Collective advocacy was identified by the IASC as a Strategic Priority for 2018-2020 with a focus on developing common narratives on the thematic issues of International Humanitarian Law/International Human Rights Law, humanitarian access, and the protection of aid workers.
IASC Result Group 3 (RG3) on Collective Advocacy aims at increasing the effectiveness of collective humanitarian advocacy efforts. It takes advantage of the wide range of the IASC membership, which brings together NGOs and the UN and engages with all relevant stakeholders within and beyond the IASC. Its advocacy efforts aim at strengthening the protection of civilians and at ensuring that principled humanitarian aid reaches affected populations and responds to their needs.
RG3 coordinates the development and implementation of joint advocacy strategies to address long-standing as well as topical issues that affect humanitarian action. It develops common narratives to unify and amplify the voices of individual IASC members. The advocacy work of the Result Group is based on evidences from humanitarian operations and aims to be directly relevant to field operations through linking local and national issues to the global level.
RG3 is currently engaged on topics such as the humanitarian impact of counter terrorism (COTER) measures and the growing trend of criminalizing humanitarian action in specific contexts. The Group is also capturing and disseminating lessons learned and best practices with regards to the engagement with Armed Non-State Actors. Furthermore, RG3 develops key advocacy messages on issues such as protection and the humanitarian impact of climate change. In addressing these issues, it works also closely with other Results Groups.
Note: This group builds on the valuable outputs of the IASC Reference Group on Principled Humanitarian Action, which completed its work in January 2019.