Protection Policy Paper

UNDERSTANDING
Division of International Protection
COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Division of International Protection
92, Rue de Montbrilliant, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Email: HQTS00@[Link]
Website: [Link]
The following people and organizations were extremely helpful in providing information
during the preparation of this policy paper:

African Refugee Women’s Association, Lilia Aporo, ASAIBA, Association of Refugees with
Disabilities, Francesca Bonelli, Kate Bourne, Eirin Broholm, Dale Buscher, Mark Canavera,
Sergio Castelbianco, Jackson Chekweko, Andres Celis, COCOMACIA, Community
Interpreters Association, Chris Dolan, Emma Fanning, Greg Garras, Diane Goodman, Kristin
Riis Halvorsen, Rachel Hastie, Stella Kabaganda, Joanina Karugaba, Esther Kiragu, Stefanie
Krause, Andrea Lari, Lou Lasap, Jessica Lenz, Sarah Lilley, Saskia Lookhart, Jane Lowicki-
Zucca, Jenny McAvoy, Cesar Mesa, Roberto Mignone, Terry Morel, Juliette Murekeyisoni,
Andrea Naletto, Devota Nuwe, Opcion Legal, Leloba Pahl, Peer Counselors Association,
Rachael Riley, Claudia Rincon, Lucy Shillingi, Amanda Solano, Dr. Kevin Tsatsiyo, Andrea
Protection Policy Paper
Vasquez, Dagmar Vorechovska, Gloria Mahlof Weiss, Mike Wessells, Women’s Refugee
Commission, Victims of Torture and Sexual Violence, Josep Zapater.
UNDERSTANDING
Special thanks to the following people for their contributions to the design of this document:
COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION
Aftyn Behn, Amisha Budhdeo, Shirley Camia, Anja Dietrich, Joanina Karugaba, Léa Piccot,
Nick Sore.

Cover photo : © UNHCR/Harandane Dicko About this paper

Malian refugees in Abala refugee camp, Niger, participate in a community led effort to raise
awareness of gender issues and successful management of household conflicts. For over a decade, UNHCR has used community-based approaches to strengthen
protection. Though the term ‘community-based protection’ (CBP) is not widely-used,
for humanitarian organisations the concepts and approaches are familiar. Drawing on
documents, interviews with practitioners and field visits, this document sets out key
lessons that have emerged in recent years during the delivery of CBP. It aims to help
UNHCR staff and partners at all levels to integrate community-based approaches to
protection in their humanitarian work.

Any part of this document may be reproduced, translated into other languages or
adapted to meet local needs without prior permission of UNHCR, provided that all parts
are distributed free of charge and UNHCR is acknowledged.

©2013, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Division of International Protection

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
92, Rue de Montbrilliant, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland
Email: HQTS00@[Link],
Website: [Link]
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction..............................................................................................................................................5

Key Lesson 1...............................................................................................................................................9

COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION IS A PROCESS, NOT A PROJECT

Key Lesson 2............................................................................................................................................14

SELECT COMMUNITY COUNTERPARTS WITH CARE

Key Lesson 3............................................................................................................................................18

COMMUNITIES ARE WELL PLACED TO IDENTIFY THEIR PROTECTION CHALLENGES
BUT EXTERNAL PARTNERS ALSO HAVE AN IMPORTANT ROLE

Key Lesson 4...........................................................................................................................................20

EFFECTIVE PROTECTION INTERVENTIONS REQUIRE ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS

Key Lesson 5...........................................................................................................................................23

COMMUNITIES ALREADY EMPLOY PROTECTION MEASURES

Key Lesson 6...........................................................................................................................................25

COMMUNITY WORK REQUIRES EXPERTISE AND TRAINING

Key Lesson 7............................................................................................................................................28

SUPPORTIVE SUPERVISION IS ESSENTIAL

Key Lesson 8..........................................................................................................................................30

FOCUS ON PROTECTION

Key Lesson 9............................................................................................................................................33

PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY FROM THE START

Key Lesson 10..........................................................................................................................................37

SUPPORT AND WORK WITH EXISTING COMMUNITY AND NATIONAL STRUCTURES

Key Lesson 11..........................................................................................................................................40

DEVELOP AN ADVOCACY STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE CHANGE

Key Lesson 12.........................................................................................................................................43

© UNHCR/Nick Sore

GIVE ATTENTION TO EVALUATION AND REPORTING

Conclusion................................................................................................................................................47

Bibliography...........................................................................................................................................48
Syrian, Iraqi and Jordanian participants of the Global Refugee Youth Consultations, national
consultation in Amman, Jordan in 2015.

UNHCR 3
 UNDERSTANDING
COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION

© UNHCR/ Nick Sore

I - INTRODUCTION

Over time, UNHCR has strengthened the rights-based foundations of its work. UNHCR
considers that its mandate is to work with refugees, stateless and internally displaced
persons (IDPs) to ensure they can fulfil their rights (rather than to assist “beneficiaries”).
These rights include the right of every person to participate in deciding and shaping
their lives. Reflecting its mandate, UNHCR has therefore adopted a community-based
approach to working with all the people it serves, based on consultation and participation,
irrespective of sex, age, ethnicity and other attributes.

Through the systematic application of an age, gender and diversity (AGD) approach,
UNHCR seeks to ensure that all persons of concern enjoy their rights on an equal footing
and are able to participate fully in the decisions that affect their lives. The AGD policy is
inseparable from UNHCR’s overall commitment to a rights-based approach.1

Beyond the rights-based logic of CBP, it is recognised that external inputs alone cannot
achieve sustained improvements in the lives of persons of concern. Long term improvement
can only be achieved in close partnership with the communities and individuals that
UNHCR serves, and depends essentially on engaging their own talents and capacity for
self-reliance.

WHAT IS A COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACH?

In both relief and development work, the term ‘community-based approach’ implies that
communities engage meaningfully and substantially in all aspects of programmes that
affect them, strengthening the community’s leading role as a driving force for change.
Too often, staff members consult communities or their representatives about concerns
they have, but then develop and implement projects without further involvement by the
concerned community. While this is clearly better than no consultation at all, it is not a
community-based approach. To be truly community-based, programmes must involve
affected groups in a community at every stage: in assessment, diagnosis, prioritization,

At the Global Refugee Youth Consultations, national consultation in Kampala, Uganda in 2015, 1 For a full discussion, see Section 2 of UNHCR, A Community-based Approach in UNHCR Operations, 2008

participants from the DRC, South Sudan, Somalia and Uganda worked together to identify components
of their communities, and some of the challenges that youth face within them.

