ECB Team Blog

Change - the heart of the matter?

2009-04-21T03:00:00.001-05:00

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek….” (Barack Obama, President of the US) Change; this is what I am learning the ECB project is about; Transforming the humanitarian landscape for the benefit of those disaster affected communities that we seek to serve. Whether this change will be

Revolution or evolution?

2009-04-20T03:06:00.001-05:00

‘Revolution not evolution’ rallied Rigo, Head of Care’s Emergency Department. This was my exciting and inspiring introduction to the ECB project. Although still contracted by Save the Children as Emergencies Adviser to Myanmar, I received brilliant support from Gareth, Alex and the team at Save the Children, enabling me to make the trip to the US to be at the phase II ECB launch workshop.

Thoughts on CRS Start-up Workshop

2009-03-25T11:01:00.000-05:00

Thoughts on CRS' Agency Start-up Workshop ECB Phase II start-up at CRS HQ was exciting because of the very close alignment with organizational strategy and ongoing activities. As a matter of fact, the group walked through an exercise to visually map the relationships and overlaps between ECB cross-cutting themes and strategic pillars for the agency. This was very important for CRS. The

Thoughts on CARE's Start-Up Workshop

2009-03-20T17:58:00.000-05:00

For CARE, the start-up workshop followed a few days of meetings for members of the emergency working group. This was both an opportunity and risk - an opportunity to directly link ECB to annual and strategic plans, but a risk as fatigue was beginning to set in. What helped was an energetic facilitator who asked a lot of questions to clarify a lot of assumptions and assertions. We really

Thouhts on Mercy Corps' Start-Up Workshop

2009-03-20T17:46:00.001-05:00

To put it simply, MC's start-up workshop was fun! It was a small core group (of about 8 or 9 individuals), but an energetic and entrepreneurial group. We accomplished a lot and identified real tangibles that are actually doable within time and resource constraints. Nonetheless, the vision after 5 years delivers for MC key results that are anticipated to have a big impact both on and for

Thoughts on WV's Start-Up Workshop

2009-03-20T17:32:00.001-05:00

World Vision has just completed its agency start-up workshop. The agenda was packed but it was encouraging to see, feel, and hear high energy levels throughout the two days of discussions. Having balanced representation from HQ, regional staff, and country consortia contributed to this energy as many regional and field participants were together in the same room for the very first

Not Your Average TOF!

2007-09-25T13:53:00.000-05:00

ECB agencies recently had an experience to become facilitators of the Simulation Tool developed this year. This was the second Training of Facilitators, the first of which was held in June in downtown Baltimore. This second TOF was hosted by Save the Children in Tbilisi, Georgia. There was one major difference in this event compared to the Baltimore experience. We added 2 extra days to

Save the Children's Internal Consolidation Workshop

2007-08-03T09:21:00.001-05:00

Dear all: Save the Children's Internal Consolidation Workshop was deemed a successful event and we achieved our workshop goals which were:To reflect on ECB Phase I streams of work and identify promising streams of work to apply to Save the ChildrenTo elicit Area Director direction and guidance on moving promising streams of work forward To align ECB promising streams of work with FY08 Operational

Global Platform, the last slice

2007-06-07T15:34:00.001-05:00

Yes, we’re finished! We ate the entire sandwich, to stay with Susan’s way of speaking. But: was it a sandwich worth buying and eating? Let me try to summarise briefly what we did today and see if it was...It definitely was the second slice of bread of the sandwich today, although some taste of meat had stuck to it. Two long plenary sessions, with loads of declarations. Mind you, not all

The "meat in the sandwich" day

2007-06-06T12:48:00.000-05:00

Today was the "meat in the sandwich" day. The first piece of plain bread was the high level dialog day which Paul spoke of in his blog post, and tomorrow is the review of what today brought. Today was really supposed to be the tasty stuff. There were over 15 workshops and lunch sessions to chose from - many of the topics have already been mentioned on my first blog post - education, national

Second day at the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction

2007-06-06T09:33:00.001-05:00

With excuse for the late posting of this blog and with thanks to the Technical Assistance provided by Susan, herewith my experiences from the day of yesterday:Today was our second day – but the First day of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction Platform. The day started late (10:00), but to compensate for that, we went on until almost 20:00 h.What did the

Global Platform for DRR kicks off for NGOs with a preparatory meeting June 4, 2007

