Urban Ready Standards for Red Cross Red Crescent Branches
Introduction
Urban areas present unique challenges and opportunities for humanitarian organizations. The Urban Ready Standards for Red Cross Red Crescent Branches provide a comprehensive set of standards to help National Society branches assess and enhance their capacity to deliver effective programming in complex urban environments. By addressing critical aspects such as stakeholder engagement, government collaboration, and systems thinking, these standards guide branches in adopting strategies that respond to the density, diversity, and interconnectedness of urban systems. The goal is to ensure that National Society branches are equipped to support the resilience of urban communities in the face of environmental, social, and economic challenges.
This document serves as a practical tool for National Society branches, offering detailed guidance, tiered assessments, and actionable steps to improve urban preparedness and response. Grounded in Red Cross Red Crescent principles and informed by global best practices, the standards provide a clear roadmap for branches to understand their context, build sustainable partnerships, and implement community-centred solutions. Whether addressing fragile urban contexts, enhancing volunteer engagement, or integrating critical services, the *Urban Ready Standards* empower branches to strengthen their capacity and deliver impactful interventions tailored to the unique needs of urban settings.
Read the full document Urban Ready Standards v0.6
How to Use this Guide
Implementing the *Urban Ready Standards* begins with assembling a small team within your branch, ideally consisting of 2-5 people with diverse roles and expertise, ideally with the support of National Society HQ. This team is responsible for coordinating the assessment process and ensuring the necessary information is gathered. Start by familiarizing yourselves with the standards and identifying key contacts within your branch who can provide insights on specific areas. Brief interviews with these contacts-about 30 minutes each-can help collect the necessary data for the assessment. Use the provided worksheets to evaluate your branch’s current capacity against the standards, and collaboratively identify areas for improvement.
The eight standards consist of indicators at different levels, describing the situation and performance of the Branch and National Society.
-
Context and Stakeholder Analysis in Urban Contexts
-
Working With Governments and Key Decision Makers
-
Promoting Sustainable Urban Community Resilience
-
Incorporation of services and infrastructure into community resilience
-
Adopting a holistic people-centred / community-based approach
-
Applying RCRC principles in urban contexts
-
Managing volunteer recruitment, support, and retention
-
Fragile, Conflict, and Violent Contexts
Standard One: Context and Stakeholder Analysis in Urban Contexts
Having a comprehensive and up to date understanding of the urban context in which you wish to operate is critical for success.
Outcome:
Proven ability to bring disparate stakeholders together, promote a unified context sensitive, community-based approach, and maintain a coherent course forward.
Description
Working with communities and putting them at the centre of all programming is key to sustainable community resilience. However, in urban areas resilient communities are interdependent on each other, on service providers, government departments and a multitude of other stakeholders they interact/engage with. Further, the context in which those stakeholders exist is constantly changing. Despite the complexities, it is vitally important for National Societies to have a comprehensive understanding of the stakeholders and contexts in order to work effectively in an urban area, and to minimize negative outputs.
Standard Two: Working With Governments and Key Decision Makers
Urban community resilience relies on the critical goods and services provided by, or regulated by, governments. (And city administration? or local and national governments?)
Outcome:
Work with city officials to co-develop disaster response plans, urban development plans and informal settlement services, ensuring that the unique capabilities of the Red Cross are integrated into city-wide planning strategies.
Description:
Successful community resilience programming relies on strong relations and partnerships with governments, government agencies and power brokers. Establishing these relationships requires time, effort, coordination, and a plan.
We also need to think and operate across levels. While National Society branches work mainly at community level, we recognize that a resilient society requires efforts and commitment at other levels, by individuals, local and national authorities, and internationally. By linking communities with other levels, we empower them and help to strengthen the system as a whole.
Standard Three: Promoting Sustainable Urban Community Resilience
The integration of robust urban infrastructure, effective governance, social cohesion, and sustainable practices are required to support resilient urban communities.