UNHCR 5
 design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.2 The approach emphasizes the WHAT DO WE MEAN BY COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION?
community’s self-determination and capacity, but does not remove the need for formal
protection mechanisms or imply that communities are expected to be completely self- The International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent has described the
sufficient. Communities may still need technical and material support for a long period. Nor protection required by people in humanitarian situations in terms of a “protection egg”.
is the approach a low-cost alternative, although outcomes are likely to be more sustainable The egg has three levels, which require three levels of action.3
in the long run because strong communities require less external intervention and support.
A community-based approach also means that forms of protection which focus on finding First, it is necessary to provide services that are urgently needed to prevent threats and
solutions can be undertaken from a much earlier stage. abuses and address immediate effects. Second, agencies need to implement programmes
that enable people to improve their situation and restore their dignity. At the third level,
action is required to change underlying circumstances that obstruct the ability of people
WHAT IS PROTECTION? to realize and enjoy their human rights. Each of these three levels of intervention will be
strengthened if communities are actively involved in identifying and designing responses
Agencies may define the content of ‘protection’ in different ways. However, there is a to the threats they face. Development and humanitarian programmes have increasingly
core common area: all agencies agree that persons of concern must be protected from emphasized community participation. However, humanitarian professionals are still
persistent internal or external violence or threats of violence, and their effects, and from learning how and when to use the approach. CBP puts the capacities, agency, rights and
coercion and systematic deprivation of basic rights. For UNHCR, ‘protection’ covers all dignity of persons of concern at the centre of programming. It generates more effective
activities that aim to achieve full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with and sustainable protection outcomes by identifying protection gaps through consultation
the letter and spirit of human rights, refugee, statelessness and international humanitarian and strengthening local resources and capacity.
law. It requires the creation of an environment that is conducive to preventing or alleviating
the immediate effects of a specific pattern of abuse, and restoring human dignity through At the most basic level, it is essential to understand communities in order to avoid harm
reparation, restitution and rehabilitation. and ensure that programmes do not inadvertently leave people and communities worse
off. Engaging communities in their own protection also prepares them for return and other
Protection may be required in several humanitarian contexts. It affects refugees and durable solutions.
IDPs, and is relevant throughout all phases of conflict as well as during natural disasters,
whether these are emergencies or protracted. Protection responses may also be required While ‘protection mainstreaming’ analysis identifies risks and makes sure that programmes
for stateless persons, including both those in a migratory context and for those who have supplying water, sanitation, livelihoods and other services do not create protection risks
never left their own country. Human beings naturally form communities, and this remains as a side effect, community-based protection uses a community-based approach to
true when they are uprooted, living in camps or settlements, living on the margins of society, programming specifically to address protection issues that a community faces. Moreover,
or, increasingly, living in host communities. With some important exceptions, a community- it is essential that this protection mainstreaming analysis is implemented with an AGD
based approach to protection is appropriate in most situations, and can generate more perspective, in order to ensure gender equality and the inclusion of women, men, girls and
effective protection and sustainable solutions. boys of all ages and diverse backgrounds. Working from an AGD perspective also implies
including, on an equal basis, all persons of concern with specific needs (for example,
LGBTI4 persons and older persons, persons with disabilities, persons belonging to ethnic,
religious or linguistic minorities, and indigenous peoples).

The link between communities and protection is mutually reinforcing. Working through
community mechanisms enhances protection, and enhanced protection strengthens
communities.

2 For more information, see Section 3 of UNHCR, A Community-based Approach in UNHCR Operations, 2008. 3 International Committee of the Red Cross, Professional Standards for Protection Work, 2013.
4 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex.

6 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 7

I I - KEY LESSONS OF COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION KEY LESSON 1

Many lessons may clearly be drawn from the excellent work of UNHCR, its partners, and
other organizations that apply CBP. The points highlighted here are applicable in many COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION IS A PROCESS,
contexts.5
NOT A PROJECT
Participants of the Global Refugee Youth Consultations, national consultation in Kampala,
Uganda 2015. On the final day of the Consultation, youth receive certificates of participation Perhaps the most important thing to remember, and ensure that partners and allies
from representatives of the national partner, COBURWAS, UNHCR Uganda and the Women’s understand, is that the adoption of a rights-based approach through community engagement
Refugee Commission. is neither a short-term commitment nor a phase in programme implementation. It is a
methodology for sustained protection work that puts the community at the centre.6

Too often, community engagement is fulfilled by brief meetings with community groups
that generate lists of needs and complaints, whereas it needs to be a jointly developed
programme of action that enhances protection. A community-based approach includes
meaningful community engagement with each of the following familiar programme elements:
• An initial, and then regular, analysis of the current situation.
• Agree on priorities.
• Design and implementation of responses or interventions.
• Monitoring of implementation and adjustment of interventions as needed.
• Evaluation and reporting of results.

Experienced protection officers estimate that the process of getting to know a community,

© UNHCR/ Nick Sore

and developing a plan for its protection, may require six months to a year of continual
learning and engagement. The time spent on developing trust, understanding and capacity
should not be considered separate from the “real work” of implementation.
It is the foundation for a community-based approach, and can itself improve protection
as the community comes together and people gain awareness of their rights, develop
responses, and learn where and how to seek assistance.

5 For additional information on how international assistance is viewed by those on the ‘receiving end’, see CDA, 6 For a good guide to processes, see ActionAid, Safety with Dignity: A Field Manual for Integrating Community

Collaborative Learning Projects: The Listening Project. Based Protection across Humanitarian Programs, 2010.

“ “
You can’t build trust in a community if you only go
Staff need to really spend time in communities, not in to get information without returning to provide
just be a cloud of dust from a white car. feedback and information.
UNHCR staff member UNHCR staff member

8 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 9

 Sustained engagement with a community may involve several people and agencies, so •• Donors need to understand the nature of a community-based approach to protection,
must be coordinated closely. NGOs may be the primary programme implementers and and must also give it time to work.
point of contact, but UNHCR staff members must ensure they are present frequently
enough to build their own relationships with the community, monitor implementation, and •• Organizing, analysing and planning can be empowering and healing for refugees and
understand the evolving context. IDPs, as they begin to regain a sense of control over their own lives.

•• A systemic approach to protection is essential, both to achieving sustainability and

KEEP IN MIND
mobilizing communities to be the drivers of change.
•• You may avoid some initial missteps if you acquire an understanding of a community’s
composition, history and context before your first contact or visit.

•• Engagement may be a slow process, requiring patience and respect for the Colombia
community’s own pace of change. Where communities are under threat or already
disrupted, building relationships may take even longer.
UNHCR has a well-established CBP programme in Colombia, with ten field
offices, built up under three successive Representatives.
•• Trust will be enhanced if the same staff members are regularly involved and what they
say to the community is consistent. Work with an indigenous community began in Quibdó when a community
organization asked UNHCR to help the community remain on its territory.
Initially, UNHCR made periodic visits. Its basic message was: “We don’t provide
•• Repeated training and practice sessions will be needed to enable communities
the stomach; we provide the mind. If the mind is full, it can figure out how to fill
to participate effectively in all aspects of a programme. Members of the community the stomach.”
will differ in their visibility, capacity and power. Skilful outreach and facilitation will be
required to ensure that all relevant points of view are heard. After about a year, the community organization presented UNHCR with a
handwritten plan. UNHCR staff helped the community understand its rights and
•• Dialogue and consensus-building skills will be needed to move community meetings authority under Colombia’s constitution. This enabled the community to meet
with a broader group of communities to discuss protection strategies and other
from ‘wish lists’ to a shared analysis. This should consider: protection challenges and
governance issues. The communities agreed to build three shelters at spots on
their underlying causes; desired outcomes and priorities for action; and responses
their territory that were close to population centres with telecommunications and
implemented by the community.7 other sources of potential assistance. At the request of the communities, UNHCR
provided modest material assistance to help them erect these structures, ran
•• UNHCR and partners should be transparent about the limits of their capacity (notably participatory assessments every six months, and gave training - including on
with regard to budget limitations, legal restrictions, and mandates). gender and sexual and gender based violence - that helped to empower women
in the communities.
•• To sustain trust and rapport, it is vital to ensure that UNHCR and partners follow up all UNHCR has stood alongside the indigenous community, and advocated on its
the commitments they make. behalf, when it called on the State to protect and fulfil human rights. UNHCR and
the community have now worked together for seven years, and have developed
•• UNHCR and partners may need to provide coaching, to help their staff adjust to forms a high degree of trust. In a district that sees frequent mass displacements, the
of decision-making that are shared with refugees and IDPs. community is undivided and remains on its traditional lands.

