Deployment Package for PSEA Coordinators - 2024 Revision [EN/AR]

INTRODUCTION

This tool provides guidance to PSEA Coordinators tasked with supporting and coordinating the inter-agency PSEA Program in country under Resident and/or Humanitarian Coordinators. While targeted to PSEA Coordinators who are dedicated full time to this role, the tool can be used by anyone who is coordinating PSEA work in country, e.g., PSEA Network co-chairs or PSEA Focal Points, or personnel from the RCO. While developed by the IASC this resource is relevant in development, peace and security, and humanitarian contexts alike. Because PSEA Coordinators are increasingly being placed in non-emergencies, and because PSEA Coordinators in emergencies likewise must work closely with development actors, this tool will reference development language and stakeholders throughout.

The Deployment Package is a practical resource for PSEA Coordinators that are getting started in their role. It compiles the questions that a recently deployed PSEA Coordinator needs to ask themselves and shows them where to find the answers by linking to core resources available. As such, the Deployment Package is not a compilation of all information that will support the work of the PSEA Coordinator over time but aims to cover the essentials to get started.

The package is structured around 4 key questions:

Part I: What is my role as a PSEA Coordinator?

Part II: Who do I work with?

Part III: What needs to be in place?

Part IV: How do I take care of myself?

These 4 questions are followed by links and introductions to global guidance and protocols, existing support networks, and specialized PSEA funds.

THE IN-COUNTRY PSEA PROGRAM

The in-country PSEA Program (hereafter “PSEA Program”) is the collective prevention and response approach to SEA at both the technical and strategic level. It encompasses the work of the PSEA Network and the senior-level body overseeing collective PSEA. The purpose of the country-level PSEA program is to strengthen collaboration between agencies to build capacity on PSEA within organizations. At the same time, strong internal PSEA capacity will strengthen the inter-agency agenda of the collective PSEA structure to deliver on PSEA commitments at country level. As shown in the diagram on the right, the PSEA Coordinator supports all facets of the Program on behalf of the RC/HC (or equivalent), who is ultimately accountable for collective PSEA. See Q3.1 for developing the Program and Q2.1 for the Leadership role.

THE PSEA COORDINATOR

The full-time independent inter-agency PSEA Coordinator role was endorsed by the Inter-agency Standing Committee (IASC) Principals in the 2016 Global Standard Operating Procedures on Inter-Agency Cooperation in Community-Based Complaint Mechanisms (Global SOPs), reinforced in the 2018 IASC Plan for Accelerating PSEA in Humanitarian Response at Countr y Level (IASC Acceleration Plan), and is now standard in the IASC 2022-2026 PSEAH Vision and Strategy.

While the requirement of a dedicated inter-agency PSEA Coordinator has been normalized in all humanitarian contexts, the minimum standards on PSEA and leadership responsibilities are the same in development, peacekeeping / peacebuilding, and humanitarian contexts alike. A dedicated PSEA Coordinator has been found critical to support and create momentum for any inter-agency PSEA program at the country level in all situations.

The standardized responsibilities of the inter-agency PSEA Coordinator are outlined in the Generic PSEA Coordinator TORs (rev. 2021). A global training for inter-agency PSEA Coordinators based on these TORs is available annually and in support of the IASC’s PSEA Coordinator Deployment Roster. As the training is carried out once a year and PSEA Coordinators need immediate guidance to get started, this Deployment Package is a complementary tool to the global training and is rooted in the Inter-Agency PSEA Coordinator TORs.

View the Deployment Package for PSEA Coordinators in French and Spanish