2007-06-04T12:43:00.000-05:00

I walked up to the conference center today by taking the scenic route today past Lake Geneva. It is a beautiful sunny day in Geneva and it was good for me to walk because I tend to feel stuffy and grow impatient in big conference halls. I must also admit that I don't think Geneva is particularly NGO friendly due to its exorbitant costs, but I am glad that this

Learning and Other Noble Motives

2007-06-03T09:53:00.001-05:00

In my previous blog entry I mentioned that staff seemed fairly content with the response to the Jogya earthquake. But don’t get me wrong, contentedness does not mean apathy. In fact, it seems the learning machinery has been put into motion, the agencies already having done some reviews or evaluations and everyone still eager to know “what could we do better next time?” I have to confess

Things Gone Right: The Jogya joint evaluation

2007-06-03T09:50:00.000-05:00

This time, staff are happy. With all the criticism emergency responses get, one would think that while being questioned by the evaluator, staff would have plenty to wince at as they remembered things gone wrong. But as they reflect on what their agencies did in the days and months following the Java earthquake, there seems to be a marked level of contentment that they did much good with

Risk Reduction discussions at Interaction

2007-05-25T11:28:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday, the InterAction DRR working group met, with IWG representatives from World Vision, Save the Children, Mercy Corps and Oxfam. Also represented were Church World Service, International Medical Corps and American Red Cross.Elina Palm provided a presentation on the efforts of UNISDR. Much of her presentation was similar to her presentation last April to the ECB3 group in Washington,

CEOs dive in and make waves

2007-05-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

As a team we bust a gut to get CEOs and other senior executives to attend the ECB Learning Event in DC in April - but even when we know the turnout would be good there was a little apprehension. People at this level turn up for an hour or so, encourage the troops and then move on to the next board meeting, right? Wrong, it turns out, at least on this occasion.It seems IWG senior execs have been

The Good Enough Guide in Ireland

2007-05-22T05:22:00.000-05:00

On 10th May, I was asked to present on ECB and the Good Enough Guide (GEG) to the agencies that are members of Dóchas, the Irish humanitarian network. We had staff present from Plan international, Irish Aid, World Vision, Troicare, Irish Red Cross, Independent consultant and DORCAS. It was a very positive meeting and the guide was well received by all.Irish Aid in particular really surprised me

Three Learning Events across three continents . in three weeks

2007-04-10T13:51:00.000-05:00

At first the thought of getting on planes and traveling from Guatemala…to Indonesia and then onwards to Ethiopia in a period of three weeks to attend ECB’s three Field-based Project Leaning events was ….well …how to say this nicely…not very appealing? Nothing against the learning events of course …those I wanted to go to … it was the flights ….some of these starting at 3am in the morning and

ECB Whirlwind Tour Finishes in Indonesia

2007-03-24T15:55:00.001-05:00

I have recently completed the March ECB World Tour, beginning with Lisbon, continuing to Jordan and finishing up in Indonesia for the Risk Reduction Learning Event. The event had a wide range of participants from IWG agencies, Caritas, local government officials, UN agencies, a local NGO, and a local community representative. Rich Balmadier, CRS Country Representative, opened the event with

Standing Team Thoughts in Doha:

2007-03-23T22:57:00.000-05:00

On a long layover in Doha, I decided to plop myself down to write my blog in a very chaotic airport. This past week was overwhelming. In fact, ECB overwhelms me in two ways: the first, there is clearly more work there than one Charlie can

"I'll take one GEG without the ECB, please."

2007-03-16T04:40:00.000-05:00

The little yellow books are taking over. As the first one was lifted from its packing box in all its newly-published splendor, there were collective “oohs” from participants at the standing team workshop in Jordan, many of whom had labored for months over its development.Our yellow Good Enough Guide (for accountability and impact measurement in emergencies) rightfully has pride of place at this

Update on ProVention Global Forum, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Feb07 , by Taye Yadessa, World Vision Ethiopia and representing ECB

2007-02-23T21:18:00.000-05:00

The pro vention forum and Dar es Salaam By Taye Yadessa Dar es Salaam of Tanzania was the city chosen to host the 3rd round global workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction. I was very ebullient to be participating in this forum held on February 13 - 15, 2007. The weather, I found it to be hotter than Addis Ababa, and as I was looking around I remember saying to myself this must be the hallmark

Immune to Change?