•• Community consultations may fail if they are abridged because staff of UNHCR or its
partners are pressed for time or fail to allocate the time needed.

7 For more information, refer to section 3.1.4, on Participatory assessment, expectations, time and resources, of

the UNHCR, Community-based Approach in UNHCR Operations, 2008.

10 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 11

 SAMPLE TIMELINE FOR INITIAL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Month 7 Select representatives. Schedule a meeting and
work with representatives to develop the action plan. Agree

MONTH 7
The timeline below is illustrative. Many local factors will influence a with them who will be responsible for material contributions
and implementation; desired outcomes and how progress
real timeline.
towards them will be measured; and how community
representatives will communicate information on the action
plan to the wider community.

MONTHS 8-12
Month 1 Learn as much as possible about the community Month 8-12 Start implementing the action plan. Maintain
before visiting. Learn its history; consider community regular contact with community representatives and periodic
MONTH 1

structures and organizations; identify formal and informal contact with wider community. Monitor implementation and
leaders; study how decisions are made; list other agencies track the agreed indicators.
working in the area and in the community. Identify national
institutions or programmes that can help to address

MONTH 13
community needs and concerns. Month 13 Convene a meeting with the community to evaluate
progress to date and decide next steps. Present achievements
against objectives; discuss challenges; adjust implementation
Month 2 Make an initial visit. Meet the community’s leaders; as needed.
validate or correct your research findings; explain how
UNHCR works and the CBP approach; clarify what kinds of
MONTH 2

MONTH 16
assistance UNHCR can and cannot provide. Ask whether Month 16 Adjust the membership of the representatives
the community is interested in working with UNHCR and its group as needed; develop plans for Year 2 and conduct a
partners. If it is, explain participatory assessment in detail and Participatory Assessment using an AGD approach.
what preparations the community needs to make. Agree a
time for a participatory assessment (PA).

Month 3-4 Spend as much time as possible in the community.

Continue to seek out leaders or representatives of various
MONTH 3-4

community populations. Using the AGD process, ensure that

groups selected for the PA are representative and diverse,
and include the most vulnerable populations. Conduct the
PA. Summarize its findings in a report the community will find
accessible.

Month 5-6 Work with leaders to schedule a feedback and

planning meeting. Ensure all groups are notified and able to
attend. Present the PA findings and explain which issues fall
within UNHCR’s mandate. Together with the community, use
MONTH 5-6

PA results to identify protection threats. Be sure to probe for

underlying issues and causes (see Key Lesson 2). Work with
the community to set priorities, based on the community’s
own assessments and UNHCR’s ability to deliver. Agree on a
process for selecting community representatives to develop
and monitor an action plan, and mechanism(s) for informing
the larger community going forward.

12 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 13

 KEY LESSON 2 It is not possible to work directly with every person in a community. Though it is important
to keep the entire community informed by means of open meetings or other channels, for
practical reasons it will be necessary to work with a small group of people who represent
the community’s views and make decisions on its behalf. The selection of community
SELECT COMMUNITY COUNTERPARTS WITH CARE representatives is therefore critical. It is important to understand a community’s dynamics
before deciding how selection will occur, since a poorly designed process may increase
inequality or insecurity. The views of marginalized groups need to be represented,
alongside recognised leaders. AGD analysis8 and regular interaction with the community
can help to identify potential representatives of these groups.

© UNHCR/ Shirley Camia

Odette, refugee and former school teacher is now a Social Affair
Representative in the Camp Executive Committee in Kigeme
Refugee Camp, Rwanda. She explained her crucial role: “People
see me here when they have problems getting their food. I help
KEEP IN MIND
them. I am happy when we get our food on time. When we don’t,
that can lead to insecurity in the camp.” •• Those who put themselves forward as ‘community leaders’, may not have the backing or
the trust of their community. Sound selection depends on having a good understanding
of the community, and the various groups that compose it, and asking members of
those groups who they consider to be their leaders.9

•• Good coordination will ensure that agencies work coherently with community leaders
and do not promote rivalries that create instability or problems of security.

•• Even when representatives have been selected carefully, it is risky to rely completely
on them. Their motivations, or the needs of the community, may change. Maintain
contact with the wider community to ensure that all relevant points of view continue to
be represented effectively.

•• Do not rely exclusively on community leaders to select participants for trainings and
other projects, because they may not take account of the interests of all groups in
the society.

•• People naturally form groups when they are displaced, but these may be discriminatory:
before supporting new groups, assess them carefully.

•• Community members may need training to enable them to participate on an equal

basis with agency or government counterparts. Populations that have frequently been
excluded from such processes, and therefore lack experience, are particularly likely to
need training. Don’t set them up to fail.

“ It is very important to talk to the right people. During community activities you
can only speak with some people, you need to be attentive. You need to know
the opinion leaders, cultural leaders, influential figures, and the dynamics of the
community. It is important to be inside – to have local staff who have been there a
long time, who are talking with people, and have a good sense of how to operate.
UNHCR staff member
8 Please refer to “Age, gender and diversity analysis”, section 2.3.3 of the UNHCR, Community-based Approach

in UNHCR Operations, 2008; and to the UNHCR Need to Know Guidance Series (see bibliography).
9 Please refer to sections 3.2.1, “Community mapping of management structures”, and 3.2.2, “Community-based

representation”, of the UNHCR, Community-based Approach in UNHCR Operations, 2008.

14 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 15

 •• Adolescents are frequently omitted from both child and adult programmes, although
they are exposed to a range of serious protection threats. Different approaches may
be needed to ensure that they are represented. Nepal
•• The needs of women and girls tend to be neglected and are a priority for UNHCR Many community-based programmes find that it is difficult to involve persons
and many agencies. However, focusing on them and excluding other groups can with disabilities (PwD) in a meaningful way.
create tensions and lead agencies to overlook other important protection threats.
In communities marked by gender inequality, take care to build broad support for About 10 per cent of the people in Nepal’s refugee camps have been identified
as having a disability (close to global estimates). Many have hearing or speech
programmes that empower women.
impairments. As elsewhere, people with disabilities, especially women and girls,
are at particular risk of sexual and gender based violence (SGBV), but victims
•• Get to know the community well. This will enable you to identify community groups and of SGBV in Nepal’s camps were frequently unprotected because they could not
associations that are trusted and should be involved in arrangements for community communicate with the authorities or service providers. Many other needs were
representation or programme implementation. unmet for the same reason. Few officials or PwDs had learned sign language.

