sub-cluster faced repeated challenges from existing coordination groups, which perceived the establishment of the GBV sub-cluster as a threat to ongoing gender-focused work. The lack of understanding between gender-focused actors and GBV sub-cluster, the limited capacity of the GBV sub-cluster and its members, un-derstafng, and lack of permanent pre-sence at the provincial level all limited signicantly the scope of the interven-tions. The GBV sub-cluster was led by a GBV coordinator from UNICEF and one from UNFPA. The coordinators alternated to cover the needs and re-sponsibilities in Islamabad and at the provincial-level by travelling every other week. Currently the GBV sub-cluster has permanent a presence in Islama-bad and all ve hubs (South Punjab, KPK, North Sindh, South Sindh and Baluchistan) with active engagement with OCHA, relevant UN agencies and clusters, and inter-cluster coordination. Membership of the GBV sub-cluster includes national NGOs, INGOs, UN agencies and provincial government.Sub-cluster members change from province to province as many are locally based NGOs, and are therefore not represented at the national sub-cluster in Islamabad.NRC NORCAP expressed its wish for greater engagement with gender and GBV issues at the regional level but this received only limited support from the other agencies. DISASTER RISK REDUCTIONHighlighting the signicance of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) was a recent report entitled Were the 2010 Pakistan Floods Predictable?6

It concludes that the disaster could have been foreseen. DRR approaches Children at the food distribution centre.Kamal Khadka checking the water-pumpPAKISTANThe lack of functioning infrastructure after the catastrophe worsened the situation. Roads were completely destroyed making it difcult to distrib-ute basic goods such as food, water, and medical equipment. Photo: Truls Brekke, Pakistan 2010.PAKISTANrehabilitation stages to ensure that former vulnerabilities are eliminated, that reconstruction is guided by the principle to build back better, and that the emergency response builds grea-ter resilience in order to minimize risks from hazards in the future. As the ope-rations in Pakistan move to recovery and reconstruction, the incorporation of DRR principles into all programmes becomes a signicant priority.NORCAP expects education, GBV, DRR and protection to be priority areas for its 2011 secondments to Pakistan.NUTRITIONThe need for a well-organized nutrition programme is evidently important. Ac-cording to UNICEF, almost a quarter of children under the age of ve in the Sindh province were suffering from malnutrition7, and food shortages are expected to increase in 2011. A nutrition programme is already up and running, and a Nutrition Programme Ofcer from NORCAP has been on site since September. Several of the people seconded in 2010 have already had their contracts prolonged until June 2011 to meet the capacity requi-rements in the eld.ACCESSLimited humanitarian space due to security constraints and issues of access continue to be a constraint for international operations. NRC NOR-CAP received relatively few requests to support the Pakistan operation due to there being a limit set by UNDSS on the number of staff that can be deployed to Pakistan. In response to security issues there has been conti-nuous collaboration and dialogue with the host agencies that are responsible for the safety of all NORCAP staff on mission in Pakistan. This is com-plimented by a focus on pre-mission preparation, follow-up on staff while in the eld and thorough debrieng upon return. Debrief seminars and counsel-ling are also available on request.6 P. J. Webster, V.E. Toma and H-M Kim. (2010). Were the 2010 Pakistan oods predictable?,Atlanta, USA: School of Earth and Atmospheric Science, Georgia Institute of Technology; 7 Malcolm Brabant (2011). Six months after the oods struck, malnutrition hits hard in affected areas in affected areas in Pakistan. http://www.unicef.org/emerg/pakistan_57553.htmlPhoto: Truls Brekke, Pakistan 2010.33The 2010 oods in Pakistan highlighted the importance of one of the more anonymous UN agencies the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), an organisation that often gures in the background when a catastrophe plays out in the international media. As FAOs vital function, particularly in a post-crisis phase, has not been sufciently high-lighted, this UN organisation has suffered from insufcient funding. Acknowledging its shortcomings in getting its message across, FAO asked NORCAP for a Communications Of-cer to be seconded to Pakistan in the aftermath of the largest natural disaster the UN has ever handled. All UN agencies agreed that getting agricultural producti-on back on track was vital to the transition from an emer-gency phase to recovery after the oods. When people can grow their own food they do not need to stand in line for food hand-outs, explains Brekke about the reasons for his secondment. 