2007-02-23T00:55:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows that organizational change is hard. The authors of a book I’m reading argue that change ventures fail for the same reasons that the new year’s resolutions we make fail: each of us has within us an inbuilt resistance to change, similar to the immune system’s resistance to disease. Like the immune system, this internal change-fighting mechanism exists for a purpose: to maintain an

Disastrous Games

2007-02-02T04:21:00.000-05:00

Mark Hammersley and Amy Bess emailed me this week about the use of games to build trust. Games are a tricky area - I actually believe that they are the first new artform of the 21st century, but their potential has definitely not been fulfilled. But that's a topic for discussion at our Lisbon meeting, over beers.I've written about humanitarian games before, but the UN International Strategy for

How to win friends and influence CEOs

2007-01-08T10:35:00.000-05:00

CEOs are a key stakeholder group for ECB - but one that is not always easy to reach or read. So here's an unambiguous statement in the New Year's message from Barbara Stocking, Director of Oxfam GB:"I want Oxfam to be known as an agency that responds quickly to emergencies, but also one that can be relied on to stay and see the work through."Is this an aspiration that ECB is helping make a

DRR - The Game

2007-01-03T04:45:00.000-05:00

If electronic junk has been piling up in your home like it has in mine over the last couple of weeks, here's an antidote from the UN disaster reduction folks at ISDR - a game with a purpose.Called "Stop Disasters", it's a neat little package and worth a look for anyone interested in how computer games can be used to spread a message or change a mindset.I hope you do better than me - I was fired

Twelve days in Ethiopia: Dr. Million blogs on the Writeshop

2006-12-18T11:55:00.000-05:00

Day -15: I met with Dr Isaac and Fikre for updates on where we are on the draft manuscripts. The update reports from Fikre, the writeshop coordinator for IIRR, was not very encouraging. We were both a bit apprehensive about the poor progress we are making on this… poor Fikre, he is doing his best! It takes a lot of patience and diplomacy to get people to write on a topic, to get a significant

A wake-up call at the Writeshop

2006-12-13T11:44:00.000-05:00

Wednesday 6th DecemberHere at the DRR Writeshop in Ethiopia we listen and critique many presentations, from early warning systems to crop and livestock monitoring to community empowerment and participation. Beriso Shenge speaks up passionately on the need for communities to actually participate in risk reduction initiatives from start to finish. He wants government, INGOs and local NGOs to go a

More from the writeshop in Ethiopia: Maurice's birthday blog

2006-12-12T11:45:00.000-05:00

Tuesday 5th December: It is my birthday and I am happy to be in Ethiopia where I won’t be asked what age I am! For the record I am 39 years of age – more or less!At 8am, when I arrive at Addis airport, I am greeted by Bahhilu, the smiling CRS driver. The weather is overcast and he tells me that the short rains have been long and that it may have something to do with global warning. We discuss the

Cloud watching in Ethiopia: Warner blogs from the Writeshop

2006-12-11T08:43:00.000-05:00

Editor's Note: Warner and the team at the DRR residential 'Writeshop' at Debre Zeit, 45 km SE of Addis Ababa, were not about to allow something as trivial as the lack of an internet connection prevent them from blogging. Instead, just as sailors' wives would once receive a dozen letters in one parcel, so a package of blog posts arrived over the weekend from this remarkable event, as Warner made a

What Rome teaches us about event planning (a lot)

2006-12-08T11:24:00.000-05:00

After the last bus headed out of the austerity of the ECB venue and towards the flesh-pots of ALNAP on Tuesday night, left behind were the organisers, facilitators and note-takers of the 'Translating Standards into Practice' conference. So, with cold beers to hand, we held a little After Action Review, to discuss what went well and where we could learn lessons for the ECB Event in DC, April 12/13

Coordination or collaboration: a roman road-map

2006-12-05T07:29:00.000-05:00

When in Rome...pack a T-shirt, even in December. One of our participants here at the ECB2 event 'Translating Standards into Practice' was complaining over breakfast about a mosquito bite, and indeed the temperate weather here is more late spring than early winter. Fortunately, this diverse and eminent group has avoided (for the most part) scratching the regular itches of the talking shop - 'how

