Disaster response
People In Aid is commited to providing vital resources and information in order to help humanitarian and development organisations respond more effectively to disasters.
The information on this page is divided into six sections:
Our Managing People In Emergencies wiki on People In Aid Interactive is a vital resource which gives you access to over 130 pages of material, helping you create, manage and develop your team in an emergency.
This wiki focuses not only focuses on the risks you may have to take and how best to manage them, but also allows you to edit and contribute to the guide in order to share your own experiences and information with those who need it.
The material, which is in six sections, will help you to:
Each section details the major risks and how you can manage them, provides resources to help you with your work and case studies to illustrate what has happened to other programme managers in similar situations.
The 'Managing People In Emergencies' wiki is completely free to access, and will be especially useful to programme managers looking to manage their staff effectively during times of emergency.
Online discussions with colleagues responding to disasters
Post queries, share resources and see what your peers are saying on the interactive HHR (Humanitarian HR) online discussion forum, for HR practitioners and people managers. Simply sign up and post to the forum here.
HR Manual: provides an overall framework for human resource management in field, regional and head offices. The last section also offers a comprehensive framework for a national staff handbook with workable templates, including appraisal forms and employment contracts.(£75 for People In Aid members, £150 for non members)
Policy Guidelines: including policy templates on Child Protection; Induction, Briefing, Handovers Guidelines; Rest and Relaxation; Safety and Security, Performance Management
Policy Bank (FREE for People In Aid members): especially all the Health and Safety Policies includes travel policies, emergency evacuation, H&S etc
Enhancing Staff Security
Relief Worker Burnout
Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial support in Emergency settings
The EPN (now HHR) 7 conference in 2005, following the Tsunami in Asia focused on Management Development for Emergencies (Day 1 holds useful reflections for lessons learnt from past emergencies)
Approaches to Staff Care in International NGOs
Supporting Staff Responding to Disasters: Recruitment, Briefing and On-going Care. (£15.00 for People In Aid members, £30.00 for non members)
• Appendix 3: Common symptoms of stress or trauma/ Síntomas comunes del estrés o trauma
• Appendix 4: Stress Management strategies/ Estrategias para el manejo del estrés
The Managing People In Emergencies wiki recruitment page provides extensive material to help you recruit the best possible staff in times of emergency. Among the topics featured are:
International Recruitment Resource Sheet
Human Resources related roles can be advertised on our HR Jobs Board or HHR Online.
Office In A Box: Mercy Corps (MC) has developed Office in a Box (OIB) to expedite program start-up in emergency contexts and to ensure comprehensive, compliant and consistent implementation of operational procedures
Relief Web gives operational coverage, and includes Situation Reports
LINGOS: Local salary and benefits survey (Charge for participation) www.lingosurvey.com/lingo
Headington institute: The CARD Directory is an international online directory of professional counsellors
InterHealth: travel medical clinic also offers travel medical services, psychological health and occupational health services and works with a number of UK based INGOs
East Africa Drought (July 2011)
For East Africa specific examples of policies from our members, please check the policy bank at: Policy Bank
Horn of Africa Crisis – A Call for Program Quality, Accountability and Effectiveness
Debriefing Aid Workers & Missionaries Handbook: gives an understanding of the impact of stress on your staff, and includes practical training in how to debrief staff (£15 for People In Aid members, £30 for non-members)
Effective Debriefing Information Note: provides information on issues to consider regarding debriefing (free for PiA members, £3.50 for non-members)
Staff Care Manual for East Africa Information Note: A manual template part of the People In Aid and Inter-Agency Working Group initiative, whereby agencies shared their knowledge and experience of a particular issue in order to increase the quality of people management generally within the sector (free for People In Aid members, £3.50 for non-members)
Report, resources and more from the 2007 HHR Kenya Conference on Mobilising People in Emergencies on the role of non-governmental, private and public sector organisations in Africa.
Report, resources and more from the 2007 HHR Kenya Conference on Managing People Responding to Emergencies
Case Study on Rapid Deployment: from World Vision International.
ECB Retention Workshop resources: Information on retention and the transition of staff recruiting during the surge phase.
For a wider understanding of the dynamics and challenges underlying this crisis, the ODI Disaster journal, special issue on Refugees and the Displaced has articles which “provide a rich source of informed thinking on humanitarian responses to the needs of populations fleeing persecution, war and disaster, with much to contribute to our understanding of refugee and displacement crises past, present and future”.
Japan Earthquake/Tsunami (March 2011)
Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings (English, Japanese)
Coping with Disaster (in English and Japanese) was developed by CARE’s Staff Care Team (Translated with CARE’s permission)
Understanding and Addressing Vicarious Trauma information sheet (in English and Japanese) written by Dr. Laurie Pearlman, adapted by CARE Staff Team
Psychological First Aid: Field Operations Guide is also available in Japanese from the NICTSN website
Pakistan Floods (August 2010)
Travel Disruptions Due To Volcanic Ash (April 2010)
We have received many questions from member organisations on how to treat staff absences as a result of the recent travel disruptions (caused by volcanic ash from the eruption in Iceland).
Some suggested outcomes are listed below.
Suggestions for staff stranded following work trips
Staff are encouraged to continue working as best they can from their current location, assuming access to internet, mobile phones or the country offices. The Federation of Small Businesses says that if staff are stranded after going overseas on business they should continue to be paid as normal. One member suggests that normal guidelines in relation to expenses is to be followed (minus any allowances that may be given directly by airlines and or insurance)
Suggestions for staff stranded following holidays
The possibility of working from a holiday location may be limited. Some agencies are allowing discretionary leave, whilst others are agreeing a 50:50 arrangement (50% employee holiday and 50% organisation gifted time). If the member of staff decides they would prefer not to work, despite there being a possibility, then they should take annual leave. If staff have run out of leave, good practice would allow employees to use leave days from the following year if employers are not prepared to allow staff extra time off.
You can debate and discuss the issues affecting you now on HHR online here. If you are not yet a member of HHR Online, you can register here.
More on staff absences:
Chile Earthquake (February 2010)
As well as the above, the following resources are of use to agencies working in the disaster response in Chile following the earthquake on 27/02/10.
Key Spanish Resources