Recording now available: Webinar on Negotiating access for humanitarian protection

Access the video and audio recordings of the PHAP, NRC and GPC webinar that took place on 28 May

On 28 May, the second session of the PHAP, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the Global Protection Cluster (GPC) webinar series on access and protection focused on challenges that practitioners face when trying to gain or maintain access for protection, whether negotiating directly for protection programming access or negotiating for humanitarian access in general while considering protection concerns.

The session featured a panel of experienced practitioners who provided advice for both general types of challenges as well as the specific examples submitted by participants. First out during the live session was Paul White, ProCap Senior Protection Adviser who provided recommendation when faced with one of the most common issues faced when negotiating access − when authorities invite organizations to provide assistance following or during a crisis, but they do not want protection activities as part of this. He spoke on how best to start the conversation with authorities and gatekeepers on how protection can help and understanding the different agency cultures which change and develop and see which is best situated to assist in providing access for protection. Tiffany Easthom, Executive Director of Nonviolent Peaceforce, gave an overview of the considerations practitioners should make not of when reporting on protection concerns such as framing the concept of protection and reporting in the local context and amplifying the voices of those directly affected.  

Participants also had the opportunity to hear from Hichem Khadraoui, Director of Operations at Geneva Call, who advised on how to address being faced with restricted channels for access by conducting advance assessments and ensuring local authorities understand the principles the protection work is bound by. Jochen Riegg, Head of Field Coordination in the Access and Deconfliction Unit at OCHA Yemen, shared his views on the issue of not being able to include protection in needs assessments for fear of restricted access, based on his experience in negotiating access. 

If you missed the event, you can now access video recordings and audio podcasts versions of the session on the event page. For increased accessibility, the YouTube version has captions in English, French and Arabic.