80 per cent of the ood-affected population were sub-sistence farmers. The FAO challenge was to get started on the recovery of their livelihood while the emergency phase was still ongoing. However, it was hard to get their voice heard when core UN organisations such as OCHA, WHO, UNICEF, WFP or UNHCR, as well as donors and the me-dia were focused on the immediate needs. It was my job to get FAO into the spotlight, explains Brekke. THE MESSAGEThe message was that the devastation caused by the oods to Pakistans farmers was vefold. They lost not only their homes, but also their crops, seeds for the next planting season, tools and farm animals, and their irrigation systems had collapsed or were silted up. A quick recovery of agricultural capacity would facilitate an earlier transition from an emergency phase to recovery. Time was of the essence. Crops needed to be sown before winter to avoid the emergency phase lasting another year, explains Brekke. He actively worked with the international media and succeeded in drawing attention to FAOs role.When FAO became more visible in the international media, donors reported that their understanding of FAOs needs increased, says Brekke. The direct result was a radical increase in funding for the Pakistani operations.It was also part of my job to secure smooth internal com-munication between FAO eld ofces and the main ofces in Islamabad and Rome. I was given ample elbow space by FAO, both locally and centrally, to create and carry out my assignment, says Brekke, who previously has been seconded to UNICEF in Yemen and has a background as a journalist, photographer and public relations ofcer. Truls Brekke has previously been seconded to UNICEF in Yemen and has a background as a journalist, photographer and public relations ofcer. He is now seconded to FAO Latin America and the Caribbean as Regional Communica-tion Specialist, Food Security Cluster and Sector Support.PUT FAO ON THE MAP IN PAKISTANTruls Brekke was seconded to FAO in Pakistan in 2010. As Communications Ofcer he helped raise awareness about FAOs vital rolein the post-disaster phase.Pakistan, September 20th 2010: Truls Brekke being interviewed by CNN reporter Fred-erik Pleitgen on FAOs role in the emergency. (Photo: Jan Kolaas) PAKISTAN: STORY FROM THE FIELDProtection of civilians in complex emergencies is a NORCAP priority in general, and in Sudan this recei-ves particular attention. This fact is reected by the steady increase in deployments during the recent years. NORCAP has become better known among organisations working in Sudan as a valuable resource and the demand placed for NORCAP support is high. In 2008 NORCAP contributed 93 person-months in four organisa-tions in Sudan. In 2009, engagement increased to 114 person-months in six organisations. This increased to an all-time high of 185 person-months in nine organisations in 2010. UNICEF remains the main partner in Sudan, followed by UNDP, UNHCR and WFP. FAO was a new partner in 2010. NORCAP has actively develo-ped the roster to meet FAOs needs for agricultural expertise.NORCAP has provided personnel along a broad thematic spectrum. Themes range from child protection, logistics, water & sanitation and food security to information management, education, administration, institution and capacity building and gender.One NORCAP secondee was deploy-ed to UNICEF in the border areas near Uganda to contribute to the reintegra-tion of children abducted by the Lords Resistance Army. Another secondee has contributed to the UNHCR rein-tegration of IDPs who have returned from the North to the South.Lack of security is a major obstacle to relief efforts and to the general development of South Sudan. In 2010 NORCAP contributed a political analyst to UNDP to work on secu-rity issues at the governmental level. Contributing to such central, overall processes that go beyond the immedi-ate response is an increasing trend for secondments to Sudan. LACK OF COORDINATIONNORCAP secondees report that there is a lack of coordination of relief efforts in Sudan. In 2010 NORCAP contribu-ted to improved coordination and de-velopment of the UN response, inclu-ding cluster coordination, government HIGH-LEVEL RESPONSE TO A COMPLEX EMERGENCYTension ran high in Sudan in 2010 as the country prepared for the nal, dening phase of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Accord: The referendum on January 9, 2011 when the people of South Sudan voted for secession. At the same time the humanitarian situation has continued to deteriorate in the wake of inter-south ghting and continued crisis in Darfur. Decades of war have left Southern Sudan one of the least developed nations in the world with practically no infrastructure. SUDANHIGH-LEVEL RESPONSE TO A COMPLEX EMERGENCY Civil war from 1983 2005. Two million people were killed and millions displaced in the north-south conict. Peace agreement signed in 2005.A coalition government was formed, and the south was granted increased autonomy. A referendum on the future of South Sudan was central to the peace agreement. On January 9, the people of South Sudan voted for independence. Secession is scheduled for July 2011. The potential for renewed north-south conict and/or inter-south conict is high. The humanitarian situation in the south is dire. The bloody Darfur rebellion, which started in 2003, continues to cause displacement and add to the humani-tarian crisis in Sudan. Sudan has the highest level of internally displaced persons