Session : Protection mainstreaming

Length 2 hours

Session Objectives  Demonstrate the relevance and importance of

Protection Mainstreaming
 Introduce the concept of Protection Mainstreaming
and its 4 Key Elements
 Clarify the role of field protection clusters
 Highlight the role of Protection Mainstreaming in
strategic planning
Learning outcomes  Participants understand the relevance and
importance of Protection Mainstreaming
 Participants understand the concept and the
implementation of its key elements in practice
 Participants understand the role of the field
protection cluster with regard to protection
mainstreaming
 Participants understand the role of Protection
Mainstreaming in strategic planning
Hand-outs  Copies of the Protection Mainstreaming Task Force in
CAR
 Copies of the CAR Guidance on Protection
Mainstreaming in CHF
 Copies of the OCHA guidance on HNO and on HRP
 Copies of the GPC guidance on HNO/HRP
 Copies of guidance on HCT Protection Strategies
Material  Posters with examples of Protection Mainstreaming
 Post it
 Colour paper
 Markers
 Prepare a flip chart to serve as an example for each
exercise

Session outlines The following should be read as a supplement to the

PowerPoint Presentation, attached in this file called
‘”Protection Mainstreaming Session”.

The following is an overview of the session, and a suggestion

of how it might be structured, including activities, with
references to the relevant slides.

The facilitator should choose which tools to present

according to the field Protection cluster needs.

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 Session overview

Time Session section Activity & method Notes

2’ Introduction and Plenary presentation Slides 1- 2

objectives

10’ Why Protection Plenary presentation and Slides 3-7

Mainstreaming discussion using the picture
matters?

60’ Key Elements of Group work and Slides 8-25

Protection
Mainstreaming

45’ Protection Plenary presentation and Slides 26-29

Mainstreaming and discussion
Share the copies of the
the role of the
Protection Mainstreaming
Protection Cluster
Task Force in CAR

3’ Closing the session Plenary concluding remarks Slides 30-32

and key points

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 Session plan
2’ Introduction and objectives

Outline the objectives of this session.

10’ Why protection mainstreaming matters?

Learning Outcomes:
 Understand why Protection mainstreaming matters
 Understand what Protection Mainstreaming is.

Explain that the training will start with exploring why we

are all here at this training, and why protection
mainstreaming is important.

Show the picture of the boy from Haiti

Ask participants in plenary: Where do you think the boy is

going?
Responses may include: to the health centre / to the
market / to his house / to school / to the toilet. The purpose
of the question is to elicit a long list of services that could
equally be humanitarian services (e.g. health, food security,
education, WASH).

Facilitate a discussion about the boy’s journey using some

of the following prompt questions:
 What do you see?
 Where is the boy going? Where does he come from?
 Who is responsible to ensure his access?
 What barriers to access might he experience?
 Who is responsible for his safety and dignity?

Explain that specialized agencies may be required for some

activities, like building his prosthetic leg, while states have
the primary responsibility to protect their civilian
populations, and that the communities and humanitarian
protection staff have particular role in ensuring the

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protection of the affected populations, each and every actor
(i.e. WASH, Education, Health, etc.) have a responsibility to
make sure the boy has a safe, dignified and meaningful
access to their own services, and that their activities
contribute more broadly to the safety and dignity of the
affected populations. The following sections will develop
this and show what Protection Mainstreaming entails more
concretely.

Before showing the definition, ask participants what they

think Protection Mainstreaming is about, and how they
would define it – at least sharing key words – that you will
note on the flipchart.

Then show the definition and review briefly the key words
that had been identify, clarify possible mistakes or
“confusion”; if necessary use the parking lot to address
some of them later.
PM principles are at the heart of the humanitarian action,
particularly its key elements of:
 Safety and Dignity of affected populations
 Meaningful access to humanitarian assistance

Humanitarian Imperative:
1. Ethical
PM is based on the Principle of Humanity
Not all humanitarian organizations/agencies implement
protection programs as they have neither the expertise, nor
the staff to do so. However, each and every humanitarian
actors have an ethical responsibility to incorporate those
protection principles into their programmes

2. Normative
PM is an established and recognised Standard of the
humanitarian community. It is also found in Sphere, the
Statement on Centrality of Protection, etc.

