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Update of the Nutrition in Emergencies Coordination Handbook: A product of the Nutrition Cluster

By Vivienne Forsythe, Jacqueline Frize and Nicki Connell

Vivienne Forsythe and Jacqueline Frize are independent public health and nutrition consultants, each with over 20 years of humanitarian experience, hired by Save the Children (SC) to carry out the handbook update consultation process and revision. Nicki Connell is Save the Children’s Emergency Nutrition Advisor who was the Project Manager for the revision of the Handbook.

The project was managed by Save the Children and the first phase was conducted by independent consultants Jacqueline Frize and Vivienne Forsythe from March 2016 to May 2017. The final review was led by independent consultant Leah Richardson from July to October 2017 and the Global Nutrition Cluster Coordination Team (GNC-CT).

Update process

Version 1 of the Nutrition Cluster Handbook – A Practical Guide for Field Coordination (2013) has been revised to reflect the significant changes and developments in Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) guidance and tools, in line with the Transformative Agenda (TA), the outcome of the Word Humanitarian Summit in 2016 (http://agendaforhumanity.org/summit) and to incorporate the learning and operational experience of the Nutrition Cluster over the last five years.

A comprehensive, consultative process was undertaken to update the handbook. Generic humanitarian response materials and Nutrition Cluster-specific reference materials were comprehensively reviewed. A consultative process was carried out based on 20 key informant interviews (KIIs) with Nutrition Cluster Coordinators (NCCs), Nutrition Cluster Information Management Officers (IMOs), Nutrition Cluster Partners (NCPs), members of the Global Nutrition Cluster Cooordination Team (GNC-CT) and UNICEF’s Office of Emergency Programmes (EMOPS) Global Cluster Coordination Unit (GCCU). The KIIs aimed to garner a breadth of views and opinions on required changes in terms of both structure and content. This was followed by a document review. A consultative group made up of NCCs and NCPs was established to provide support and technical oversight to the consultants. Structure and content of the revised and renamed Nutrition in Emergencies (NiE) Coordination Handbook was agreed by the GNC-CT and SC. Chapters were drafted, peer reviewed by the GNC-CT, SC members, other NCCs and NCPs and revised accordingly. Each chapter was reviewed by the GNC-CT and SC with a minimum of two (and most often four) other individuals.

Structure, scope and content

The aim was to meet the diverse needs of users and contexts. Demand ranged from succinct guidance on coordination during a humanitarian crisis to content accessible to national actors on preparedness and transition, and guidance on coordination in slow-onset crises where there is no formal cluster activation.

The handbook is structured around the Cluster Coordination Reference Module 2015 (CCRM)¹ and the Humanitarian Project Cycle 2015 (HPC)², which did not exist when the last version of the handbook was developed in 2013. These provided a helpful framework to structure content to address each of these situations (see Box 1). The new structure emphasises establishing and maintaining the coordination platform in support of the response (Section One) before moving on to coordination and implementation (Section Two). There is greater focus on the role of national authorities and sharing leadership with government, sub-national level coordination, the role of UNICEF as Cluster Lead Agency (CLA), the role and responsibility of partners, bridging the divide between emergency and longer-term development, transition-related issues and a multi-cluster integrated approach. Following feedback, sections on nutrition technical/programming were reduced since they are not the primary focus of the handbook.

Additional new materials have been incorporated. These include generic humanitarian assistance materials, such as the CCRM, HPC guidance, Cluster Coordination Performance Monitoring, the various Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) protocols and commitments, as well as other Nutrition Cluster guidance and tools. Best-practice tips and operational examples are incorporated throughout the handbook, such as examples of different models of leadership of Technical Working Groups (TWGs) and sub-national clusters and models of working with government.

Reference this page

Vivienne Forsythe, Jacqueline Frize and Nicki Connell (). Update of the Nutrition in Emergencies Coordination Handbook: A product of the Nutrition Cluster. Field Exchange 56, December 2017. p35. www.ennonline.net/fex/56/gnchandbooknutritioncluster

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