Risk Management Approach

Welcome to this dedicated page with resources to help you develop your risk management approaches. The Risk Management package contained here was developed in collaboration with the broad humanitarian community working cross-border in Syria. We sincerely thank all those from within the community who engaged to help make this a reality.

Many of us think about issues and assume they are risks. But what does risk really mean for humanitarian programmes? This package allows you to build a full risk management system, which includes a tool to allow you to measure the impact and likelihood balanced against the risk mitigation you put in place. As such, the information is framed to allow you define your risk – be it internal, external or strategic, and then be proactive in how you deal with it.

The initial engagement and work has resulted in the development of a risk management package that includes a risk management analysis tool which supports achieving quality humanitarian interventions, through accountability to affected populations (AAP), and enabling standards be the foundation of the work. Based on feedback from humanitarian partners, we have taken a holistic approach to risk management, and ensured it aligns with the accountability framework. We are happy to share with you, the complete package on Risk Management.

With the advent of COVID-19, we reviewed the material and added parameters to allow you to assess the COVID-19 risk now too.

Please see this message on the importance of risk management from Mark Cutts, Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fefth4k8xplpwnb/20200304_Risk_Management_Mark_Cutts.mp4?dl=0

Overview

The package is provided to be downloaded for you to use off-line. Some highlights are shared below:

• Risk Analysis Tool with a Handbook: This tool combines the critical risk management processes of risk identification, risk profiling, risk assessment, risk mitigation and risk management. It will then enable risk monitoring, performance review, reporting and documentation of risk management process.
• The tool provides you a step by step process to analysis the risk and will  populate your internal risk register simultaneously. Thus, by using this process, it allows you to maintain a risk log and risk data base for the organization. We ask that you send your risk registers – which have no identifying information, and which will help create a comprehensive understanding of risks across the humanitarian response.
• The tool is offered off-line. We know that many organizations are worried that by reporting honestly, they may have negative feedback when reporting something within the risk environment. By offering it off line, we hope to build organizations’ confidence to be as honest as possible in your risk assessment, to then allow you to develop the appropriate risk mitigation strategies. This has been a key element for many organizations who engaged with the process. The risk analysis is exported into an automated report. Some organizations shared that this could be attached to proposals, etc., to display their honest risk strategy.
• Risk Management Guidelines: To facilitate collective and standardized approach to risk management, planning and joint advocacy and communications and to optimize the effective utilization of risk management tool, a detailed risk management guidelines were developed.
• Risk Management Minimum Standards: A set of standards are proposed as a ‘Pilot Set of Risk Management Minimum Standards’ for use. These standards are recommended based on the context of cross-border response and are seen as appropriate for remote management purposes. The standards do not replace any existing administrative procedures that organizations have in place.