1.4.2 Inter-Agency Standing Committee

Established in 1991, the IASC is the longest-standing and highest-level humanitarian coordination forum and therefore the body that informs how clusters work. IASC works ensure coherence of efforts, formulate policy, and discuss priorities for strengthened humanitarian action. It is the only decision-making group related to humanitarian response that includes UN agencies (including FAO and WFP), the World Bank, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and NGOs.

Still today, IASC remains the primary global mechanism for inter-agency humanitarian coordination and under the leadership of the ERC, it:

• Develops humanitarian policies;
• Agrees on a clear division of responsibility for various aspects of humanitarian assistance;
• Develops guidelines for field application;
• Identifies and addresses gaps;
• Advocates for effective application of humanitarian principles;
• Discusses and resolves disputes on system wide humanitarian issues;
• Designates Humanitarian Coordinators and recommends coordination arrangements.

The IASC includes a range of bodies:

IASC Principals: The IASC Principals are the heads of the IASC agencies. They are responsible for making strategic and policy decisions which have system-wide implications.

Four Subsidiary Bodies: The IASC Principals are supported by four subsidiary bodies established to support the implementation of their decisions and IASC priorities:

1. Deputies Group (DG): Serves as a critical platform for senior level strategic dialogue and decision making on humanitarian action. The FAO Deputy Director-General and the WFP Deputy Executive Director participate in the Deputies Group.
2. Emergency Directors Group (EDG): Emergency Directors convene and focus on responding to current crises, including addressing requirements to meet the urgent operational needs on the ground. If an emergency requires specialised support, based on the request from the HC and the national government at country level, the EDG will activate the relevant clusters (the ERC delegated this task to the EDG in late 2021). The FAO and WFP Directors of Emergencies sit in the EDG.
3. Operational Policy and Advocacy Group (OPAG): Drives the normative and strategic policy work of the IASC, including on system-wide policy matters with a direct bearing on humanitarian operations. They oversee the work of the Results Groups and develop policies and guidance in line with strategic decisions made by the IASC Principals. The OPAG approves key documents related to the HPC. The FAO Director of Emergency and the WFP Assistant Executive Director attend the OPAG meetings.
4. Task Forces: In 2022, IASC Deputies agreed to transition its “Results Groups” (which focused on Operational Response, Accountability and Inclusion, Collective Advocacy, Humanitarian-Development Collaboration and Humanitarian Financing) to “Task Forces”.
   These are timebound bodies, comprising IASC member representatives with substantive and technical knowledge and responsible for delivering on OPAG-endorsed normative work for the IASC 2022-2023 strategic priorities. They work to develop common narratives and policies and to establish best practice using their collective expertise. There are five Task Forces:
   • Task Force 1 – Centrality of Protection: focuses on upholding and strengthening the centrality of protection in all aspects of humanitarian action, including by addressing gender-based violence.
   • Task Force 2 – Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP): focuses on ensuring that the humanitarian response safeguards the dignity and is empowering, accountable and inclusive of affected people, and is committed to leaving no one behind.
   • Task Force 3 – Preserving Humanitarian Space (Bureaucratic and Administrative Impediments and Counter Terrorism).
   • Task Force 4 – Humanitarian Development Collaboration and its Linkages to Peace: focuses on supporting the understanding and implementing Humanitarian-Development collaboration and its linkages to peace, consistent with humanitarian principles.
   • Task Force 5 – Localization: focuses on enabling the meaningful engagement and leadership of local and national actors – with a special focus on women-led organisations in humanitarian response – enhancing capacity exchange and increasing direct funding.
     See the TORs for the Task Forces (2022) and this overview of their Priority Areas of Work (2022-2023).

Entities Associated with the IASC: From 2019, a number of former IASC Subsidiary Bodies as well as Inter- Agency Groups that existed outside the formal IASC structures have been designated as ‘entities associated with the IASC’. These contribute to the work of the Task Forces (and earlier, the Results Groups), and are accountable to the OPAG:

• IASC Reference Group on Gender and Humanitarian Action: Since 2006, this group has supported the integration of gender equality and women’s empowerment in the humanitarian action system. See 5.7.3.
• IASC Reference Group on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings: Since 2007, this group has supported and advocated for the implementation of the relevant IASC Guidelines in Emergency Settings.
• Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluations (IAHE): An IAHE is an independent assessment of results of the collective humanitarian response by IASC member organizations. See 9.8.
• The Humanitarian Programme Cycle Steering Group: The group informs the elements of the HPC to help prepare for, manage, and deliver humanitarian response. See chapter 9 on the HPC.
• The Global Cluster Coordination Group: The purpose of the GCCG is to support the strengthening of the country-level cluster and inter-cluster coordination with the overall aim of improving the quality of humanitarian response. The gFSC Global Cluster Coordinators represent the Food Security Cluster in the GCCG. See 1.4.5.