With its partners, UNHCR developed an alternative communications toolkit

•• Establish clear terms of reference for community representatives and committees and using images, and taught people how to use it. Over time, in consultation with
for external partners, including UNHCR itself. persons with disabilities, UNHCR trained a pool of teachers and interpreters
in sign language, and taught basic sign language to service providers and
•• Payment of community representatives in effect endorses their performance. This family members. In parallel, UNHCR ensured that persons with disabilities were
needs to be undertaken with caution, for example, if these community representatives represented in the community structures of the camp.
are not highly regarded in their community, such endorsement can undermine the
credibility of community consultations.

Chad
In one of Chad’s refugee camps, one group of refugees, the blacksmiths, were
considered by the other refugees to be from a lower class. They were excluded
from all decision-making processes and were not even allowed to participate in
gatherings organized by the community leaders.

Humanitarian workers helped the blacksmiths to organize themselves and

resume work. They quickly became one of the first groups to be productive
and generate income. Visitors to the camp were encouraged to meet them
and, because the community leaders accompanied the visitors, they began to
discover the value of the group’s work. Community leaders then encouraged the
blacksmiths to come to community meetings, which gradually led to their direct
participation in camp-leadership discussions.

“ Everyone wanted to work with the women. Men got

angry and became a protection threat.
UNHCR staff member

16 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 17

 KEY LESSON 3 Humanitarian professionals work first to guarantee the physical safety of people, then to
meet their basic needs sustainably (food and shelter), and finally to create an environment
in which the full range of human rights is protected. However, a refugee, stateless or IDP
community may rank the urgency of protection issues differently, and in fact members of
the community may not be fully aware of the legal status underlying their predicament,
COMMUNITIES ARE WELL PLACED TO IDENTIFY as is often the case with stateless persons. They may give an equal or higher priority to
cultural or spiritual concerns relative to personal safety or material needs. In addition, the
THEIR PROTECTION CHALLENGES BUT EXTERNAL community may not even recognize some threats that external professionals consider to
PARTNERS ALSO HAVE AN IMPORTANT ROLE be urgent, such as sexual and gender based violence. Groups within a community (men
and women, children and adults) may also prioritize protection challenges differently.

To create a successful protection environment, all perceived threats should be considered.

© UNHCR/ R. Arnold
As discussed above, it is also vital to give less visible, less powerful and marginalized
community members opportunities to participate, because they may have specific needs
and concerns. Where an agency differs from the community in its perception of threats, the
community’s priorities may need to be tackled first in order to alleviate anxiety, build trust
and show results in areas that matter to them. An exception should be made, nevertheless,
when there is a threat of imminent physical harm or other acute protection challenge.
This must be given priority, and the community must be persuaded to accept that. Where
a community proposes action that violates international human rights standards, the
community should be encouraged to take a different approach. Displaced communities can
frequently be open to new ways of handling issues that agencies sometimes incorrectly
assume are cultural or social norms. Overall, priorities that the community identifies need to
be balanced against organizational capacity and the judgment of protection professionals.

KEEP IN MIND
•• Skilled facilitation, usually over several sessions, can enable communities to
understand, identify and prioritize protection concerns more accurately. Do not expect
to generate a well-reasoned list of priority actions in a single meeting. Plan to work
with communities over time to identify problems that are immediately apparent and
also problems that are unrecognized, below the surface, or are experienced only by
subgroups. Take time to analyse the underlying or shared causes of these problems.

•• Communities may need introductory training. Training in gender equality may help them
to recognize gender-related threats. Training in protection may help them distinguish
economic issues from issues of safety and security.
UNHCR Consultations with stateless children and youth in Malaysia.
•• A rights-based approach may not align with the community’s own perception of threat.
If this occurs, do not abandon the commitment to rights but work with the community,
while linking the threats they identify to violations of rights. Understanding of a rights-

“
based approach can form over time.

We were surprised to find in UNHCR an ally for •• Even when a community recognizes threats that are sensitive (such as SGBV), it may not
the community’s objectives. Previously we had not be willing to address them at once. Resistance may be even stronger if men or boys are
trusted outsiders. But now we have an important victims of SGBV. The commitment to rights is an obligation; implementing it is a matter of
judgement. Not dealing with sensitive issues is a decision and sends the message that
foundation to be able to trust in a crisis situation.
some rights are less important and can be ignored if they generate discomfort.
Indigenous community leader

18 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 19

 KEY LESSON 4 One of the most important benefits of allocating time to understand the community and
develop its capacity is that you are more likely to identify correctly both its protection
problems and solutions with them.

The Participatory Assessment10 process is likely to reveal many perceived threats as well
EFFECTIVE PROTECTION INTERVENTIONS REQUIRE as other issues of concern to the community. Further analysis will be needed to decide
ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS which are the most pressing, whether there are shared underlying causes, the degree
to which issues fall within UNHCR’s mandate, and what interventions are feasible. In
addition, threats (including serious ones) that early consultations with the community did
not identify may need to be introduced in a sensitive manner.

© UNHCR/ Nick Sore

Participating youth from the South Sudanese, Somali, Ugandan and DRC communities are
considering youth issues in their communities and reporting findings to the wider group at the
Global Refugee Youth Consultations, national consultation in Kampala, Uganda in 2015. Sound decisions on what action is appropriate in a given community require a good
understanding of the culture and structures of the society in question. UNHCR and
partner staff will bring knowledge and ideas about what has worked (and not worked)
elsewhere, but collaboration with the community is needed to decide on an approach
that fits the particular context.

Because situations may change rapidly, assessment should be dynamic and subject to
regular re-evaluation, even when threats have been diagnosed carefully and accurately.
A minor risk may become a threat, a serious risk may recede, and entirely new dangers
may emerge. The need to adapt to changing circumstances also means that programmes
and budgets must allow for changes of course.

KEEP IN MIND
•• Do not over-emphasise vulnerable categories. If you do, you may overlook other acute
needs or less visible groups (e.g., male victims of sexual violence).

•• Many protection problems, such as family violence or ethnic discrimination, may

have existed before displacement. If such issues are treated as consequences of
displacement, your analysis and understanding of cause will be distorted.

•• Even the most successful models from other contexts are unlikely to produce similar
results if they are simply copied. Use community engagement methods to analyse the
local situation and adapt models to fit the context.

•• Much intra-community violence may in fact target women or children. In many cases,
nevertheless, the most effective strategy may be to address abuse and violence

“
broadly. Singling out women and children can put them at greater risk or alienate them
from the community.
A community-based approach provides a better
analysis of the problem so that state and international
response is based on the real needs and perspectives
and interests of the people. 10 UNHCR, The UNHCR Tool for Participatory Assessment in Operations, 2006.

UNHCR staff member

20 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 21

 KEY LESSON 5
Gabon
In Gabon, as a result of participatory assessments, a ‘comité de quartier’ was COMMUNITIES ALREADY EMPLOY PROTECTION
established to address protection needs identified by the community. The
committee was formed to help improve relationship between refugees and MEASURES
host communities, including local authorities, and to reduce harassment by law
enforcement agents. The committee also facilitated better access for refugees
to socio-economic infrastructures and livelihood opportunities.

