RedR is delighted to invite you to attend Enhancing the Humanitarian Agenda: Partnerships and Agreements.
RedR has been working to facilitate collaboration between the humanitarian and private sectors on the response to urban crises since 2013, through the 'Ready to Respond' programme, funded by Lloyd's Charities Trust, the grant-making charity of the Lloyd's insurance market.
This half day conference and drinks reception will bring together private sector organisations and humanitarians working in urban crisis contexts. There will be the opportunity to explore and discuss the role of partnerships in these contexts; from developing initial relationships, through informal arrangements and collaborations, to creating formalised contractual agreements.
Why partnerships and agreeements?
As the private and humanitarian sectors work more closely together in responding to urban emergencies, overcoming the challenges of defining partnerships and agreements becomes increasingly important. Whilst such definition takes time, experience and a collaborative working approach, the risks of not investing in these can be high.
Together, there is scope for improving collaboration across all stages and levels of urban response. How do we make sure we are finding the right partners, both at an international and local level? How do we develop the trust and transparency for informal collaborations and partnerships to remain flexible yet functional? And how do we then scale up these agreements, and ensure formalised contracts are fit for purpose?
This event aims to build on the work done to date, giving key actors from both sectors the opportunity to share experiences, learn from successful initiatives, address common challenges, and strengthen their networks: all with a view to moving closer to establishing best practice in this increasingly important field of humanitarian work.
The event
The conference will be held at the Royal Academy of Engineering from 2pm on Thursday 26th September, finishing at 5.30 for an informal drinks reception until 7pm.
The conference will be chaired by respected humanitarian practitioner Wendy Fenton, Humanitarian Practice Network Coordinator at the Overseas Development Institute. Speakers will include:
• Angela Khudonazarova, Bid Manager for the engineering firm WSP, will identify some of the challenges in managing and implementating contracts that companies have when working in the humanitarian sector
• Darren Gill, Senior Consultant in Arup’s International Development team and Urban Portfolio Manager for Infrastructure and Cities for Economic Development, will discuss duty of care and liability when working in partnerships
• Tim Forster, Technical Engineering Advisor and Sustainability Lead for Oxfam, will discuss the partnership that Oxfam has recently established with a private sector partner, whose expertise can be incorporated in Oxfam’s ‘network design and sustainability’ project.
Invitations for this event are sent out on a rolling basis and priority is given to those who register their attendance early. If you are unable to attend in person, then you may sign up for an Online Ticket as the event will be livestreamed. If you have any questions, or any colleagues who wish to attend please get them to contact katie.bitten@redr.org.uk