Simulating Disasters with ADRA

2006-11-27T04:35:00.000-05:00

Interesting news from Gregg Swanson of Humaninet, who recently attended a simulation exercise held by ADRA in Indonesia. (Incidentally, the ADRA Indonesia home page is funny as hell for all the wrong reasons, mainly due to the font.) Gregg has written a series of blog posts about the experience on the Humaninet blog, as well as an accompanying article at their ICT Features page. It sounds as if

Pauline spreads good news from St. Albans

2006-11-16T05:29:00.000-05:00

Agency representatives endorsed the ‘Good Enough Guide’ and proposed continued work together on accountability and impact measurement of emergency programs.As many of you know, for the last year and through the ECB project, representatives from CARE, CRS, IRC, Mercy Corps, Oxfam, Save the Children and World Vision have worked together to create and test the ‘Good Enough Guide’ - with much helpful

The latest from the Indonesia Metrics Project Workshop

2006-11-14T12:22:00.000-05:00

Once again, we had a great turnout with 6 of the 7 IWG agencies participating! We had a good discussion about some of the current HR challenges in Aceh, including:Lack of HR Planning: almost all HR Managers reported that their agencies were still stuck in a "reaction cycle" even though its almost 2 years after the tsunami. As one HR Advisor remarked: "I've spent more time being a fireman, than

A Wall of Post-Its at St. Albans

2006-11-07T17:58:00.000-05:00

Here we are in sunny St Albans – (well ok – not so sunny) for the ECB2 meeting and a chance to catch up on achievements and look forward to what might come next. By the number of “post its” on the wall it’s clear that much has been achieved since the last meeting 9 months ago – which is encouraging – and yet it is also an opportunity to share issues and concerns and see what has not worked too

Microsoft To Open Computer Training Centers For Ex-Combatants In Colombia

2006-11-07T08:13:00.000-05:00

Interesting news from the big beast that is Microsoft, particularly interesting in light of the ECB / NetHope plans to develop a global ICT training delivery mechanism for staff working in the field. This project was recently approved and we’re moving forward now with ECB funding for NetHope management.One of the critical problems that we identified in the ECB4 Assessment was the general lack of

Furthering the Vision for the Staff Capacity Metrics project!

2006-11-06T05:18:00.000-05:00

I just held workshops with Human Resource managers, emergency response coordinators and others in Ethiopia and Sudan as part of the Staff Capacity Metrics Pilot Project and I couldn't have asked for more! Besides being fun and extremely gracious hosts, we "got down to business" improving the metrics database!In Ethiopia, we had participation from 6 of the 7 IWG agencies and an active discussion

What DRR looks like - more commentary from Guatemala

2006-11-01T13:49:00.000-05:00

I must confess it’s been a struggle to keep up with terms like disaster risk reduction (not just RR but DRR?) mitigation, emergency preparedness. So the prospect of seeing an actual DRR pilot project and an example of what the term boiled down to in practice was a thrilling prospect.First, after more than half a day of travel, Juan Manuel, myself and Ivonne, my interpreter began an arduous ascent

NetHope strolls through the zoo

2006-11-01T13:44:00.000-05:00

I'm serious. I just saw tigers! And bears! And bats! I never dreamed that the NetHope Member Summit would be this interesting, frankly. This year, it's being hosted by the World Conservation Society, who have their HQ at the Bronx Zoo in New York. I'd rather have my office here, so I'm going to apply for a job (probably as a cleaner).The reason I'm at the summit is because ECB4 is now a

Jan Egeland weighs in on DRR

2006-11-01T05:41:00.000-05:00

If there was any lingering doubt that DRR has joined the mainstream, Jan Egeland appears to have put them to bed in his powerful call to arms, published yesterday on ReliefWeb. It's a compelling argument, particularly in the stress he puts on communication and education. Put this alongside Warner's notes from the ISDR 'global NGO network' meeting, and add in other straws in the wind such as the

Useful Networks and Publications

2006-10-31T14:53:00.000-05:00

At least 2 of the attendees at the Geneva ISDR "Global Network of NGOs for Community Resilience to Disasters" workshop last week, offer up the ECB/ IWG members some very interesting experiences. Given that Paul had not come across Duryog Nivaran, I thought it might be interesting to share some details and thoughts, and as none of our IWG agencies are officially members:Amjad Bhatti, with the

ReliefWeb

2006-10-31T12:53:00.000-05:00

I spoke this afternoon to Sarah Telford, who has moved from DFID to take up the post of Managing Editor at ReliefWeb, the ‘world’s leading on-line gateway to information on humanitarian emergencies and disasters’. Despite an occasionally clunky interface, ReliefWeb is an important source for much of the humanitarian community and beyond, with up to 3 million hits a day during high-profile

