Independent Whole of System Review of Protection in the Context of Humanitarian Action

This Whole of System Review examines how protection issues are addressed in the context of humanitarian action and makes practical suggestions to help humanitarian actors be more strategic, and better capable of meeting core life-saving humanitarian responsibilities in relation to protection.

The failures of the United Nations (UN) system in Sri Lanka and subsequent soul searching at the highest levels of the UN – which led to the launching of the Human Rights Up Front initiative by the Secretary- General – are the backdrop for this Review. This is the first such exercise initiated by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC). It presents a unique opportunity to take stock of past efforts and to chart a new and more effective way forward. It is worth noting at the outset that this is an Independent Review; it is not an evaluation. It also needs to be noted that protection concerns in relation to refugees were explicitly excluded, as outlined in the Terms of Reference, from the scope of this Review.