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.

Strengthen CEA understanding and capacity at all levels in an organisation

Allocate resources, including funding and staff, to strengthen and institutionalise CEA

Integrate CEA into organisational strategies, values, plans, policies, and tools

Include commitments to accountability in organisational mission statements, statutes, core values, organisational strategy, and policies
Integrate community engagement and accountability in annual plans, budgets and technical sectors’ plans, tools, and guidelines
Include expectations to engage and be accountable to communities in staff and volunteer job descriptions, inductions, and appraisal processes
Include community engagement and accountability in PMER processes

Establish a community feedback mechanism for the organisation, with processes for managing sensitive complaints

Discover National Society CEA Institutionalisation Journeys

View all

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),…

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…

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…

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.

1 April 2020

CEA policy template

Type:

Template

Organization:

IFRC

This template can be used when applying a community engagement approach to the development of a policy.

30 March 2020

Integrating CEA at the Ethiopian Red Cross Society

Type:

Case Study

Organization:

Canadian Red Cross, Ethiopian Red Cross

A Case Study produced by the Canadian Red Cross and the Ethiopian Red Cross, outlining the impact of integrating Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) into Ethiopian Red Cross Society activities.

26 March 2020

Community Engagement and Accountability: A learning review from Nepal

Type:

Report

Organization:

British Red Cross

A learning review of the Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) activities implemented in Nepal by the NRCS, with support from BRC, between 2014 – 2018

3 July 2019

Beneficiary communication and accountability: a responsibility, not a choice

Type:

Report

Organization:

IFRC

An IFRC report on Beneficiary Communication and Accountability, which details the lessons learned and recommendations from Indonesia, Haiti and Pakistan. It includes definitions and recommendations for best practice.

3 July 2019

Community Engagement and Accountability Minimum Standards: formulation and integration into the work of the Myanmar Red Cross

Type:

Case Study

Organization:

Myanmar Red Cross

An IFRC case study on ‘Community Engagement and Accountability Minimum Standards: Formulation and Integration into the Work of the Myanmar Red Cross’. It details the standards and tools used to…

3 July 2019

Case study: the role of beneficiary communications in building resilience

Type:

Case Study

Organization:

Indonesian Red Cross

An IFRC case study on ‘The Role of Beneficiary Communication in Building Resilience’. It details the work of the Indonesian Red Cross in Sumatra and includes recommendations for programmatic and…

3 July 2019

Monitoring and evaluation for BCC: ensuring our BCC interventions are on track

Type:

Training Material

Organization:

IFRC

An IFRC Powerpoint presentation about how to monitor and evaluate a Behaviour Change Communication strategy, in order to see whether it is effective and make necessary changes.

3 July 2019

PASSA Youth manual and toolkit

Type:

Training Material

Organization:

IFRC

An IFRC manual on PASSA Youth (Participatory Approach for Safe Shelter and Settlements Awareness). It is part of the IFRC’s Youth Engagement Strategy to engage children and young people in…

Page 4 of 6