3. Functional
Improve the quality of humanitarian action
Not about making all humanitarians « Protection Officer »,
but to make us humanitarians who are better, and effective
at their job by not only providing assistance, but doing so in
a protective manner

All responsible
From communities to state, through local and international

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 humanitarian organisations
all humanitarian across sectors

Highlight these key points in terms of applicability of PM.

Ask participants if they have questions about it.

Before moving to the next section (if you have time), ask
participants to walk in the room and read concrete
examples of PM in different sectors and discuss these
examples (see annex in the PM Training manual pages 157 –
161); if not just ask them to read them out loud.

40’ Key Elements of Protection Mainstreaming

Learning Outcomes:
 Understand the key elements of protection
mainstreaming in humanitarian responses
 Recognise that they are already ‘doing’ a lot of
protection mainstreaming
Start the session by asking the participants what they think
the key elements are.

Introduce the 4 elements

Present the “Protection Mainstreaming Tree”

The roots represent the 4 key elements, while the trunk is

the PM process that brings the resources from the roots to
the branches of the tree which represent all humanitarian
sectors.
Without the roots, the tree cannot live and prosper, it
needs all its roots to develop; if you cut off one of its roots,
it cannot fully develop and it will weaken the tree – which is
a metaphor for making programs weaker and less effective
in terms of both assistance and protection.
The foliage represents the program cycle.

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 1. Make 4 groups, each group deals with one key
concepts (20 minutes)
a. Defines the concept
b. Explains what it is about in practice
c. Find concrete examples of practical use
2. Each group makes brief plenary presentation
(4*5min)
3. 15-20min left for general wrap-up and Q&A by
facilitator(s)

Ask participants what is the difference between “Avoid

causing harm” and “Prioritising safety and dignity”.

Highlight the 2 aspects of the first key element.

Violence: actual or threat of physical harm, abuse etc

Coercion: forcing somebody to do something against their

will – e.g.: rape, trafficking, forced migration/displacements,
etc.

Deliberate deprivation: preventing somebody to do

something they want to do – e.g.: roadblocks, looting,
discrimination, etc

Always avoid causing harm and prioritize safety and dignity

 Understand the context: the cultural norms, values,
social & power dynamics, tensions and conflict
dynamics (conflict sensitivity) in the local
environment which contribute to vulnerabilities and
marginalisation
 Identify potential risks caused by/related to your

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 intervention
 Think critically about the planned intervention and
its implementation; Ask if our work causes or could
cause harm or result in negative consequences for
the affected population as whole or some groups
within the affected population?
 Continuously monitor activities and impact to
ensure they are not being/becoming counter-
productive or causing harm

Be ready to make tough calls - Sometimes, not providing

assistance at all (temporarily or definitely) may be the right
decision

Ensure meaningful access of the population to the

humanitarian assistance and services
3 dimensions:
 Reaching the location of the service
 Receive the service
 Benefit from the service

Assistance based on needs; not status: Identify all groups of

affected populations (A-G-D approach) to identify the specific
needs and related threats, vulnerability, capacities of each group

Example:
In an IDP camp, WASH engineers built wells in the best
technical locations
They did not know that these locations corresponded to the
areas of settlement of the majority ethnic group
The majority ethnic group first refuses access to the water
points to the ethnic minority, then requests payment for
access, resulting in increasing tensions between the two
groups

Identify (for each different groups) the actual or potential

barriers and discriminations that can constrain their
meaningful access

Types of barriers:

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 • Physical (distance, time,…)

• Security

• Cultural/political/religious and other forms of

discrimination, particularly Age & Gender

• Administrative or legal

• Economic/financial

• Information

Example:
An NGO distributed mosquito nets in several villages as part
of a public health program
A few weeks later, the NGO conducts an evaluation of the
impact of this distribution, and realises that most mosquito
nets are not used in the bedroom, but have been used as
fishing nets.