in the world: 4.9 million (IDMC, January YemenSudanEthiopiaChadSomaliaCARCameroonEritreaDjiboutiArea: 2 505 813 km2 Population: 43 939 598IDPs: 5,3 - 6,2 millionssupport and knowledge transfer. One example of this is a NORCAP roster member who has been working with the newly established Crisis Preven-tion and Recovery Unit (CPRU), which serves as a specialized technical and project management unit in the UNDP ofce for South Sudan. The secondee has contributed to the overall success of the country programme and the achievement of UNDAF/CPD goals for crisis prevention and recovery. In particular he has had an impact on the design, operation and program-ming of activities, creation of strategic partnerships and reaching resource mobilization targets. Secondments to regional efforts are a priority in order to alleviate the heavy concentration of organisations operating out of Juba. NORCAP has deployed secondees in areas outside of Juba such as Malakal, Bor Awail, Wau and Yambio.In general it has been relatively easy to recruit personnel to Sudan, inclu-ding for the more challenging regional assignments. NORCAP was able to respond to 35 of the 58 requests put forward in 2010. NORCAPs engagement is not limited to South Sudan. One specialist was seconded to UNICEF in Darfur to contribute to the reintegration of demobilised children, organising and chairing the Child Protection Working Group in southern Darfur and setting up mechanisms to report and docu-ment violations against children during conict. Unfortunately difculties in obtaining visas have hamperedsecondments to Darfur and eastern regions of the country in 2010. A southern visa is granted within two days, while a northern visa typically takes three to four months.The potential for renewed north-south conict and/or intra south-conict is high as Sudan moves towards the July 2011 secession of the south. Even if relative peace is maintained, the need for humanitarian assistance andcapacity building will remain high, especially in the south. Of particular concern is the largenumbers of southern Sudanese who are expected to return from the north. The new southern state will needassistance in receiving and settlingthe returnees. NORCAP expects to continue to deploy a high number of secondments to Sudan 2011, particularly after the secession.351 2 2 1 4 2 4 3 11 7.6 9.3 11.7 12.1 13.8 13.7 29.2 34.0 36.8 0102030403060 unlA CCPA lAC ALC Wl lCM unu unPC8 unlCLl erson-months and personne|, 5udan Man-monLhs worked number of secondees Sudan is one of the largest recipients of NORCAP support. At any given time 12 to 15 people were deployed to the country in 2010. TABLE 3.3FACTSInger-Johanne Tjoaat rst arrived in Sudan in October 2009 on a six month contract. She went back to Norway in April but returned again in June. She is currently on her third consecutive contract. I was rst seconded to OCHA in 2007, and I have spent two and a half years in their service here in Sudan, Tjoaat explains. She continues: My relationship with OCHA is very good. It is a highly professional agency and they are quite well organized. I am very pleased with the tasks I have been given, and the way they let me perform my duties.Tjoaat has two main responsibilities: To support and strengthen mechanisms to coordinate humanitarian activi-ties through the cluster approach, and to lead and facili-tate inter-agency emergency preparedness and response through common contingency planning. During 2010 I was particularly involved in the effort to harmonise the structures of coordination in Darfur and de-velop humanitarian referendum-related preparedness and response plans, says Tjoaat.Facilitation is a keyword in explaining the content of my work. It is vital that the different partners and actors in com-plex emergencies manage to share information effectively and accurately in order to make their effort as smooth and efcient as possible. Our focus is to save lives in an emer-gency, and in that context time is of the essence, Tjoaat explains. POLITICS AND INFLUENCEShe underlines that politics is not part of her work agenda. However, the consequences of political decisions natu-rally inuence her assignment. Prior to the referendum in January, a large part of my work consisted of preparing for any possible scenario that might occur related to the refe-rendum. Being prepared to handle unforeseen incidents is important so that we are able to react quickly and effecti-vely to any emergency situation, says Tjoaat. She feels that OCHA has achieved a lot in Sudan: We have managed to strengthen the mechanisms of coordina-tion, and I feel that the humanitarian engagement is moving in the right direction. It is easier to coordinate and we are well prepared. The capacity, however, will always be a chal-lenge. It is difcult to have enough people on site at any gi-ven time. That is why secondments are so important. In my experience our support is vital in completing crucial tasks. Inger-Johanne Tjoaat currently has two months left on her assignment.My conscience tells me to stay longer though. Tension is high in Sudan now. We hear people using words like respect and peace about the coming separation, but I fear, given the regular but small skirmishes seen so far, that there may be larger crises in the country soon. For the UN agencies it is vital to prepare for the worst, yet hope for the best.COORDINATING HUMANITARIAN AID IN SUDANSudan 2010: Early morning departure of an Inter-Agency assessment mission in West Darfur after a weeklong mission in the mountainous region in the back ground.