Responsible Partnerships
Equitable and responsible partnerships are critical for protecting civilians and ensuring humanitarian aid reaches those in need.
Currently, this is not often the case, with local actors often expected to implement partnership agreements without a shared understanding of risk, impact, responsibility or context. Through this toolkit, be a part of building stronger, more equitable partnerships.
The Practical Guide
NP’s Responsible Partnerships Framework offers practical guidance on how partnerships between INGOs and NNGOs, CSOs, and CBOs can be practiced more responsibly. This overview, and the practical toolkit it introduces, has largely grown out of NP’s partnerships in Ukraine, as outlined in the earlier Responsible Partnerships Brief, which describes the risks faced by Ukrainian organizations responding to civilian needs following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022.
NP's approach to responsible partnerships is rooted in Unarmed Civilian Protection, which offers a pathway to intentional engagement with local communities as leaders in their own protection and action.
The Toolkit
Responsible Partnerships
Building multi-layered, responsible partnerships with key actors at the grassroots level contributes to the effectiveness of UCP. NP is committed to working with local organizations to prevent and reduce violence against civilians and aims to be a partner of choice for such organizations, networks, and other informal groups.
The purpose of the Mutual Organizational Capacity Plan is to assess NP’s and partners’ internal structures, resources, existing capacities and capacity strengthening needs. The Plan is meant to help manage each other’s expectations and codify partnership principles and behaviours that matter to NP and partners most.
The term ‘capacity’ is defined in relation to each specific context and each specific crisis. Partners may be offering capacity strengthening to NP as well as the other way around. Partners are meant to assess NP’s capacity to understand mutual complementarity, explore differences in motivations underpinning the idea of partnership, and inform respective roles and responsibilities. Where opportunities for capacity strengthening are identified, NP commits to providing support and resources towards addressing the gaps.
The Plan forms an important part of NP’s commitment to Accountability of Affected Populations (AAP) as well as partnership management processes. A key aspect contributing to the evolution of NP’s approach to responsible partnerships is the understanding that supporting local partners goes beyond compliance requirements and project implementation. Support to partners as key actors in civil society – not only as implementers of NP’s programmes – needs to be demand-driven, take a long-term approach, and not only address immediate gaps.
To work towards improving safety and security for civilians and protecting them from harm, projects must be led-by and grounded in the needs, wishes, and agency of conflict-affected civilians. For NP, this starts with listening to and enabling local actors to articulate their needs, take the lead, or request external facilitation and support. It means not presupposing what it means to protect or to be safe but providing communities with the opportunity to articulate and define it, and to co-design appropriate responsive action.
⬇️Project-Design-Considerations.docx
⬇️NP_EN_KII_Tool_Template_Protection_ASSESSMENT.docx
A call for proposals is a funding opportunity issued by NP. These are direct financial contributions, known as sub-grants, that are awarded to National Non-Governmental Organizations, Community-Based Organizations, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to increase safety and security of affected populations.
NP is aware how funding to local actors can further entrench power imbalances. The need to access funding – from both NP and partner sides – can result in civil society actors having to comply with western humanitarian standards and eligibility criteria perpetuating rigid systems while NP may gain legitimacy with (institutional) donors by bringing in local partners.
To create greater opportunities for small(er) local organizations, NP strives to provide flexible funding to enable partners to adapt to changes in a given context. NP is committed to co-designing programmes with partners and is prepared to change assumptions and plans if they don’t align with partners’ needs. Where and when possible, NP aims to provide multi-year funding to enable partners to plan long-term.
NP is committed to supporting partners with accessing funding opportunities directly. NP teams continuously work with other (institutional) donors to establish country-based pooled funds earmarked for local actors, coordinating efforts, and sharing risk.
⬇️Open-Call-for-Proposals-Application-Guidelines.docx
⬇️Draft-ToRs-for-the-Selection-Committee.docx
⬇️Draft-Partner-Proposal-Assessment-Criteria.docx
⬇️Project-Proposal-Template.docx
⬇️Project-Budget-Template.xlsx
Strategic Partnership Agreement
This serves as a vision document for NP and partner to share their partnership principles, values and behaviors, and agree on how to put these into practice. The Agreement is to outline the aims and purpose of the partnership, distinct from (project) funding. Partnership aims can be broad and wide-ranging, for example, 'To strengthen community capacity to advocate and collaborate for civilian-centered protection', 'To enhance collective learning and critical evidence of unarmed approaches to security', or 'To increase safety and security of civilians through nonviolent means'. The Strategic Partnership Agreement is not bound to a specific timeline and should be regularly revisited as expectations and programmatic priorities shift over time.
Partnership Contract
Building on a Strategic Partnerships Agreement, NP and partner may decide to enter into a Partnership Contract, which outlines a set of obligations in reference to distribution of funds. The Contract is legally-binding and is to include a project-specific objective as well as outline NP and partner roles and responsibilities. Although such provisions resemble donor language, the partnership itself is to be guided by the relationship and agreed principles between NP and said partner.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) are to be drafted based on the need to achieve a specific end, for example, to secure humanitarian access (which would necessitate signing an MoU with government authorities). MoUs are not legally-binding and are usually requested externally as opposed to initiated by NP.
⬇️Partnership-Contract-Template.docx
⬇️Strategic-Partnership-Agreement-Template.docx
NP acknowledges the crucial role local and national actors play in implementing the critically needed work on the ground and helps transform sub-contractor-type partnerships toward more genuine, responsible partnerships. This applies to both sub-grants and consortia management.
⬇️Sub-grants-Management-Guidelines.docx
⬇️Consortium-Management-Guidelines.docx
Review of activities implemented as a result of partnerships takes place in accordance with the agreed schedule specified in the Partnership Agreement. Additionally, NP offers support visits to share and discuss strategies for organizational development and draw lessons learned.
Good practices
- Mobilize frontline responders as learning partners. Build in regular learning exchanges, ideally once a quarter or every six months, both internally and externally.
- Build and inter-connect networks of unarmed approaches to security. Mobilize these networks for learning, influencing policy, and crisis support throughout all levels – local, national, and international (or regional).
- Co-create a learning agenda and include learning questions that are reviewed each year.
- Consider alternative forms of reporting, such as video stories and interviews, including in native languages.
- Integrate SpeakUp® into partner feedback and response mechanisms, where necessary and/or requested.
- Create accountability processes that are centered on the communities NP and partners serve.
Having a joint vision for the eventual transition, from the very start of a partnership, enables accountability. NP supports local leadership and commits to addressing power imbalances while engaging in mutual transformation. We aim to build longer-term, strategic partnerships decoupled from projects and/or funding. To that end, NP teams regularly hold partner meetings to discuss how and under what conditions the sub-grant will transition to full local ownership.
At NP, we aim to incorporate the richness of local languages into the systems we use, learn about concepts that do not easily translate, and hear from people who do not speak colonist languages. While much still needs to be improved, we strive to identify and retire language that diminishes the agency of our partners and aim to share the burden of multilingual communication. We are dedicated to improving access to clear information and accountability in the mother tongue of people affected by crisis.
Translating Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP)
- Arabic حماية المدنيين غير المسلحة
- English Unarmed Civilian Protection (UCP)
- French Intervention Civile de Paix (ICP)
- Spanish Protección Civil no Armada (PCA)
- Ukrainian Беззбройний цивільний захист (БЦЗ)