Back in Geneva

2006-10-30T22:51:00.000-05:00

Groundhog Day in Geneva (Written on the run during 2 day meeting - sent after returned home)Seems like it was only last week that I was travelling the same streets. Yes, I am here in Switzerland for the third time in 6 weeks - maybe we should have pushed for Microsoft loaning us one of its jets?This time, I'm here for an interesting meeting that I sort of helped into existence. UNISDR is

Shiny Shoes and ECB T-Shirts

2006-10-30T17:45:00.000-05:00

My best intentions to have a blog entry hot on the heels of each day’s activities fell flat. So like others have did for Geneva, I’m doing some retroactive blogging from Guatemala, where I went from October 24-28 to collect some information from people who had been involved in the multi-agency evaluation of the Hurricane Stan response.Let’s start with day 1. After a very convenient 3-hour direct

Footprints in the sky

2006-10-25T07:28:00.000-05:00

As we discuss the location for the ECB Spring 2007 Event, the issue of 'carbon footprint' has come up - how to minimize the impact of our travel on the environment. There's an obvious tension here, given the globally dispersed nature of our team and the strong preference, expressed clearly in consultations about Phase II (see upcoming ECB Newsletter), for face-to-face meetings over virtual ways

Power and Petals

2006-10-25T03:31:00.000-05:00

Interesting new publication from the folks at the Feinstein International Center down at Tufts. Titled "Principles, Power and Perceptions", it has four central themes (or, in a strange new piece of acdemic-speak, 'petals'. Petals?).Of particular relevance to ECBers are the findings in the 'petal' (oh dear) of humanitarian 'universality', where they have some interesting things to say about

Geneva daze, Geneva nights

2006-10-21T06:09:00.000-05:00

We had the IWG and ECB meetings in Geneva last week, and overall I thinkmost of us were very happy with the week. Certainly some key decisionswere taken, and there was a general sense of progress as we move intothe final stretch of ECB Phase 1. Now that the end is in sight for manyproject and agency staff, we had renewed vigour and an opportunity toreflect on how much we've achieved. I was

A How-To Guide for Bloggers

2006-10-19T08:44:00.000-05:00

I note from our own Paul Currion’s essential blog that Reporters Without Borders have published a useful guide to blogging – worth a look.Matt

Geneva notes: meet the Focal Points

2006-10-19T05:20:00.000-05:00

It’s a sign of the importance of these types of get togethers that the formal introductions with which we opened last Thursday’s Focal Point and Project staff meeting in Archamps, outside Geneva, were for form’s sake only. Joy Shiferaw and Alan Manski, new focal points from CARE and IRC respectively, were by this stage part of the ECB furniture, known to all after almost a week of breakfasts and

Flip-flop funding follies - streaming on Geneva week

2006-10-18T18:09:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of free flow blogging.... here are some streamed unedited thoughts....So I went to Geneva/ Archamps wondering how much of Mark's $800K unallocated pie I could carve for ECB3, and ended up trying to justify keeping all of the ECB3 funds within ECB3 when are spending levels are so low!Personal Pluses:- Welcomed the open discussion amongst several stakeholder groups- An honest and open

Over the border: ECB goes to IWG

2006-10-18T05:54:00.000-05:00

Last week’s meetings in Geneva/Archamps were given a little extra frisson (as the French say) by the fact that we spanned an international border – going back and forth from Geneva, as we did on Wednesday in order to join the IWG Principals as they discussed ECB, meant passing through checkpoints on both sides. The Swiss seemed to adopt a pretty laissez-faire approach, but the gendarmes on the

So what happened in Geneva?

2006-10-17T08:50:00.000-05:00

Or indeed in Archamps, which turned out to be a French field, several miles and thirty minutes by cab from the Swiss town, which we could see twinkling tantalizingly from our hotel windows every night.It seems about a month since those involved in this orgy of meetings first assembled, but amazingly only a week has passed. Nevertheless, I’m very aware that this must have seemed a long time for

Out of the woods?