Participatory assessments led refugees to become actively involved in

programme design, implementation and monitoring, and strengthened the
identification of vulnerable groups. Refugees’ involvement improved the
targeting of assistance, especially to young mothers, and reduced the rate of
forced prostitution among women and girls.

Colombia
An indigenous community in Colombia in the midst of a complex conflict situation
identified forced recruitment of adolescents as one of two primary protection
threats. Through an AGD process, young people said that the absence of
organized activities for them was a major risk factor for recruitment. They asked
for initial support to create a film club and took full responsibility for operating it.

In addition to keeping them busy, the film club gave young adults the opportunity
to develop skills and self-confidence, which increased their ability to resist
recruitment. In a different context, the formation of a film club might be just a

© UNHCR/ R. Arnold
youth development activity. In this case, it directly addressed a threat which the
community had prioritized. Artee, a stateless girl from Thailand, is one of the leaders of the student volunteer project to help
underprivileged people in the community. At this Mother’s Day celebration at school, she organized
the distribution of shoes donated by a local TV station to poor students. As she explained: “I don’t
This example partially draws on an external evaluation by Ursula Mendoza and
have money so I help with the passion of my heart (…). I also help people with disabilities, and counsel
Virginia Thomas: see, UNHCR, AGDM Evaluation: A Participatory Evaluation of students with drug addiction problems to come back to school”.
AGDM results in Four Colombian Communities.

Every community that faces threats engages in forms of individual or collective self-
protection. These may be complex, for example involving negotiations with armed groups,
or simple and pragmatic, such as going out only in groups. Strategies may or may not
be effective, but it is important to identify and understand them. If external agencies
introduce new protection measures without considering existing ones, the community
may lose its own capacity to protect itself and may be worse off when external inputs
are reduced. It will be useful to understand the security strategies that communities used

22 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 23

 before they were displaced, as well as those they develop to deal with threats associated
KEY LESSON 6
with dislocation. In particular, communities that were recently dislocated may be able to
employ or revitalize these strategies usefully in their new setting. An effort should also be
made to identify and make use of any unused capacity to cope with protection threats.

Some coping strategies are harmful. Reducing movement to avoid conflict or protect members COMMUNITY WORK REQUIRES EXPERTISE AND
of the household may reduce income or food production. Sex may be exchanged for food or
other necessities. As comprehensive protection approaches are developed with the community, TRAINING
it will be important to replace harmful community protection measures or mitigate their effects.11

KEEP IN MIND
•• Women may be more resilient than men during displacement. Men may experience a
profound loss of identity when they lose their work or standing in the community, and
their responses to this experience can create protection threats for women and children.

•• Host communities and officials should be reminded regularly that refugee and IDP
communities are willing and able to help protect their members. When they do so,
it can reduce resentment and the perception by persons of concern that they are
dependant and lack resources of their own.

•• Refugees and displaced persons frequently establish community-based groups or

committees, from a desire to talk to like-minded people or to address shared problems.
These groups often act to strengthen protection responses and advocacy. They may
facilitate the creation of national networks linking groups of people with similar interests.

© UNHCR/Andrew McConnell
Yemen. Improving community-based child care
When UNHCR met with a women’s association in an urban refugee community
in Yemen, it learned that women were tying their children to the bed to try to
keep them “safe” while they were out at work. IDP women in Mingkaman Camp, South Sudan meet to discuss a sexual and gender-based violence.
Recognizing that this well-intentioned solution was dangerous, UNHCR worked This is an opportunity to raise awareness and educate the community on topics that are taboo in
with a community-based partner organization to establish a kindergarten where the local culture.
women could leave their children safely. Since the women were working, they
could pay a small fee for this service.
UNHCR supported the project for three months, after which the women’s
association took over management of the kindergarten from the partner

“
organization. Demand for child care services increased, and other groups of
women subsequently established home-based day care services. In this way,
they resolved the child care problem and generated some income.
Staff need skills to interact with different cultures and
environments. We need to find a new way to transmit values – it
can’t be done in a training. It’s like driving. Theoretical knowledge
11 For a detailed discussion of how to identify community strategies, see ActionAid, Safety with Dignity, Step 2, 2010 is not enough - we need to be with them as they work.
UNHCR supervisor

24 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 25

 Community-based approaches require a range of skills from staff in UNHCR and KEEP IN MIND
implementing partners. Staff need to have expertise in protection, and be able to work
sensitively with people who may be quite different from themselves. Newly arrived •• New and inexperienced staff will need comprehensive training, which should cover at
young staff may have enthusiasm, energy and fresh ideas, but lack experience of work least some of the following topics:
with refugees or communities. Staff who have always lived in urban areas may have • The Age, Gender Equality and Diversity Policy.
preconceptions about rural people. Any ingrained negative values, such as devaluing • Use of UNHCR tools.
the opinions of women, need to be examined and countered. Supervisors may be very • The rights-based approach.
experienced but eager to delegate fieldwork to junior staff who are not yet ready to work • Strategic thinking.
on their own; they need to ensure that staff are adequately prepared for community- • UNHCR’s Code of Conduct.
based work. • Gender issues.
• Facilitation and consensus building.
All staff who work directly with communities will need strong facilitation and consensus-
• Advocacy.
building skills. Training programmes provide a foundation but cannot take the place of close
• Rights and responsibilities of persons of concern.
mentoring by people with experience of facilitating dialogue and reaching agreements with
a community. Staff will also need strong analytical abilities to diagnose protection threats •• Even experienced staff may need training or materials in specific areas, as community
and underlying issues, advocacy skills, and a capacity to understand and work in diverse work proceeds.12 Topics might include:
cultures and societies. They need to be willing to travel and live in rough environments.
• Working with People with Disabilities.
Perhaps most important, staff at all levels must be truly respectful in their attitudes to • Addressing sexual and gender based violence (against males and females).
communities with which they aspire to work in partnership. The leadership of the UNHCR • The meaningful participation of children.
representative can be important in this respect. By visiting camps and participating in • Reintegration of demobilized child soldiers and others who have been
community forums and AGD processes, she or he communicates both to her or his staff forcibly recruited.
and to the community that community engagement is a priority for UNHCR. Staff members • Working with indigenous communities.
signal how much they value the communities in which they work by the quality of the • Working with LGBTI groups.
relationships they build and the frequency and seriousness of their visits.
•• Both staff and partners will benefit from a supervisory structure that encourages them
UNHCR’s implementing partners are often the faces that a community sees most often. As to consult on challenges, problem solving, and seek help when they are in danger
implementers of UNHCR projects, they need to demonstrate the same skills and attitudes of burnout.
as UNHCR staff, and should be selected carefully. UNHCR may need to provide training
to ensure that its partners understand and uphold UNHCR’s values with respect to gender •• Many protection staff members have a strong legal background. This is important
equality, democratic participation, and other human rights. Regular monitoring will be for some aspects of their work but it will be necessary to foster the facilitative and
required to ensure that partners retain their attitudes and skills over time as their staff consultative skills they need to undertake community work.
change or rotate.
•• Staff need to understand that their role is to support and catalyse action by the
Finally, both female and male staff in an office need to have the skill set to work effectively community, rather than implement themselves.
with communities. Decisions on whether a male or female staff member should take the
lead in interacting with a given group can have a profound positive or negative impact on
the quality of the relationship that is established. Such decisions need to be taken with
care based on an analysis of context and cultural norms.

