Network Foundation Guide

A grounding in the humanitarian sector, the Connecting Business initiative, and the value of collective private sector action around DRM are all important to ensure private sector networks and other actors are building toward a common vision. This chapter will provide an overview of these topics, as well as available external resources.

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The resources in this chapter help answer the following questions:

1. What constitutes a humanitarian or natural disaster?

2. What are the 'humanitarian principles' and why are they important?

3. What is the basic humanitarian architecture and who are the key actors?

4. What are the vision, mission and objectives of CBi?

5. What is the value proposition of a private sector network for DRM as a platform for collective action and what are the roles and activities of these networks?

6. What are the requirements and types of support provided to networks by CBi?

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2. What are the 'humanitarian principles' and why are they important?

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<<THE HUMANITARIAN PRINCIPLES>>

 

Humanitarian actions are heavily informed and governed by the 'humanitarian principles.' For the humanitarian actors that will collaborate with private sector networks, these principles guide and underpin their work.

 

The humanitarian principles began with the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement and now guide the work of UN humanitarian agencies, as well as other global actors when responding to a disaster. Rooted in international humanitarian law, the principles were devised to guide the work of humanitarian actors and to ensure that the work they do can be clearly distinguished from the activities and objectives of political, military or other actors.[3] Please note that this guide is focused on natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes, hurricanes, floods) rather than conflicts or epidemics. However, the humanitarian principles will still be relevant to key partners of private sector networks even in these contexts.

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The Humanitarian Principles:

 

 

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