2006-10-04T17:33:00.000-05:00

'Run for the hills!' Well, what would you do when faced with another hefty dose of strategic reorganization and realignment? Sure enough, CARE USA's Emergency Humanitarian Assistance Unit (EHAU) was holed up in the Georgia backwoods this week, and it turned out to be a good place to figure out how to realign the Unit’s work with the shiny new CARE International strategy for strengthening

Collaboration and breakfast

2006-09-28T05:09:00.000-05:00

One of the advantages of working on the Emergency Capacity Building Project has been the opportunity to work with some very smart people. The Project has started to bring in external experts on a very short-term basis to add specific expertise at key points in the process, which has a surprisingly large (if unquantifiable) impact on the way that people approach the key issues.We're in Indonesia

Greg's Last Post from Jakarta

2006-09-28T02:46:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was rather heartwarming for me. Tired as I was and strictly told by our facilitator to sit on the sidelines, I was beginning to drift away. Then the group doing the presentation on “Pre-negotiated Agreements” came up to do their presentation. First thing I noticed was that it was a group of Country Directors or Program Directors …depending on what you call it. Second thing was

Charlie on Day 2 of the Phase II Design Workshop

2006-09-27T10:46:00.000-05:00

Well, Matt said I should try blogging on my own now. Seems that I am now competent enough to be a self-sufficient blogger and I only had my first experience two weeks ago!!!! (Hope for all now!)Anyways- we wrapped up the last day of the field design workshop. My thoughts are plenty...1) Sadly, Ethiopia and Guatemala were not represented. My concern is that their voices won't be heard in this.

Indonesian chickens and eggs: more from the Phase II design workshop in Jakarta

2006-09-26T10:51:00.000-05:00

Today, we largely tackled debates around collaboration. There were a few issues that I picked up on from the IWG country programs here in the Indonesia Design Workshop. 1) There was a query on what communities of practice were. The fact that this came up again validated that this is not a concept easily understood. Well, at the very least we have different understanding of what one is.

Notes from the Phase II workshop in Jakarta

2006-09-26T09:06:00.000-05:00

As we design the Jakarta workshop, the challenge in front of us is daunting. How to set up a process where we first inform…then capture ideas on where the problem lies, get feedback on ways forward and then ask the question: what can we do together as agencies to make it better? Fortunately this is a pretty darn talented team, including a board member of major NGOs, a former executive from Save,

Brain Food at the Jakarta Phase II Workshop

2006-09-25T03:59:00.000-05:00

How to get the most out of 30 people’s time? After 18 hours and 40 minutes flight from NY to Singapore and then about 2 hours more from Singapore to Jakarta, a very short nap, and a cumulative 6 cups of tea and coffee, this was the question all 4 members of the ECB Design Team brainstormed during planning for the Design Workshop: how to get the absolute most out of the 30 people attending, keep

What three year olds tell us about emergency capacity

2006-09-21T06:47:00.000-05:00

I was talking toddlers earlier this week with Bimla Ojelay-Surtees, Diversity Adviser at Oxfam and lead of the working group developing the ‘Building Trust in Diverse Teams’ pilot underway in the Staff Capacity initiative of the Project. Bimla and I are working on a short update on this fascinating work for the fall edition of the ECB newsletter (out soon – a link will be posted here as soon as

Malaika blogs from the ECB2 Advisors' meeting in DC

2006-09-08T07:41:00.000-05:00

A year is a long time in the ECB project. After all it was this same time last year that ECB2 had its first face to face meeting in NY city just as fall was starting to gust through the streets. The only thing that was newer than the faces around the table was the workplan, summoned into existence because the advisors felt the original Gates-approved workplan would not help them achieve the real

Davos Notes: Warner on Vietnam and the role of business in DRR

2006-09-07T07:40:00.000-05:00

I spent the morning of last Wednesday, 'Environmental Vulnerability Day' at the conference, talking shop with a series of participants. First was the 2-hr afternoon session convened by Marilise Turnbull on "Using the Hyogo Framework in Oxfam's Humanitarian Program in Vietnam". Marilise introduced the sole presenter, Provash Mondal, the Oxfam GB lead in Vietnam. He made a nice practical

Davos Diary: Charlie takes the leap

2006-09-06T07:38:00.000-05:00

Although most of you know that I got engaged earlier this year which is what most would understand as the beginning of "taking the leap." Well- I did it again but in a different way today... PARAGLIDING! The way I see it sometimes we need to take risks in order to understand limits whether personal, professional, physical or otherwise. What seemed like a huge "leap" from the valley was actually