12 Some of these topics are covered in UNHCR’s Need to Know Guidance Series. See also, UNHCR, Listen and

Learn: Participatory Assessment with Children and Adolescents, 2012.

26 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 27

 KEY LESSON 7 Where supervisors are not convinced of the value or efficacy of CBP, it will be extremely
difficult to initiate and sustain.

KEEP IN MIND
SUPPORTIVE SUPERVISION IS ESSENTIAL
•• Supervisors who lack extensive direct experience of a community-based approach
may need to be sensitized to its importance. They should ensure that experienced staff
are on hand to mentor junior staff on their community work.

© UNHCR/Elena Dorfman
•• All the materials in an office that pertain to CBP should be grouped and easily accessible
to all staff.

•• The departure of a supportive supervisor is a vulnerable moment for CBP programmes.

A new supervisor who is less committed or committed to different priorities can quickly
undo months of painstaking work to build trust and relationships with the community.

This soccer team is part of a youth empowerment program in Lebanon. Three

times a week this team, comprised of both Syrian and Lebanese players, gets
together to practice and play games. The team has gained support and fans from
both Syria and Lebanon.

One of the most critical elements for successful CBP in a UNHCR office is continuing
commitment and support from supervisors. A Representative committed to a community-
based approach will request and allocate funds, commit sufficient staff time to work with
the community, and provide coaching and supervision. Supportive field office heads will
advocate for increased resources for CBP, promote staff engagement with the community,
and make themselves available to regularly participate in and monitor community
interactions. Protection Officers will value the contributions of staff working closely with
communities and collaborate to develop a shared approach to protection.

28 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 29

 KEY LESSON 8 Refugee, stateless and IDP communities have many needs. Those the community identifies
as the most urgent may not actually be protection issues. It is the job of protection staff to
work with the community to build understanding of UNHCR’s mandate and make clear what
constitutes a protection threat, then determine which community needs relate directly to
protection. Every effort should be made to put communities in contact with other agencies
FOCUS ON PROTECTION
that can assist them to address non-protection needs.

It is not always easy to draw the line between protection and non-protection issues.
St. John Nursery and Primary School is a community-run school in Uganda that was created in Ultimately, many forms of response, including development activities, enhance protection.
2014 by a refugee, who used his own funds to buy text books, chairs and construction materials. Also, a given intervention may promote protection in one context but not in another.
He is now searching for ways to expand the school, buy more text books and hire experienced Because progress on protection can be slow and difficult to achieve, it is also tempting
teachers to help teach the over 500 children attending the school.
to drift towards activities that are not strictly protective. Given the very limited resources
available for protection, UNHCR staff need to make sure that their efforts focus on activities
that directly address protection threats.

KEEP IN MIND
•• Experienced supervisors play an important role in assisting staff to determine which
community concerns and interventions truly advance protection.

•• Supervisors and country offices should take care that they do not unintentionally divert
staff efforts from difficult protection challenges by demanding quick results.

•• Do not confuse ‘protection-sensitive programming’ with protection. For example,

ensuring that WASH programmes drill boreholes in safe locations is not protection, but

© UNHCR/Cosmos/Frederic Noy
protection-sensitive programming.

•• Do not confuse mechanisms with protection. Talking with women, or disaggregating

data by sex, does not in itself protect women against threats. Setting up a protection
committee does not itself improve community security.

“ If field staff can look through an AGD protection lens as

they go about their daily work, they will identify a lot of
the protection issues.
UNHCR staff member
“ In a situation of extreme conflict we got a report that 80% of casualties were
civilians. But people wanted to focus on the contents of the food ration in
camps. Ridiculous. It is so hard to make progress on protection that people
tend to tinker around on minor issues where they can demonstrate results.
NGO staff

30 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 31

 •• Donors may need to be reminded that community-based protection work may not fit
KEY LESSON 9
neatly into a one- or two-year project framework.

•• Communities may require training and multiple sessions to understand what a

protection risk is and whether a particular programme or proposal for action falls within PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY FROM THE START
UNHCR’s mandate.

Computer classes at a community centre inside the Za’atari

refugee camp jointly run by UNHCR and its NGO partner
Is a CBP approach appropriate to all contexts? International Relief and Development (IRD).

Opinions vary on whether CBP can be recommended everywhere, whether it

is not feasible in some cases, or whether some aspects of the approach are
always relevant. Clearly, it should be used with great caution in the following
circumstances:

• Where militarization puts communities at risk.

• Where authority is not established, the state is scarcely present, or power and
control shift frequently as a result of changes in the military balance.
• Where government authorities are responsible for protection abuses or
violations.
• Where it is too dangerous for staff or partners to enter, and even conducting a
participatory assessment would put communities at risk.
• Where a community is a cult or a sect.

In volatile environments, where protection cannot be discussed, it may still

be possible to implement certain types of programmes, such as WASH or

© UNHCR/ Christopher Herwig

education. Community involvement in such programmes can enable agencies
to obtain a sound understanding of protection threats.

Though it is difficult to get to know a new community deeply during the acute
phase of an emergency, agencies can often establish relationships with
community leaders and community structures and cooperate with them.13

Many responses to protection threats are urgent and short term. When working with
communities to develop longer-term mechanisms or responses that are triggered as
threats arise, however, or to address more sustained protection challenges, sustainability
must be considered from the earliest stages of conceptualization and design.

13 See the UNHCR Emergency Handbook section on community-based protection: [Link] Regardless of how a protection programme originated, a strong sense of community
entry/50479/community-based-protection#2,1451479434072 ownership will improve its sustainability and effectiveness. These effects will be enhanced

32 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 33

 if the activity responds to community priorities, respects cultural sensitivities, and follows more powerful members of the community to co-opt the initiative, create conditions for
other good programming principles. Great care should be taken when funds are disbursed corruption and extortion, and lead to divisive accusations of corruption and abuse. It
early in a project. Distributing a lot of money early on can distort community involvement, may also create an expectation that all initiatives will be externally funded, discouraging
create conditions favourable to extortion, and further marginalize the powerless. the community from undertaking projects at its own initiative, without funding. Nothing
destroys a nascent, successful small-scale initiative faster than ill-conceived financial
Sensitive judgment is required to balance the need to provide assistance for long enough ‘scaling up’ by well-meaning agencies or donors.
to make initiatives sustainable against the need to devolve primary responsibility as soon
as possible to the community and relevant national and local institutions. That calculation •• It is important to clarify early on what is expected from community members in terms
will be influenced by the character and condition of the community, as well as the type of contributions and volunteering. The option of paying community members to work
of project. At all stages, be prepared to provide advice when initiatives hit problems or a on projects should be weighed very carefully. Though work should be valued and
third party can provide useful support (see Key Lesson 11). Knowing when to intervene, compensated in principle, as soon as cash payments become the norm it becomes
and when to leave community members alone to sort things out for themselves, is also a extremely difficult to persuade community members to work without them. Differences
matter of judgement. in payments across locations or agencies will also create resentment and inequality.
When the project ends, finally, unless national authorities have agreed to supply the
Donors have an important role to play in ensuring the sustainability of community-based payments themselves, the work will just stop.
programmes. First, they need to understand the protracted nature of community-based
work. Initiatives may take a year to prepare and several to implement. Community-based
•• Even if an external party can perform a task more quickly and efficiently, it is important
protection projects should not receive short term grants. These can easily do harm, if they
to allow the community to work in its own way, at its own pace, and so build experience
cause grantees to circumvent established patterns of community decision-making in the
and ownership.
interest of rapid start-up, for example, or to select less meaningful outcomes because
these can be achieved quickly. Both responses destroy trust and result in programmes
•• When projects are more technical or specialized, the selection of an appropriate
that are less effective and less sustainable. Protection staff at all levels can help donors to
implementing partner or technical adviser is likely to be a key decision.
appreciate the strengths and requirements of the CBP approach.

