Work in the Age of COVID-19 Guidance Note Series

"COVID-19 has triggered a surge in online communication, with remote working and remote management becoming the new norm....Critical social sectors, like the aid and development sector, have joined the new trend..."

Intended as short and practical documents for operational actors in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this guidance note series includes humanitarian guidance notes on topics such as remote management, remote monitoring, remote facilitation, and remote working. It falls under the partnerships and practice stream of Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG)'s 3-year Humanitarian Horizons research initiative, which is an effort to add value to humanitarian action in Asian and Pacific contexts by generating evidence and creating conversations for change.

As of this writing, available documents in the series include:

• Remote Humanitarian Management and Programming: Guidance Note [PDF] [May 2020, 12 pages] - Access constraints, infection risks, and travel restrictions in the time of COVID-19 are requiring both international and national humanitarian actors to shift towards remote management with partners at the national and local levels. National actors are also increasingly adopting remote programming models, including involving communities in managing programme activities. Created in collaboration with CARE International, this note is intended to guide international and national operational actors on how to adapt and think about remote management in the context of COVID-19. Summary of practical actions:
  • Co-design - with local and national partners - remotely managed projects that draw on their knowledge and relationships and promote ownership.
  • Identify the remote management capacities that all partners (both international and national) need to maintain programme quality and respond to COVID-19 risks and impacts.
  • Ensure that remote management approaches support the safety and wellbeing of partner or national office staff and programme participants.
  • Establish flexible remote management approaches that can be adapted to contextual changes, and tailor organisations' systems and processes to meet remote management needs during COVID-19.
  • Ensure that remote management approaches support accountability to affected populations (AAP), transparency, and due diligence requirements, and that they address protection needs.
• Remote Humanitarian Monitoring: Guidance Note [PDF] [May 2020, 14 pages] - Remote monitoring, which enables humanitarian actors to continue to monitor programme implementation, understand context dynamics, and make informed decisions, has traditionally been used in complex or conflict environments where agency staff or partners are unable to engage with affected communities in person. Created in collaboration with GLOW Consultants, this note provides a snapshot of key takeaways from previous research and draws together emerging learning and guidance on third-party monitoring for a range of humanitarian agencies. Summary of practical actions:
  • Build on existing information and streamline data.
  • Develop remote monitoring approaches with partners to ensure safety and feasibility.
  • Ensure remote monitoring tools and methods are appropriate for context, and that the data collected can be used to inform decision-making.
  • Share information with in-country stakeholders if feasible and appropriate to inform monitoring activities.
  • Ensure that remote monitoring addresses inclusion, accountability and protection issues, particularly those that are exacerbated in the context of COVID-19.
  • Ensure that remote monitoring approaches minimise risks (COVID-19 and others) to staff, partners, third-party organisations, and communities.
• Remote Humanitarian Facilitation: Guidance Note [PDF] [June 2020, 14 pages] - Face-to-face events are generally considered to be more effective than remote facilitation. This is based on the perception that it is easier for facilitators to foster trust and personal connections, as well as to read their audience and therefore adapt their facilitation style and plan to the needs of participants when face-to-face. Due to COVID-19, workshops, consultations, group discussions, team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and other formal and less formal facilitated discussions are now happening online, raising questions of security, access to new technologies, and the practicalities and effectiveness of remote facilitation compared to face-to-face facilitation in various contexts. Created in collaboration with Caritas Australia, this note is intended to guide international and national operational actors on how to adapt and think about remote facilitation in the context of, and after, COVID-19. Summary of practical actions:
  • Know your technology and ensure your participants do, too.
  • Promote inclusiveness by creating an online supportive space, connecting with participants, and encouraging participants to support each other.
  • Maximise participation by preparing for dynamic sessions using simple and/or more advanced tools.
  • Ensure protection of and accountability to participants regardless of the remote aspect of the relationship.