Rising to the challenge: Humanitarian action in the age of COVID-19

WHEN THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC CHALLENGED ITS ABILITY TO DEPLOY PROFESSIONAL HUMANITARIANS AROUND THE GLOBE, REDR QUICKLY ADAPTED, INCREASING ITS SUPPORT TO THE COMMUNITIES THAT NEEDED IT MOST.

As an organisation that responds to crises and conflict globally, it’s in RedR Australia’s DNA to stand by those most in need in the face of unprecedented humanitarian challenges.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been no different. As communities around the world have struggled, learned and found new ways to adapt, RedR Australia has risen to the challenge, staging an agile and flexible response to ever shifting circumstances and increasing the level of humanitarian support provided.

This hasn’t been without its hurdles. An independent review of RedR’s early response to the pandemic, in August 2020 found that the organisation initially faced difficulties deploying technical specialists around the world, a challenge which continues still, due to health and safety considerations, travel permissions and quarantine requirements. RedR’s risk and security team also had to negotiate additional insurance coverage to ensure roster members were adequately protected while on deployment.

Despite these challenges, RedR responded to growing humanitarian need, increasing the level of support provided globally throughout the pandemic. Between July 2020 and June 2021, RedR deployed 109 professional humanitarians through the Australian Government’s Australia Assists civilian deployment program, providing the equivalent of 523 months of support to 30 program partners in 26 countries across the Indo-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. This represented a15 per cent increase in deployment months compared to the previous year.

In line with Australian Government foreign policy to support regional recovery from the pandemic, 44 RedR specialists were deployed to directly assist with COVID-19 preparedness and response. This focus included RedR’s first clinical deployments, with two emergency nurses deployed to the UN’s International Organisation for Migration field hospital in Bangladesh, as well as an Infection, Prevention and Control Technical Advisor deployed to Papua New Guinea.

Australia Assists deployee Rowan is working with the Vanuatu Government as part of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout

As travel restrictions curtailed international movement, RedR quickly adapted, working with partners to implement remote deployments. Among the 48 deployees working remotely in the 2021 financial year, is management and engineering consultant Anne who has been working from Australia since April as a Projects Expert with the India-based Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), a partnership of national governments, UN agencies, multilateral development banks and the private sector across 28 countries.

Describing her remote deployment as “not too dissimilar to working in a consulting firm” where staff liaise with stakeholders in various locations, Anne is leading CDRI’s global transport sector resilience program, focusing on new and existing infrastructure systems that can withstand climate and other disaster hazards.

Working from her home in Melbourne, Anne is online in the late afternoons and evenings to align with her Indian colleagues’ schedules. In contrast to previous roles where she was on the ground in emergency settings, Anne said the advisory nature of her current deployment is well-suited to remote work.

“When I’m on a video call, I always ask questions in different ways to make sure the meaning is understood, and that I’m getting the correct answer,” she explained.

In Mauritius, where CDRI is undertaking a risk assessment of the national transport system, Anne is supporting local staff working to maintain and build climate-ready infrastructure. She has created templates and checklists for her colleagues to use in the field, so they can conduct assessments of ports, roads and bridges to an agreed standard in her absence.

As well the move to remote deployments, travel restrictions have also increased the impetus for RedR to diversify its roster of humanitarian professions and deploy more specialists within their own country. This has accelerated RedR’s long-standing localisation strategy, which seeks to strengthen local humanitarian capacity and leadership.

As part of this strategy, RedR piloted its first Pacific Essentials of Humanitarian Practice, co-designed and co-led by Pacific Islanders, for Pacific Islanders. Held in Suva, Fiji the course was delivered to 34 participants, including 28 Pacific Islanders, three of whom immediately joined the RedR roster and began long-term deployments assisting the governments of Vanuatu, Fiji, and Samoa.

In the last financial year, 12 RedR roster members deployed within their home country, while three more deployed to neighbouring nations. Seventeen per cent of all those deployed had the socio-cultural or linguistic background of the country of their deployment.

For instance, Vanuatu national Rowan has undertaken four deployments in the Pacific since 2019 and is currently supporting the Vanuatu Government in the country’s fight against COVID-19.

Australia Assists deployees Sharin and Rowan are supporting Vanuatu’s Ministry of Health COVID-19 response.

In his role as Logistics and Procurement Support Officer, Rowan is helping assess and set up vaccination sites across the country.

Meanwhile, Viliami is contributing to the national effort to strengthen disaster resilience and response systems in his native Tonga, working as a Cluster Coordinator with the National Emergency Management Office. He recently established a rapid assessment tool to help local responders better coordinate their efforts in the aftermath of a disaster.

To help build capacity for local deployments, RedR Australia has also recently established bilateral agreements with members of the RedR International network, opening up access to an internationally diverse pool of specialists to draw from. These agreements provide a foundation for RedR Australia to work with RedR Indonesia, RedR Malaysia and RedR India to strengthen the organisations’ collective vision for strengthening resilience in the Indo-Pacific region.

In the face of challenges that have might have severely curtailed its mission to deliver humanitarian support when and where it is needed most, RedR Australia is incredibly proud to have stayed the course during the global pandemic, not only maintaining but strengthening its commitment to partners and communities before, during and after crisis and conflict. •

CHRISTIE LONG, REDR AUSTRALIA

If you would like to find out more about joining the RedR Australia roster, building your skills through our training courses or donating, visit redr.org.au.