•• Self-reliance is not the same as self-sufficiency; ‘sustainable’ does not mean that
KEEP IN MIND outside assistance is not needed. Communities of concern are likely to need some
level of help for a prolonged period.
•• Agencies may feel that protection can be secured by establishing new parallel services
rather than working through existing institutions. However, these may disappear when
the agencies leave. A more sound approach is to convince state and local authorities
to meet their obligations by providing the services that are needed, even if this work is
initially time-consuming.

•• Refugee and IDP communities understandably focus on the temporary nature of their
situation, but the reality is that for many people their status will continue for many
years. They may need help to think through the merits of investing in sustainable,
longer-term responses. This is also the case for stateless communities, the majority of
whom are in protracted situations which require long term commitment and action by
state authorities to resolve. Protection interventions for stateless persons need to be
designed with the aim of addressing immediate risks but also with a view to solutions,
i.e. acquisition of nationality.

•• Particular caution must be used when providing funds, especially at the early stages
of a new project that is just gaining community support, before strong community
ownership is established. A large or even a modest infusion of funds can encourage

34 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 35

 KEY LESSON 10
Financial interventions, if poorly planned, can
distort well-intentioned responses under certain
circumstances SUPPORT AND WORK WITH EXISTING COMMUNITY
AND NATIONAL STRUCTURES
When the 2004 tsunami struck one community in north eastern Sri Lanka, people
helped one another from being swept away without considering whether the
person at risk was Tamil, Muslim or Sinhalese. People at community level had
always turned to others in the community for support, and helpers continued
to play this expected role after the tsunami hit. Within a few weeks, however,
international NGOs entered the area with large sums of money, hired most of
the community helpers, and paid people for their work. This had the effect of
dismantling community support structures and monetized helping behaviour.
Within six weeks of the tsunami, most people had stopped helping each other
spontaneously and expected to be paid for doing tasks that previously they
would have done without charge. Local people referred to the destruction of
their helping system as the ‘Golden Tsunami.’

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rape is widely used as a weapon

of war, NGOs with good intentions gave small sums of money to assist women
who reported having been raped. Soon, some women would not report a rape
unless they were paid.

© UNHCR/Babar Baloch
A ten kilometre race in Sri Lanka, organised jointly by IDPs, host community, local
authorities, NGOs and UN partners to mark World Refugee Day.

When preparing to work in a community, one of the early tasks is to map services or
initiatives for refugees, stateless persons and IDPs that are provided already by the
community, government, external agencies, or the host community. When identifying
priorities with the community, it is similarly important to consider how these can be
integrated with, and help to strengthen, existing services. It is almost always better to work
through existing institutions and programmes rather than establish new or parallel ones.
Doing so can facilitate community ownership and enhance sustainability, and reduce
duplication of effort. Perhaps surprisingly, it may not shorten the time needed to make

36 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 37

 an intervention operational, because it may take time to create trust and the conditions
necessary for effective and sustained cooperation between the institutions involved. It
may also be necessary to overcome bureaucratic and other institutional barriers. Costa Rica
The state or community provides services in some urban contexts. In most instances, In Costa Rica, most refugees live in three metropolitan areas. Though they share
however, UNCHR’s populations of concern are deliberately or unintentionally excluded the language and culture of the host community and face less acute threats than
from accessing them. UNHCR and its partners are sometimes able to capacitate or refugees in other contexts, they nevertheless suffer considerable discrimination.
otherwise support such services and in return make them available to refugees, stateless
persons and IDPs. Amigos y Amigas d’Oro was formed during a participatory assessment, after
a group of older refugees said they needed a place where they could share
experiences, obtain advice and information, and relax. To start with, it was
Where essential services are not provided, UNHCR may need to support their creation. In
separate from Costa Rican institutions, but in 2010 it joined a national network
such case, it may be advisable to ensure that the state or community bodies responsible
of seniors’ associations.
will ensure that poor and marginalized members of the host community also have access
to the services in question. It is important to avoid unequal treatment on principle as well as After initial hesitation, Amigos y Amigas is now well accepted by the network.
on practical grounds because discrimination is likely to generate hostility in the community The relationship has created new social relationships, enabled Costa Ricans to
and threats to security. become familiar with refugees, and informed the network’s national advocacy
on behalf of elderly refugees.
Essential needs must be met, but their provision should not relieve national authorities or
international actors of their responsibility to protect. Long-term systemic change may be
required at national level to guarantee stateless persons, IDPs and refugees their rights,
including the right to access essential services. To achieve this objective, communities,
and UNHCR and its allies, should expect to have to lobby relevant government institutions
over a long period.

KEEP IN MIND
•• Integration with existing local institutional structures is usually a sounder and more
sustainable course of action, even if the start-up phase is prolonged.

•• Ensure that communities of concern to UNHCR and host communities are granted
access to essential services on equal terms. Unequal treatment should be avoided on
principle and because it can foster resentment, especially when the host community is
itself poor.

•• Local and state officials and institutions may need training, for example: to understand
the rights of refugees; to make clear the relevance of human rights to the provision
of essential services; to increase knowledge of adequate legislation and good
administrative practises to ensure rights of stateless persons; to make clear their
institutions’ responsibilities; or to increase awareness of SGBV.

38 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 39

 KEY LESSON 11 UNHCR can assist communities with their advocacy in various ways. It can help
communities understand their rights, as human beings and as refugees or IDPs. It can
provide information about relevant laws, regulations, institutions and policies. It can assist
communities to prepare a plan, and also advocate with them or on their behalf.

DEVELOP AN ADVOCACY STRATEGY FOR UNHCR has a crucial ‘accompanying’ role. Its presence can help to ensure that refugee,
SUSTAINABLE CHANGE stateless and IDP communities are taken seriously and are given the opportunity to present
their views to relevant local, national and regional institutions. In addition, it has standing
to raise issues before national and international institutions to which communities may not
have access.
Participants of the Global Refugee Youth Consultations, national consultation in Amman,
Jordan 2015. Participants are deep in discussion identifying some of the priorities for youth
in their communities.