Davos Diary Continued: Heather on Glaciers and Academic Partnerships

2006-09-05T07:28:00.000-05:00

1) As is often the case, I suppose, getting an opportunity to get out of one's chair and consider nature while out IN nature is perhaps one of the better ways to learn. The educational excursion on geomorphology of glaciers (day 1) held many important thoughts that clearly applied to DRR work around the world for the 20 intrepid (and soggy) participants. Through the eyes of an experienced

Davos Diary Day 5: Tess on Ecosystems, Coca-Cola and the secret lives of the Swiss

2006-09-04T07:27:00.000-05:00

Having spent the last week in and out of different sessions, ranging from highly technical to more soft topics, I have been surprised and in fact shocked, at the general inability of high positioned DRR professionals to present in manner that should be equated to their standing. That said, the way the conference was organised, with competing sessions and many presenters having very limited time

Davos Diary: Maurice on Ballooning

2006-09-01T07:24:00.000-05:00

Thursday 18.00 Special highlight: Bertrand Piccard, scientist / adventurer - 1st non stop round the world balloonistIf you want to make a difference in sustainable development or renewable energy or risk reduction then good intentions alone won't do it. Naïve altruism won't do it. According to Bertrand we need to be realistic, accept human nature for what it is, radically improve our "marketing"

Charlie on business and avalanches

2006-08-31T07:22:00.000-05:00

On the role of Business in Disaster Reduction:One of the overarching themes within the presentations and the discussions that ensued at this session, was that of speaking the same language. In some sense the humanitarian community needs to come to grips with the lingo of the private sector. I would also say that the reverse should also be true. However, in some cases we are getting better at this

Warner's Davos Diary Day 2

2006-08-30T07:10:00.000-05:00

Notes to self:1) Consciously look for ways to limit cheese intake2) Ensure you have no cheese at least an hour before having a turn on the amazing earthquake simulatorAnother day, another theme: today (Tuesday) was ‘Regions Day’. First up was a session titled “Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM) and Paradigm for Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction (PIDR)”, which I subtitled “TSFTPA – The

Warner on learning from children at Davos

2006-08-29T08:47:00.000-05:00

Davos Platz, location for the IDRC, is "the highest town in Europe", and quite possibly the most expensive - I have trouble paying $25 for a club sandwich! The amazing mountains surrounding us have unfortunately been covered in clouds and rain for the first two days of the conference, though this will not stop colleagues from using opportunities provided by breaks in sessions to get up into them

Matt introduces the ECB Team Blog

2006-08-28T12:39:00.000-05:00

With so much going on in the ECB world, it can be hard to keep up! To help, we've launched the ECB Team Blog, an informal diary in which team members take turns to share their views and experiences over a week or so in which they are involved in key events, trips or processes of change.Our first Team Blogs come from Warner and other members of the ECB3 Risk Reduction team, attending the

DfID policy paper highlights staff capacity needs

2006-07-19T06:03:00.000-05:00

The UK Government has just published a policy paper detailing its proposed approach to international development over the next 5 years. It is helpful to see a major donor picking up on some of the issues ECB was created to address, including a focus on staff capacity within humanitarian agencies. The paper is rich and I imagine we will all find different highlights. Here are some of mine:

Tools for Organisational Learning and Change

2006-07-17T06:01:00.000-05:00

We've often repeated that the overall skills and knowledge of front-line professionals and their managers is a fundamental element of staff capacity. Last week, Matt Bannerman and I attended a workshop on Learning and Change within International Development Organizations. It was most stimulating and directly addressed the question of how to build and maintain staff capacity. I look forward to

Practice Makes Perfect

2006-02-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

Charlie Ehle’s introduction to the concept of a pilot project on multi-agency simulation exercises reminded me of childhood piano lessons. After learning what the keys do and what the lines on the manuscript mean, why does it still take so much effort to become a pianist?Ann Pycha provides a neurological explanation (read “Why Practice Makes Perfect”). Of course simply knowing the notes is not

Communicate, communicate, communicate

2006-02-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

Communication seems to be one of the keys to success in any change process. When Christine Newton reported back from Oxfam's visit to TNT, I noticed that they had taken the old mantra of "Communicate, Communicate, Communicate" quite literally. TNT's global diversity program is an example for any of us working in the NGO field - and how did they achieve so much in just 14 months? Well, at least