Private Sector Mobilizing Resources for Emergency Response

The private sector continues to prove its capacity to quickly mobilize resources on the ground and strengthen emergency preparedness and recovery. In 2021, as the number of people affected by humanitarian crises continued to increase, the private sector has once again shown that it can contribute to stakeholders’ coordinated action within complex emergencies. Businesses are providing financial and in-kind contributions, including operational support.

This ranges from funding for projects identified within the GHO, to sharing expertise and core competencies. It also includes staff deployment in field operations, as well as using existing resources and infrastructure to improve the delivery of aid. The Vodafone Foundation and UNHCR have jointly established the Instant Network Schools (INS) programme, which supports access to quality, accredited digital education in Africa (see education article for further details). After a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti in August 2021, the Alliance for Risk Management and Business Continuity, a local private sector network, played a key role in the response. Support was received from the Connecting Business initiative (CBi), a joint OCHA-UNDP project engaging the private sector in disaster management.

Aid in Action

Private Sector Support to Humanitarian Response in the Philippines

Albay, Philippines

A resident of Barangay Baybay in Malinao rummages through the remnants of his destroyed home, a week after Typhoon Goni destroyed most of his village.

The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) – a coalition of more than 60 major companies and the CBi member network – is an observer on the HCT and acts as overall private sector coordinator for the inter-agency task force that is part of the HRP. PDRF works closely with the national Government, the UN, CSOs and humanitarian actors to operate a business-led Emergency Operations Centre, which coordinates businesses across the Philippines when a disaster strikes. In 2020, PDRF responded to COVID-19, two typhoons, flooding and a volcanic eruption. It has raised significant funds and leads the private sector response in the Philippines, working closely with the Government, the UN and other humanitarian actors and visiting affected areas to assess and respond to damage. PDRF also deployed vehicles, medical supplies, drinking water, ready-to-eat meals, call and charging booths, relief packs and a team of engineers to restore communications in typhoon-hit areas.

The private sector has been a key ally during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, UNICEF, leader of the COVAX procurement and logistics operation, partnered with Microsoft’s Disaster Response Team to improve the security and infrastructure of the COVAX information hub. The hub provides key stakeholders with up-to-date information on the allocations and delivery of COVID-19 vaccines. Microsoft experts worked with UNICEF to track and monitor the distribution of vaccines from manufacturers through to local market delivery, increasing efficiencies and sharing real-time data with key stakeholders to help make critical decisions. Following the hub’s success, the project has expanded to include all COVAX partners and new types of vaccine product and service delivery information.

Engaging the private sector in local disaster management builds resilience by empowering communities and enabling a more efficient response, relying on local supply chains and economies. Since 2016, OCHA and UNDP’s CBi private sector member networks have raised more than $50 million for disaster preparedness, response and recovery activities and reached more than 15.5 million people in 17 countries.

Aid in Action

Private Sector Response to the Earthquake in Haiti

Les Cayes, Haiti

Essential non-food items, such as tarpaulins, and essential hygiene kits (buckets, toilet paper, toothpaste, toothbrush and face masks) are distributed in Valere village.

After a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit Haiti in August 2021, the Alliance for Risk Management and Business Continuity (AGERCA), a local private sector federation and CBi member network, mobilized in-kind donations of critical items, including thousands of gallons of drinkable water, clothes, solar-powered refrigerators and mobile phone credit for emergency responders. In recognition of its expertise, AGERCA has been formally designated as the representative of civil society and the private sector within the Haitian National System for Risk and Disaster Management. AGERCA works directly with the General Directorate for Civil Protection and is also a member of the national Emergency Operations Centre. AGERCA posts regular situation reports and has deployed a staff member to south Haiti to support the earthquake response. They will continue to coordinate the private sector and civil-society response in Haiti.

DHL also deployed three staff members to Haiti, feeding into collective international action efforts of the country’s private sector.

With the increasing frequency and severity of extreme-weather events, such as flooding, the CBi network in Sri Lanka (the Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management Sri Lanka) spearheaded a multi-stakeholder collaboration with the military to provide annual training in swift-water search-and-rescue operations.

Despite the demonstrated value of private sector contributions to humanitarian emergencies and achieving the SDGs, the private sector and particularly local businesses are frequently overlooked. The private sector is still far from being systematically included in humanitarian coordination systems. More needs to be done to fully leverage its expertise and contribution to principled and accountable disaster response and recovery in sudden-onset and complex emergencies, whether in natural hazards, or human-made conflicts and pandemics. 