(photo. Inger-Johanne Tjoaat)Inger-Johanne Tjoaat spent most of 2010 seconded as a Humanitarian Affairs Ofcer to OCHA in Sudan. She sup-ported the coordination of humanitarian aid in the com-plex emergency of Sudan.STORY FROM THE FIELDChrister de Saram Larssen was secon-ded to UNDP and the Crisis Prevention and Recovery Unit (CPRU) in January 2010, and went directly to Juba in South Sudan. He is currently on his third consecutive NORCAP contract. His main task is to support the CPRU through policy and strategy advise, ensuring that the process of programming is consistent with the political context. I supply CPRU with research in the elds of policy and best practices in post conict areas. I also support the programming and project administration. I maintain contact with existing donors and establish new partnerships. I am member of different working groups cooperating with the Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as the Ministry of Peace and CPA implementation. In addition I contribute to peace negotiations, mainly through technical support to our go-vernmental partners. Finally, my work consists of supporting and writing publications for distribution within the UNDP and other UN networks, de Saram Larssen explains.He mentions in particular one working group he was a member of. The Bureau for Community Security and Small Arms Con-trol focuses on policy support and development concerning weapon control, collection and storage of weapons etc. This bureau is an essential partner in the CPRU project Community Security and Arms Control, he says.De Saram Larssen has also worked operationally in the eld. Field work is challenging and sometimes exhausting, yet always rewarding. An important part of my work has been to document every project I have been involved in, in order to provide the government with a record of activities to facilitate their policy work, he explains.CONTRIBUTIONHe feels his main contribution to CPRUs work has been to rene and add nuances to UNDPs focus on state building. State building is highly technical and usually run on a centralized level, instead of being implemented locally. I have contributed to changing the focus from state building to state formation, which implies a contextual shift. A con-structive dialogue between local communities and the state system has been my goal, and we are close to realising it. This is probably the most meaningful result of my efforts here. It is important to point out that this has been a group effort and that partnerships are key to achieving goals, de Saram Larssen says.POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH SUDANSudan 2010: Christer de Saram Larssen in the eld, Juba.37STORY FROM THE FIELDChrister de Saram Larssenoperated on many elds when seconded as a Programme Analyst to the CPRU in Sudan in 2010. One important task was to support and work closely with the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) in their policy making. RAPID RESPONSE TO CONFLICTKyrgyzstan is known to be the most democratic state of Central-Asia. Freedom of expression is well rooted in both the constitution and the popu-lation. Traditionally the northern region of the country has been dominantpolitically. The north is where thecapital Bishkek lies and where the majority of the Russian minority live. When president Bakiyev, who origi-nates from Jalalabad in the south, rst came to power in 2005 it was seen as an attempt to balance the power between north and south. However, peoples discontent with Bakiyev grew in the following yearsas they faced economic recession,increased cost of living and corrup- tion. In April 2010 he was thrown out of the presidential palace and atransition government took over. Two months later on 12 June, riots broke out in the southern city of Osh. Kyrgyz and Uzbeks clashed and in the course of three days some 300 people were killed and more than 1000injured. There are different theoriesto why the riots broke out between the two ethnic groups who until the dissolution of the Soviet Union lived separated from each other theKyrgyz in the mountains, the Uzbeks in the cities. The clashes incited fears that the country would be throwninto civil war.Kyrgyzstan was in a state of natio-nal emergency. The UN was already present in the country with long-term projects, however not on an emergen-cy level. During the rst days of unrest in Osh, the situation was too unstable for humanitarian aid workers to be sent there. By the end of June the situation stabilized and the UN started deploy-ing aid workers to the region. The rst NORCAP secondees arrived as early as 30 June.Eight were seconded to UNICEF and four to UNHCR. They were all on short-term contracts, as it was anticipated that the conict would be resolved relatively quickly. One Emergency Health Specialist was seconded to UNICEF and based in Bishkek. Her main tasks in the early days