Institutionalisation

Institutionalising CEA means making it part of the organisation’s DNA, or business as usual. It means integrating community engagement into strategies, policies, plans and ways of working until it becomes a predictable, systematic part of every activity, at every stage of the programme or disaster response cycle. To achieve this, an organisation needs to make strengthening accountability to communities an organisational priority, with adequate funding, staff time and leadership support. The range of case studies and guides on this hub will help you to institutionalise CEA in your own context.

Minimum actions and guidance to institutionalise CEA

To effectively institutionalise CEA, organisations need to take deliberate, practical steps that embed community engagement and accountability into everyday operations. The minimum actions and guidance outlined below provide a clear framework to help you do this. For more detailed guidance on each of the actions, visit the Institutionalisation chapter in the CEA Guide.

Discover National Society CEA Institutionalisation Journeys

20 November 2023

Closing the Gap: A strategy to strengthen CEA in Africa 2020–2025 (Revised)

Type:

Report

Organization:

IFRC, CDA

This 2022 review of the CEA strategy, together with an externally conducted impact research on the effects of investments in CEA support to National Societies (NS), further Force Field Analysis,…

  • Africa
  • Institutionalisation
  • Strategy

20 November 2023

CEA Strategy for Africa 2020 – 2023, Mid-term review

Type:

Report

Organization:

IFRC

In 2022, that final year covered by the strategy, we have conducted a review of the CEA Strategy for Africa 2020 – 2023 to assess where we have made progress…

  • Africa
  • Institutionalisation
  • Strategy

30 August 2023

Self assessment and action planning toward CEA minimum commitments, Netherlands RC

Type:

Case Study

Organization:

IFRC, Netherlands Red Cross

A case study documenting a comprehensive self-assessment carried out by The Netherlands Red Cross across its Domestic Department to understand how the Society is progressing towards the Movement-wide CEA commitments.…

  • Institutionalisation
  • Self-assessment

30 May 2023

IFRC Global CEA Strategy

Type:

Strategy document

Organization:

IFRC

IFRC’s Global Community Engagement and Accountability Strategy 2023-2025 sets out the goal, strategic priorities, and key actions needed to strengthen community engagement and accountability within the IFRC and National Societies,…

  • Institutionalisation
  • Strategy

3 May 2022

CEA commitments and minimum actions infographic

Type:

Infographic

Organization:

ICRC, IFRC

An infographic showing the commitments and minimum actions developed by the ICRC and the IFRC, in consultation with National Societies as an annex to the 2019 Council of Delegates resolution…

  • Commitments
  • Spanish
  • Strategy

4 January 2022

Ethiopian Red Cross Society CEA guide

Type:

Guide

Organization:

Ethiopian Red Cross

This guide is written for Ethiopian Red Cross Society staff and volunteers involved in delivering programmes and operations. It is designed to provide the National Society with a common approach…

  • Ethiopia
  • Institutionalisation

4 January 2022

Tanzanian Red Cross CEA guide

Type:

Guide

Organization:

Tanzania Red Cross Society

This guide is written for Tanzanian Red Cross National Society staff and volunteers involved in delivering programmes and operations. It is designed to provide the National Society with a common…

  • Institutionalisation
  • Tanzania

2 April 2020

Institutionalising CEA: A case study from the Hellenic Red Cross

Type:

Case Study

Organization:

Hellenic Red Cross

This case study illustrates the actions that were taken to institutionalise Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) – not as a standalone programme but as a cross-cutting approach integrated across Hellenic…

  • Case study
  • Institutionalisation
  • Migrants
  • Refugees

2 April 2020

Movement-wide commitments for CEA

Type:

Document

Organization:

IFRC

A document containing the commitments and minimum actions developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC),…

  • Arabic
  • Commitments
  • French
  • Spanish

2 April 2020

All the evidence we need

Type:

Report

Organization:

IFRC

This report, produced by the IFRC in partnership with CDA Collaborative Learning (CDA), investigates the practical experience of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement members to institutionalize community engagement approaches across…

  • Accountability
  • Engagement

2 April 2020

Working with communities: a toolbox

Type:

Toolkit

Organization:

IFRC

This toolbox is designed to provide quick and easy access for managers to a range of tools at each stage of a project or programme that seeks the engagement and…

  • CEA and Health
  • Disaster
  • Tools

1 April 2020

Key Lessons from the ARCI Project

Type:

Report

Organization:

IFRC

This report gives a short summary of lessons learnt during the Action of Red Cross for Integration of relocated and resettled persons (ARCI) project.

  • Displacement
  • Refugees
  • Resettlement