June 2016 Number 157 HUMANITARIAN ENGINEERING: INNOVATIVE APPROACHES AND PARTNERSHIPS IN CRISIS RESPONSE Yolanda Tayler1 chronic distress of large numbers of people (e.g., emergencies and refugee crises) and Introduction: On May 9-13, key stakeholders encompassing research, design, manufacturing, across the global development community, construction and service delivery. including FIDIC2, UN agencies, the World Bank, and international experts, met in Cyprus, under the sponsorship of the Government of Switzerland at a workshop on Challenges in Post- Conflict and Reconstruction. The overall purpose was to identify how reconstruction of infrastructure and provision of essential services could be more effective, especially in countries, such as Lebanon and Jordan, facing a massive refugee crisis driven by the war in Syria. The attention of the international community is increasingly focused on maximizing effectiveness in crisis response. That is underscored in the communiqué of the recent G7 summit in Japan, and in the recent UN World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, which highlighted the need for the humanitarian and development communities to collaborate in addressing the special needs of growing numbers of people facing long-term crisis conditions. The HEP engages key stakeholders to develop Cyprus workshop was thus very timely, innovative approaches and tools for more especially in identifying priority steps to effective crisis response, in particular in the optimize the critical role of procurement, on procurement dimension. HEP is creating a which the effectiveness of crisis response supporting framework of standard contract ultimately depends. templates, in cooperation with FIDIC, and an online platform for sharing the standard The notion of “Humanitarian Engineering” and contracts and practical information with the the International Humanitarian Engineering broader engineering community and other Partnership (HEP) were key themes at the stakeholders in humanitarian-construction- workshop. “Humanitarian Engineering” has related projects, thereby improving effectiveness been defined in terms of enhancing human and and efficiency in overall delivery of crisis community welfare, including in situations of 1Yolanda Tayler, Practice Manager, Public Integrity and Openness, Governance Global Practice. Middle East and 2 International Federation of Consulting Engineers North Africa Region, the World Bank. June 2016 · Number 157· 1 response projects. The World Bank has joined the Procurement Toolkit and tailored procedures for HEP Core Team preparing those resources. fragility, conflict and violent situations in the Bank’s new Procurement Framework. The critical need for resources being developed by HEP was highlighted by a May 2016 survey Traditionally, development organizations have conducted across regions3. It revealed that operated outside the emergency context. almost half of respondents did not use contracts However, with the rise in long-lasting crises, it in construction projects, and three-quarters of is critical to coordinate with local and regional respondents wanted online information and tools stakeholders such as NGOs, humanitarian for effective crisis response procurement. The agencies, and private sector, including SMEs. HEP platform will offer key information (e.g. This need is particularly felt in the water and sanitation sectors where demand has risen 7% in Lebanon alone. Jordan too faces critical water challenges, with water losses totaling over 60%. The World Bank’s participation in HEP builds on its commitment to addressing the regional crisis including the MENA Financing Initiative to support refugees, host communities, and recovery and reconstruction. In partnership with FIDIC, and harnessing its experience in crisis response procurement, the Bank can make a key, cost-effective contribution through participation in the HEP Core Team. Partnering with stakeholders such as FIDIC in the HEP initiative provides a strategic register of CVs across specialist areas, vendor multiplier for the Bank’s efforts in crisis data, UN’s Long Term Agreements, employment response. FIDIC represents the consulting rosters, training material, cluster information per engineering industry globally, including 1.5 country, design standards and technology, million professionals in 60,000 consulting firms emergency response information, hosting and across 100 countries. FIDIC contracts will management by select partners connected to provide accountability, efficiency and enhanced social media). Those tools will be useful for development outcomes in crisis response, stakeholders in Fragility, Conflict and Violence through balanced contractual clauses, fair (FCV) contexts, including governments, donors, allocation of risk, and credibility as an and NGOs and SMEs involved in crisis response. international standard with a 50 year proven track record supported by the public and private Practical information about effective crisis sectors. Furthermore, FIDIC facilitates dispute response procurement that HEP can resolution options and provides capacity- disseminate was illustrated at the workshop. building. World Bank GGP Practice Manager for MENA, Yolanda Tayler, presented on Adaptive The dialogue at the workshop suggests key Procurement Solutions in Emergency, Post- takeaways for the way forward. They point to Conflict and Reconstruction Context, drawing on steps the Bank can take, through HEP and experience in the fragile context of Jordan, partnering with FIDIC and specialized UN Lebanon and Iraq, and introduced innovative agencies, to make the humanitarian engineering tools such as a Reconstruction and Recovery concept a reality in countries in the region and 3 Respondents from Greece, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Nepal, Rome, Roving, South Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, and MENA June 2016 · Number 157· 2 elsewhere afflicted by fragility, conflict and Contact MNA K&L: violence. Antonella Bassani, Director, Strategy and Operations. MENA Region, the World Bank Sajjad Ali Shah, Manager, MNADE The dialogue at the workshop suggests key takeaways for the way forward. They point to Regional Quick Notes Team: steps the Bank can take, through HEP and Omer Karasapan and Mark Volk Tel #: (202) partnering with FIDIC and specialized UN 473 8177 agencies, to make the humanitarian engineering The MNA Quick Notes are intended to summarize concept a reality in countries in the region and lessons learned from MNA and other Bank Knowledge and Learning activities. The Notes do elsewhere afflicted by fragility, conflict and not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank, violence. The takeaways from the workshop its board or its member countries. include: - The Bank’s engagement in the HEP Core Team will enable greater effectiveness in implementation of crisis response through tools including customizable standardized contracts and an information sharing platform -- resources useful to various stakeholders (public sector, NGOs and the private sector, including SMEs) -- and allowing crisis response expenditures and initiatives such as the MENA Financing Initiative to realize their potential and objectives; - The Bank’s partnership with FIDIC and other stakeholders provides an important opportunity for the humanitarian and development communities to empower effective contracting modalities for crisis response. - The HEP initiative should provide standardized contracts, other tools and support for international and local stakeholders (e.g., through follow-up dissemination and coordination activities building on the Cyprus event). June 2016 · Number 157· 3