Outcome:
Urban Communities are better prepared to face and recover from environmental, social, and economic challenges. NS have enhanced Disaster Preparedness and Adaptation to promote urban resilience, integrating sustainable practices.
Urban community resilience refers to the ability of communities in a city or metropolitan area to withstand and recover from shocks and stresses, such as disasters, economic fluctuations, or social disruptions. Measuring urban resilience and supporting community identification of vulnerabilities and capacities is critical to sustainable resilience. Communities should be recognized as active participants and be empowered to engage at local level.
Standard Four: Incorporation of services and infrastructure into community resilience
Urban communities rely on systems and services for at least part of their resilience.
Outcome:
Considering and incorporating of services and infrastructure into community resilience and facilitating widespread coverage (systems thinking) to build the capacity of communities to withstand, adapt to, and recover from various shocks to strengthen the overall resilience of the community.
Description:
Supporting urban community resilience requires understanding how those communities interact with critical systems and services and their providers. It requires working in collaboration with city governments and service providers to ensure equitable and sufficient access, while always maintaining community needs as the priority. Further, an understanding of how cascading risks (can) affect systems and community resilience and inform community bias is required to uphold RCRC principles such as Neutrality.
Understand that communities are multi-dimensional systems within wider systems. For example, a community’s water sources draw on a larger hydrological system, and its marketplace is connected to a wider economic system of supply and demand.
Standard Five: Adopting a holistic people-centred / community-based approach
Despite urban complexities, communities must remain at the centre of our urban resilience support.
Outcome:
Urban communities have become more resilient, better equipped to prepare for, cope with, and mitigate disasters while fostering a sense of self-reliance. Community resilience is built by addressing immediate needs and supporting long-term recovery.
Description:
By including, protecting and engaging communities, and helping them develop their knowledge and capacities to find local solutions to local challenges, the RCRC contributes to resilience and lasting inclusive society. Active members of their communities, RCRC volunteers and staff are key drivers in fostering community resilience.
Standard Six: Applying RCRC principles in urban contexts
The RCRC principles ensure aid without discrimination, trust by avoiding bias, freedom of action, willing service by volunteers, and a united effort with worldwide solidarity.
Outcome:
Ensuring protection, dignity and humanity for those affected, and maintaining the trust of urban communities, donors, and governments, providing neutral and impartial assistance, reaching those most in need regardless of race, religion, nationality, political beliefs, or any other affiliation. Vulnerable communities feel supported,
Description:
Maintaining the RCRC principles in urban contexts can be challenging due to the sheer number of stakeholders and their vested interests. National Societies must make extra effort to ensure they have a solid understanding of the context, stakeholders, social dynamics and security situation in order to uphold the principles. Furthermore, additional care is needed when working with governments and government agencies in order to remain neutral and independent.
Standard Seven: Managing volunteer recruitment, support, and retention
Urban areas offer a high concentration of potential volunteers with incredibly diverse skill sets, but also higher demands on their time. Volunteer support needs to be provided accordingly, and their safety guaranteed.
Outcome:
Working with urban RCRC volunteers will foster a sense of unity also among diverse urban communities, working towards a collective. Successful and effective navigating the urban environment with the help of volunteers knowing their areas and its people. Local volunteers know the area and its people, which can be critical for navigating the urban environment effectively.
Description:
Prospective volunteers in urban areas have diverse opportunities which allows volunteers to find causes that align closely with their interests and skills. It also creates a competitive environment in which organizations must compete. There is also a large volunteer base from a broad range of social status: economic, social, commercial, geographic. It is imperative that National Society volunteers represent the communities which it is serving, especially those communities hosting the most vulnerable.
Standard Eight: Fragile, Conflict, and Violent Contexts
Urban Settings are Complex, Fragility Conflict and Violence makes them more so and demand special considerations.
Outcome:
Description:
This standard equips Red Cross National Societies to deliver effective, context-sensitive humanitarian programming in urban areas affected by fragility, conflict, and violence (FCV). It emphasizes adaptability, protection, neutrality, access, and conflict sensitive programming to meet the unique challenges of complex urban crises.