Ensure the participation of and accountability to the

population in the planning and implementation of the
response

Accountability is about our responsibility with regard to the

affected populations and requires to “Take Account”, “Give
Account” and “Being held to account”

It has 2 main dimensions:

 Quality of our programs/services which requires all 3

previous elements—and relates to the participation of
the affected population and the feedback mechanisms

 Quality of behaviour refers to standards of behavior

found in Codes of Conducts and to PSEA issues in
particular – it also requires transparency with affected
population who should be informed about the type of
behavior that are acceptable and expected from
humanitarians, and those that are not acceptable and
should be reported through the appropriate
feedback/”complaints” mechanism

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Transparency is about who were are, what we can (and cannot)
do because of our resources and ethically as humanitarians (this
is crucial in terms of expectations management)

Establishing effective feedback mechanisms – preferably inter-

agency collectively managed mechanisms
See AAP/PSEA Task Team for more details.

Example:
In Timor-Leste four agencies organised a series of
workshops with local communities to define a Code of
Conduct for the employees of these agencies. Local
populations were introduce to standards of behaviour they
should expect, including prohibition of sexual exploitation
and abuse (SEA), discrimination, and requesting gifts. The
members of the communities were allowed to add certain
behavioural requirements from agencies staff, and
recommend how staff should be accountable to them. The
Code of Conduct was translated in local languages and
disseminated within the communities.

• Acknowledge that affected populations have resources

and capacities
• Take benefit from existing capacities
• Avoid reducing the resilience capacities of the
communities
• Ensure that most vulnerable and marginalised
populations are represented

The primary objectives of Accountability and Participation:

 Develop trust between populations and humanitarian
actors
 Ensure that activities are appropriate and effective
 Provide and share crucial information on safety, dignity
and access
 Contribute to provide a certain control over their lives
and self-worth and respect to affected populations

Ownership - The community controls decision-making.

Partnership/Interactive - The community is wholly involved

in decision-making with other actors.

Functional - The community fulfils only a particular role

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with limited decision-making power (for example, forming a
water committee which is then supervised by an NGO staff
member).

Material Motivation - The community receives goods or

cash in return for a service or role.

Consultation - The community is asked for their opinion on

what they would like to see, but their opinion has limited
sway in decision-making.

Information Transfer - Information is gathered from the

community, but they are not involved in the resulting
discussions which inform decisions.

Passive - The community is informed of decisions and

actions, but have no say in either the process or the result.

Examples:
An NGO is working on a project aiming to support local
authorities to build a school in a village. The staff met with
the community authorities and parents to discuss the
opening of the school. The discussion focused on children
rights to education, the obligation of parents to send their
children to school, the content of the curriculum, the
standards required for teachers, and the fact that schooling
is free. They also discussed and agreed on other forms of
information sharing and decision-making in the school
management after the school was open, including through
information boards, parents’ meetings and meeting with
the community in general.

An NGO in South Sudan conducted the distribution of bags

of mixed beans for each family in several IDP camps. A
month after the distribution, the ministry of Education
reported to the NGO that children were not going to school
since the distribution because parents needed the children
to prepare the food. It appeared that not only the beans
distributed were not the type the population was used to,
but that they require a longer cooking time, and that the
different types of beans in the mix require different cooking
time. This resulted in mothers asking their children to
separate the beans and help with the cooking.

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 Summarize the key points of the presented elements.

Conclude with the “Protection Mainstreaming Tree” to highlight

that all 4 Key Elements are inter-connected and mutually
reinforcing, should work on all 4 and not just “pick and choose”.

45’ Protection Mainstreaming and the Protection Cluster

Learning outcomes:
 Understand the responsibilities of the protection
cluster, intercluster and the other clusters regarding
protection mainstreaming
 Contribute protection mainstreaming ideas to the
HNO/SRP process in-country and into strategy planning
of HCT and other clusters

Ask participants what they think is the role of the Protection

Cluster with regard to promoting Protection Mainstreaming
in coordination forums?

Discuss these points and how the Protection Cluster already

does and what it can do more/better.

3’ Closing the session

Conclude by recalling that:

 Protection requires collaboration and
complementarity
 Understanding the diversity of mandate and
delineated areas of protection is essential for
coordinators to understand and master
 Common goals for inclusive actions to promote and
enhance protection require frameworks, which
allow holistic analysis beyond agency or mandate
programming
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 No single agency can respond alone. It needs the
coordinated efforts of everyone (humanitarian orchestra).

N.B.: Additional and more detailed information and facilitators notes are also available in the
GPC Protection Mainstreaming Training Package. It is recommended that the facilitator(s) be
familiar with the more complete Green module (at least the relevant sessions) to facilitate
this session.

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