Partnership agreements in pandemics
Monday 28 September 2020, 14:00 - 16:00 (CEST)
Monday 28 September 2020, 14:00 - 16:00 (CEST)
This advance session is designed for organizations that are funded/implementing partners of UNHCR. The purpose of the session is to provide an update on those reforms that UNHCR has been implementing over the last year and those which can be expected to be implemented in 2021. The purpose of the reforms is to simplify and harmonize systems, tools and procedures and to reinforce the importance of achieving results for refugees.
The session will comprise of three speakers. A representative of InterAction will present the key messages from a survey conducted earlier in 2020 concerning UNHCR as a funding partner and will discuss related issues that have arisen as a result of COVID19. A representative of UNHCR will highlight the reforms that will be implemented in 2021. Reforms include, amongst other things, changes to standard agreement templates and budget preparation and management. The presentation will include a description of reforms in handling the risk of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. A representative of a national NGO will provide the perspective of a local partner that works with UNHCR.
Ms. Catherine Wiesner is the Head of External Engagement for UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for the East and Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes, responsible for partnerships, donor relations, and external communications. From 2017-2019 she was UNHCR’s Regional Refugee Coordinator for the Burundi Refugee Situation. Before joining UNHCR, Ms. Wiesner worked 8 years in the US Government, first as Principal Director to the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs at the Pentagon (2009-2012) and then Deputy Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees and Migration at the Department of State (2012-2017). Prior to government service, Ms. Wiesner worked as a practitioner and consultant in the fields of humanitarian assistance, peace process, and post-conflict programming, specializing in child and adolescent protection with several agencies and NGOs (UNICEF, UNHCR, the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children) in Sudan, Uganda, Indonesia, Liberia, Iraq, Sierra Leone, Geneva, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe. Ms. Wiesner holds a B.A. in Comparative Area Studies from Duke University and a M.P.P. in International Security and Political Economy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Robert Hurt joined UNHCR in mid 2017 and served as a Senior Risk Management and Compliance Advisor until August 2019 when he commenced a temporary appointment as Head of the Implementing Partnership Management Service (IPMS). On 1 January 2020, Rob joined the newly established Division of Strategic Planning and Results and, since that time, has been acting Head of the Implementation Management and Assurance Service (IMAS). Prior to joining UNHCR, Rob had worked in multiple operational and management roles in the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Rob has otherwise worked as a legal officer for UNDP/DPKO, UNODC and UNOPS in Afghanistan and has six years of corporate law experience in Australia.
Kate Phillips-Barrasso has deep expertise in leading the NGO community’s efforts to secure policies for improved humanitarian response and in representing the experience and views of InterAction’s members in both US and international humanitarian policy fora. In this capacity Kate oversees InterAction’s work on forced displacement, humanitarian financing and partnership between NGOs and UN humanitarian agencies among other topic areas. She also sits on the IASC Operational Policy and Advocacy Group. Prior to joining InterAction, Kate served as the Senior Director of Policy and Advocacy for the International Rescue Committee (IRC). At the IRC, she guided work to draw the attention of policy makers to global humanitarian needs, led advocacy efforts for policy change to better assist people forced to flee war and disaster and oversaw the organization’s relations with the US Congress, Executive Branch and other NGOs. Kate also worked for several years as a Senior Policy Advisor with CARE, leading the organization’s policy and advocacy efforts on a number of humanitarian and development issues.
Rochelle Nakhid has worked mainly with refugees in the USA and in Trinidad and Tobago (TT) for over a decade in the fields of resettlement, integration and protection. She currently works at Living Water Community, a Catholic NGO, as Coordinator of the Ministry for Migrants and Refugees, with recent emphasis on the Venezuelan response. She has significantly contributed to advances on refugee protection, including policy formulation and developing legal and operational frameworks, as well as to bringing visibility to the issue within the Caribbean. In her role she engages in direct programmatic oversight as well as capacity building, advocacy and developing strategic partnerships. She oversees partnerships with UNHCR and UNICEF among other donors/partners. Rochelle holds a B. A in International Relations from Agnes Scott College, U.S.A and an MSc. in Global Studies from The University of the West Indies, TT.