These nongovernmental organisations helped by the Gates Foundation over the past five years ought to be able to show their increased capacity to respond to Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar.

CARE, Catholic Relief Services, International Rescue Committee, Oxfam, Mercy Corps, Save the Children, and World Vision.

Can they?

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  The Emergency Capacity Building Project (ECB) is a collaborative effort of seven humanitarian agencies that are jointly tackling common problems in emergency response and preparedness.

 Over a two-year period, these agencies and their strategic partners are addressing issues pertaining to staff capacity, accountability (primarily to affected populations), impact measurement, risk reduction, and the use of information and technology in emergencies.

 While seeking to improve the way the seven agencies respond to humanitarian crises, ECB is deeply committed to contributing to reform in the humanitarian sector as a whole. ECB will work closely with other humanitarian organizations and share findings widely.

How ECB Got Started

In 2003, Oxfam-GB, Save the Children-US, World Vision International, Catholic Relief Services, the International Rescue Committee, CARE International, and Mercy Corps formed the Inter-Agency Working Group (IWG) on Emergency Capacity Building.

An assessment of the agencies’ emergency response capabilities in 2004 identified four main areas where collaboration would be highly beneficial. With a grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and, later from Microsoft Corporation, these areas formed the basis of the Emergency Capacity Building Project.

Starting in March 2005, the IWG is using this funding over a two-year period to leverage the agencies’ substantial resources – $3 billion annually for programs carried out in over 100 countries with 50,000 staff members – to build their capacity for emergency response.

http://www.ecbproject.org/