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This document forms part of the 4th edition of the UNHCR Emergency Handbook and was generated from the digital
Emergency Handbook system.
Community based protection
Key points
Include all relevant actors in CBP activities: local institutions, State agencies, civil society
organizations and persons of concern, including persons with specific needs. Coordinate
with other national and international actors and avoid over-assessment.
Every community that faces threats develops forms of individual or collective
self-protection. These may or may not be effective, but it is important to identify and map
them.
Do not assume that all protection problems are due to displacement; some, including
domestic violence and ethnic and religious discrimination, are likely to have a longer
history.
Do not rush the process of building trust and engagement: it requires regular and
consistent involvement and communication with the community.
Do not make any promises to the community that you may not be able to keep.
1. Overview
Community-based protection (CBP) empowers communities to obtain their rights safely and with dignity.
Using CBP, crisis-affected communities and the humanitarian actors who assist them can identify a
community's most serious protection risks, explore their causes and effects, and jointly decide how to
prevent and respond to them. It achieves better protection impact and improves the lives of people of
concern.
UNCHR should adopt a community-based approach to all its work with the people it serves: this implies
that communities, through consultation and participation, engage meaningfully and substantively in all
aspects of programmes that affect them, and play a leading role in change. External inputs alone cannot
achieve sustained improvements in the lives of persons of concern.
CBP acknowledges that many protection problems pre-exist a humanitarian emergency, and may be
exacerbated by it. Relevant problems include: harmful practices, domestic violence, public violence and
criminal behaviour, neglect of persons with specific needs, and exclusion or discrimination on the basis
of gender, ethnicity or other grounds. It is therefore important to examine the role of communities
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critically, recognizing that they are sources of support and assistance but potentially also of threat and
harm.
CBP is therefore not just a matter of consulting communities, or their participation in rapid assessment
or information-gathering. It is a continuous process that eng--ages communities as analysts, evaluators
and implementers in their own protection. As such, it can and should be integrated into humanitarian
response programmes across sectors and in all humanitarian contexts.
2. When and for what purpose
The CBP policy is relevant to all humanitarian actors. When decisions are made to apply the policy,
bear contextual factors in mind and recognize that the extent of community participation will be
influenced by the nature of the emergency. In all contexts, nevertheless, a significant level of community
participation is possible and highly desirable. CBP aims to ensure that all persons of concern enjoy their
rights on an equal footing and can participate fully in decisions that affect them.
In life-threatening situations, quick action is needed and little time is available for consultation and
negotiation. In an emergency, where conditions change all the time and assessments must be updated
frequently, it is important to balance the time spent on situation analysis (including participatory
assessment and community mobilization) against their useful lifespan. Take every opportunity to meet
persons of concern. Though there may not be time to meet every group, assessments must include a
range of representatives from across the community. Do not rely solely on respondents who are easy to
reach, such as leaders or young men who can speak the languages spoken by humanitarian workers.
Talk as often as you can with women, girls, boys and men of different ages and backgrounds to gain a
comprehensive understanding of the situation.
3. Summary of guidance and/or options
Twelve principles underpin CBP.
1. CBP is a process, not a project.
2. Select community counterparts with care.
3. Communities are well placed to identify their protection challenges but external partners also have an
important role.
4. Effective protection interventions require accurate diagnosis.
5. Communities already employ protection measures.
6. Community work requires expertise and training.
7. Supportive supervision is essential.
8. Focus on protection.
9. Promote sustainability from the start.
10. Support and work with existing community and national structures.
11.
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11. Create an advocacy strategy for sustainable change.
12. Give attention to evaluation and reporting.
4. How to implement this at field level?
Identification and assessment procedures
Through field assessments with persons of concern, map existing agencies, services, and
community structures.
Conduct early, quick assessments to review protection risks and human rights violations before and
during the emergency. Analyse root causes from an age, gender and diversity perspective with the
aim of taking speedy remedial action and avoiding further abuses or displacement.
Carefully consider the security of community members who are consulted. Individuals or groups
communicating with aid agencies can become the object of resentment or even violence by other
individuals or groups. Sources of information should therefore be kept confidential. In particular when
working with local authorities in IDP contexts, ensure that individuals or communities do not face
repercussions because they discuss human rights violations.
Support services and care arrangements
Take immediate action to prevent family separation. Reunite families if possible, using
family-reunification procedures when necessary.
Quickly identify a diverse group in the community who are able and willing to organize community
support for those with specific needs, including temporary care arrangements for unaccompanied
children.
Include groups or persons with specific needs in decision making processes (unaccompanied and
separated children, persons with disabilities, elderly persons without family, and others who might be
marginalized or easily exploited).
Set up community-based systems that uphold respect for individual rights and provide protection and
care for groups with specific needs (see previous bullet point).
Prevention of abuse and exploitation
Take immediate steps to analyse, with the community, the particular protection risks facing women,
men, girls and boys, and identify ways to prevent and respond to sexual and gender based violence
(SGBV).
Set up a mechanism for identifying, with the community, groups and individuals who are at
heightened risk of SGBV.
Inclusion and information sharing
Regularly visit people in their shelters and homes. Make time to listen to people and communicate
important information to them directly.
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Establish locations where staff can make themselves available at regular times to gather information
on groups with specific needs, answer questions, or provide counselling in a safe and confidential
environment.
Establish specific emergency response plans with partners and the community.
Working with the community, put in place an information and communication mechanism to ensure
that everyone, including older women, persons with disabilities and other potentially marginalized
groups, have access to information on assistance and other issues. Post notices in places where
people are likely to meet, such as water-collection points, community centres, registration points, or
where assistance is distributed.
Set up mechanisms at community level to report protection incidents.
Awareness raising and advocacy
Set up community systems that uphold respect for individual rights, to identify and provide protection
and care for groups with specific needs (see above).
Avoid establishing patterns of behaviour or relationships during the emergency that might be difficult
to change later on. For example, do not communicate only with traditionally accepted leaders of a
community, or exclude women, older persons, and young adults. Make arrangements and review
them regularly. Make sure that persons of concern and staff are aware that arrangements made in an
emergency situation may change.
5. Links
Action Aid, Safety with Dignity - a field-based manual for integrating community-based protection across
humanitarian programs
IASC, Guidelines on Mental Health and Psycho-social Support in Emergency Settings, 2007
UNHCR, Response to the Tsunami Emergency in Indonesia and Sri Lanka, 2007
Community-based approaches and service delivery: Issues and options in difficult environments and
partnerships
6. Media
Introduction to Community Based Protection
Need help?
CONTACT As first port of call, the UNHCR Dep. Representative (Protection), UNHCR Asst. Rep.
(Protection), and/or Snr Protection Officer in the country; or The UNHCR Regional Asst./Dep Rep
(Protection) and/or Snr. Regional Protection Officer at the regional office (if applicable); or The Snr.
Regional Legal Advisor in the respective UNHCR regional bureau, covering the respective country
region, who in turn will liaise as required with the parent unit at UNHCR DIP.
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Version and document date
Version: 1.0
Document date: 04.10.2016
