10. Advocacy in relation to non-presence emergency operations

When CARE sets up an emergency response in a country or region where it has no prior operational presence, an initial advocacy response is likely to be limited to support positions of peer organisations (based on fundamental IHL principles) or building on relevant CI policies on thematic issues such as humanitarian coordination, aid effectiveness and ‘humanitarian space’.

The decision to do any longer-term advocacy must depend on a solid understanding of the local context, knowledge of key actors and credibility with policymakers. If advocacy is still determined to be essential, the CI approach should be based primarily on collaboration with allies or coalitions who have more experience locally, so as to rely on their deeper contextual understanding and credibility.