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Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Activation

Large-scale disasters have led the IASC to reform the humanitarian response system. After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the IASC launched the Humanitarian Reform around coordination, leadership, humanitarian financing and partnership. Emergency capacity has been reinforced but challenges remained. Following the Haiti earthquake and Pakistan floods in 2010, the IASC launched the Transformative Agenda in December 2011, setting the parameters for improved collective response to major humanitarian crises.

Timeline: Scaling-Up a response with the IASC Scale-Up protocols
Scale-Up Protocols

Agreement around the concept of an IASC Humanitarian System-Wide Emergency Activation (referred to as a “Level 3 Response”) was a fundamental element of the Transformative Agenda.

The initial IASC Humanitarian System-Wide Emergency Activation (L3 Response) was put in place in 2012 to deliver a rapid, concerted mobilization of capacity and systems to enable accelerated and scaled-up assistance and protection over a short and focused duration. Although initially designed for sudden onset emergencies, most L3 activations were applied to large-scale protracted crises. And in some cases, the L3 designations lasted for a number of years.

Against this backdrop, and to improve the effectiveness of the IASC’s response to a rapidly deteriorating humanitarian situation or sudden onset crisis, in November 2018, the IASC Principals endorsed the new system-wide emergency activation procedures, referred to as ‘SCALE-UP’.

The IASC Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Protocols are a set of internal measures designed to enhance the humanitarian response in view of increasing humanitarian needs and to ensure that IASC member organizations and partners can rapidly mobilize the necessary operational capacities and resources to respond to critical humanitarian needs on the ground. This exceptional measure will only be applied for a time-bound period of up to six months (which can be exceptionally extended by another 3 months).

The following are the protocols and related documents:

  • Protocol 1: Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Activation - Definition and Procedures
  • Protocol 2: ‘Empowered Leadership’ in a Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Activation
  • Frequently Asked Questions on the Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Activation
  • Scale-up Activation Timeline (infographic)

Scale-Up Protocol for the Control of Infectious Disease Events

In addition to major humanitarian crises triggered by natural disasters or conflicts, infectious disease events, including outbreaks, can result in a Humanitarian System-wide Scale-Up activation (i.e. ‘Scale-Up activation’) to ensure a more effective response.

Scale-Up activation procedures for infectious disease events build on the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Scale-Up activation protocols, with adjustments to reflect the potential evolution of an infectious event, the roles of the World Health Organization (WHO) and its Director-General and Member States under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005), and the importance of non-IASC organizations in responding to infectious disease events. These procedures also recognize that many infectious hazards are of animal origin, with the response incorporating a ‘One Health’ approach.

  • IASC System-Wide Scale-Up Protocols - Adapted to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020

  • IASC, Humanitarian System-wide Scale-Up Activation Protocol for the Control of Infectious Disease Events, 2019
Scale-Up Protocols - COVID-19
  • IASC System-Wide Scale-Up Protocols - Adapted to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic
IASC Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Activations and Deactivations
  • IASC Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Activations and Deactivations
Relevant Guidance for the Field
  • IASC Standard ToR for Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs), February 2017
  • IASC Reference Module for Cluster Coordination at Country Level, revised July 2015
  • IASC Reference Module for the Implementation of The Humanitarian Programme Cycle, 2015
  • The Operational Framework, Accountability to Affected Persons, 2013
  • IASC, Emergency Response Preparedness (Draft for Field Testing), 2015
  • IASC, The Multi Cluster/Sector Initial Rapid Assessment (MIRA) Manual, 2015
Updates
  • IASC System-Wide Scale-Up Protocols - Adapted to Respond to the COVID-19 Pandemic
  • Key messages on the IASC System-Wide Scale-Up activation for the Ebola Response
  • Scale-Up Protocol for the Control of Infectious Disease Events Endorsed by the IASC Principals
  • IASC Humanitarian System-Wide Scale-Up Protocols Released
IASC Transformative Agenda

The IASC Scale-Up protocols are the latest development stemming from the IASC Transformative Agenda, a coordination model that revamped humanitarian response from 2011. Learn more about the Transformative Agenda.

Contact

Mr. Farhad Movahed
IASC secretariat
Email: movahed@un.org

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