3.6.2 Minimum Commitments and FSC Membership

Cooperation and partnerships are the cornerstone of the FSC, which derives its strength from the active participation of humanitarian partners and collective decision-making. The commitment of cluster partners is essential to achieve predictable coordination and the success of the FSC depends on all humanitarian actors working in partnership in all aspects of the humanitarian response.

FSC partners have a responsibility to work together to agree objectives, define priorities and operational strategies, harmonize efforts to achieve the goals and objectives of the FSC response, and operate in line with agreed policies and standards, resulting in effective delivery of a collective response. 

Minimum Commitments:

All FSC partners are expected to commit to the minimum participation in clusters, as defined by the IASC Reference Module for cluster coordination at country Level. Specifically, FSC partners commit to being proactive in assessing needs, sharing information, developing appropriate strategies and plans for the food security sector, resource mobilization and implementation and evaluation of agreed priority activities.

In more general terms, the twelve minimum commitments for participation in country-level clusters (which were formulated by the NGO consortium ICVA and adopted by the IASC) set out what all local, national or international organizations commit to:

1. Commitment to humanitarian principles (humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence), the principles of partnership (acknowledging that no single agency can cover all humanitarian needs and that support from all partners is needed, agreeing to base their partnership on principles of Equality, Complementarity, Transparency, Responsibility and a Results-Oriented Approach), cluster-specific guidance and internationally recognised programme standards, including the Zero Tolerance Policy for Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. See 1.5.
2. Commitment to mainstream protection in programme delivery (including respect for principles of non-discrimination, do no harm, etc.). See 5.7.
3. Readiness to participate in actions that specifically improve accountability to affected people (AAP), in line with the IASC Commitments to AAP and related operational framework. See 1.5.3.
4. A demonstrated understanding of the duties and responsibilities associated with membership of the FSC (for example aligning with cluster specific TORs and guidance).
5. Active participation in the FSC and a commitment to consistently engage in its collective work.
6. Capacity and willingness to contribute to the FSC’s response plan and activities. 
7. Commitment to mainstream key programmatic cross-cutting dimensions (including age, gender, disability, resilience, etc.); See 5.7.
8. Commitment by a relevant senior staff member to work consistently with FSC.
9. Commitment to work cooperatively with other cluster partners to ensure an optimal and strategic use of available resources, and share information on organisational resources.
10. Willingness to take on leadership responsibilities in sub-national or working groups as needed, subject to capacity and mandate.
11. Undertake advocacy, and disseminate advocacy messages to affected communities, the host government, donors, the Humanitarian Country Teams (HCTs), FAO and WFP as CLAs, the media and other audiences.
12. Ensure that the FSC provides interpretation, so that all cluster partners are able to participate, including local organisations, national and local authorities, where appropriate. 

Source: Adapted from the Cluster Coordination Reference Module (IASC, 2015), p. 24.

FSC Membership - Partners, Members and Observers

Clusters are open to all those involved in the humanitarian response and those who have expertise, resources or information relevant to the food security sector. Commitments may vary from active partnerships to observers and associates, so membership criteria may be agreed upon. 

At country level, the terms “member” and “partner” are often used interchangeably however, it might help to define who plays what role. While the FSC generally is open to all participants with a mandate in food security (providing they adhere to the above-mentioned minimum commitments), attending meetings does not automatically imply being a FSC partner. In addition, although it varies from country to country, it is strongly recommended that the criteria for being a member of the Cluster (especially in conflict and/or politically sensitive situations etc.) is agreed with OCHA and the ICCG. OCHA can support with due diligence and screening of new members and partners, if needed. 

Depending on the specific context, most often three categories of cluster participation are used, which can help to increase effective coordination (for example, usually, only FSC partners are able to vote on operational cluster issues and only partners and active observers can sit on technical working groups); the terminology is aligned with the GCCG: 

1. Members are organisations who are currently implementing FSC activities, or have completed FSC activities in previous year, as reflected in the FSC reporting tools. This will include:  1) current HRP members, 2) active and reporting members.
2. Partners, in addition to members, are organisations who do not have any FSC activities, but are interested to share information. Partners do not report on progress to the cluster (if they do, they are a “reporting member”). This can include NGOs, CBOs, other cluster coordination teams and OCHA as well as government representatives etc. – this does not apply in case a senior government official chairs or co-chairs the FSC.     
3. Observers are organisations, who do not want to be affiliated with the cluster but want to share information. Observers can be active in FSC without being partners or members. Observers participate in consultations and discussions but remain neutral on decision-making. This includes the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), donors, universities etc. See 3.6 below.

Responsibilities of FSC Members

The FSC is built around supporting the needs of the membership, thus, the FSC partners and members are expected to influence and engage in FSC response plans and actively share information. Whilst there is no generic IASC guidance on the roles of cluster participants, it is generally expected that cluster members, partners in particular, will: 

• Appoint at least one programme person to attend FSC meetings.
• Participate in technical WGs discussions as per their competencies.
• Pro-actively participate in workshops (HNO/HRP etc.).
• Share information and reporting (e.g. 5Ws).
• Highlight needs, gaps, and duplication or any other issues experience at field level.
• Mobilise resources (financial, human, material), engage with affected communities and build local capacity.
• Align FSC activities, including assessing needs, developing plans, and developing policies and guidelines through working groups.
• Respect and adhere to the FSC agreed strategy, policies, priorities, and standards.
• Share lesson learnt, good practices and assessment results reports to inform on needs and better programming.