Bangladesh
The Urdu-speaking community of Bangladesh, also known as the “Biharis,”
is a linguistic minority that was stateless because it was excluded from the
body of citizens upon the creation of the independent State of Bangladesh in
1971. Eventually, the younger generation of Urdu-speakers began to integrate
into Bangladeshi society by learning to speak Bangla and investing scarce
resources to pursue private education. They formed several community-based
NGOs and began to lobby national and international actors and, crucially, to
present cases to the courts to confirm their right to Bangladeshi citizenship.
UNHCR served an important liaison role between national campaigners, the
international community, and the Bangladeshi Government. UNHCR supported
the community by conducting a survey to establish the magnitude of the
population and published a legal analysis which served to publicize the initial
court victories achieved by the community. Eventually, in 2008, a landmark
ruling by the Bangladeshi High Court concluded the entire population were
© UNHCR/Nick Sore
citizens and ordered that they be issued with identity documents. This happened
within a six month period and the Urdu-speakers were issued with nationality
identification cards and able to vote for the first time.

KEEP IN MIND
Securing long-term improvements in the lives of persons of concern requires systemic
change, allowing them to fully realize their rights while they are displaced and influencing •• “Advocacy” refers to the community’s capacity to bring its day-to-day concerns to
the durable solutions they are offered. When communities start to engage effectively in
relevant policy makers, who are in a position to effect change.
their own protection, it is possible to work towards systemic change and meet immediate
needs. Doing so requires a well-conceived advocacy plan, developed by community
members, their official and unofficial leaders, and external agencies. Staff working on •• A detailed analysis of power relations in the community and the wider environment
CBP are likely to focus their efforts on community efforts to influence the policies of local is necessary, both to build an effective advocacy plan and ensure that it does not
authorities, but complementary advocacy activities may be coordinated at national level. increase the risks that different community members face.

40 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 41

 •• Communities may need a third party to act as a bridge to bring them and decision KEY LESSON 12
makers together and to accompany them. This need may persist long after the initial
link is made.

•• State and local institutions may need guidance, about their responsibilities to refugee,
stateless and IDP communities, and about relevant laws and regulations, including the
GIVE ATTENTION TO EVALUATION AND REPORTING
relevance of human rights to refugees, stateless persons and IDPs and to the delivery
of services, etc. Officials may also need sensitive coaching on how to interact with
communities whose experience is very different from their own.

© UNHCR/Lucia Kovacova
•• Advocacy is stronger if it is evidence-based and presented by those who have personal
exposure to the issues raised. Refugees, stateless persons and IDPs may need training
and coaching to help them prepare and present their case. At the same time, they are
likely to be the most effective and persuasive advocates of their cause.

Preparing for advocacy

Indigenous communities need to be able to advocate effectively on their own

behalf. To do so, however, they may need training and advice to help them
prepare their argument and ensure they are able to participate on an equal
basis.

An indigenous community wanted to protect itself from displacement, but was

threatened by the prolonged presence of competing armed factions. Elders
identified two important protection threats: the forced recruitment of young
adults and weaknesses in the training of younger leaders.

In response, a community organization started “The Territory We Will Inherit”, a Meeting in the courtyard of a reconstructed townhouse in Kilis, Turkey, which serves as a
training programme that educated young people about their rights and showed women’s community centre. This is the only known Syrian-run women’s community centre in
them how to interact with state institutions when they wanted to claim services southeast Turkey.
or assistance to which they were entitled under the law. Beforehand, however,
the participants needed to develop an understanding of the Western concept
of “youth” because their own culture had no equivalent, since status was
determined by factors other than age, such as whether a person was married
or had children.

“ If you really want to work with communities in a meaningful

way, [you] can’t have the endpoint set before the project
begins, but donors almost invariably insist on endpoints
being identified before they grant the funds.
Protection expert

42 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 43

 Staff of UNHCR and partner organisations who work with communities should be
accountable first and foremost to the communities themselves. They should also be
accountable to the institutions that support the work they do. Too frequently, however, Consult with the community before declaring
indicators and outcomes are not defined carefully at the start and budgets set inadequate “success”
sums aside for evaluation. As a result, the evidence base for community approaches is
poor. Though a number of important reviews exist, agencies have tended to document
For refugee, stateless and IDP programmes, the achievement of durable solutions
CBP for their own internal learning and much of our experience of CBP has never been is a key measure of success. In the following case, community engagement was
documented or evaluated. The dearth of evidence means that the effectiveness of decisive in revealing that a number of durable solutions, that would have been
community approaches is open to doubt. The absence of shared documentation hampers reported as successful, did not meet the preferences of the people involved.
learning across the field and reduces donor interest and understanding.
An international authority and a host government were evaluating options for
Some believe that protection cannot be reliably measured. A problem here is that a large group of refugees. Without community consultation, preparations were
programme and planning deadlines are often too short. Managers select “quick win” made to relocate them to a neighbouring island. An international NGO surveyed
indicators and outcomes that can be achieved in the time set, rather than measure the refugees on their options and preferences. It found that most wanted to return
home, while a minority wanted to remain in their current host community. None
impacts that enhance protection in a sustainable manner over the long term. If the timeline
wished to live on another island. When the survey findings were presented, the
is realistic, a well-designed community-based approach will identify specific protection host government and international authority dropped the relocation plan, and
threats and find responses to them. Changes in these factors can in fact be measured. worked with the community to allow local integration and facilitated return.

The key point to note is that this relocation would have proceeded if the community
KEEP IN MIND had not been consulted, and would have been considered successful. Only
consultation with the community revealed the outcome was undesired, causing
•• Making oneself accountable to the community for results affirms the importance of the the authorities to find alternative arrangements.
partnership and demonstrates confidence as well as respect for the community.

•• Improvements in protection can be measured and documented; but short-term results-

based management may not provide appropriate tools.

•• Sound measurement of progress depends on clearly analysing challenges and

outcomes at the start of a programme and in close consultation with the community.

•• Donors may need to be briefed and educated about CBP and persuaded to lengthen
their timeframes.

44 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 45

 I I I CONCLUSION

In development and humanitarian work, including protection, practitioners have found that
community-based approaches create conditions for positive change that can be sustained
to a greater extent after donors and external agencies depart. Grounded in the actual
and potential capacity of all communities, community-based protection assists refugees,
stateless and the internally displaced persons to ensure their security, secure their rights,
and take or recover control over their lives.

© UNHCR/ Shirley Camia

To find more material on community-based protection,
including UNHCR’s Community-Based Protection in Action
series of thematic briefs, go to our community of practice at :
[Link]

COMMUNITY CENTRES COMMUNITY-BASED OUTREACH

OUTSIDE OF CAMPS

Communtiy-Based Protection in Action

Communtiy-Based Protection in Action
Jacqueline is a Women’s Representative in

Community-Based Protection Unit, Division of International Protection

Community-Based Protection Unit, Division of International Protection
the Camp Executive Committee in Gihembe
Refugee Camp, in Rwanda. She also

© UNHCR / N. Martin-Achard
contributes to the camp nutrition centre. “I

© UNHCR / A. Dragaj
feel proud here because nutrition has a lot of
importance in our lives, especially for children
and for mothers. When I meet people who are
not aware of the Nutrition Centre, I tell them
about this place and the services it provides.”

UNHCR 47
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48 UNDERSTANDING COMMUNITY-BASED PROTECTION UNHCR 49