CEA in Emergencies

This page is a one-stop shop for CEA in emergencies. It outlines the minimum actions for community engagement at each stage of the response, and the tools to help you put these into practice. It has links to CEA training packs for emergencies, a guide to CEA in emergencies, and case studies specific to conflict, earthquakes, and extreme weather. For health related emergencies, visit our CEA and Health page.

Ten actions to engage communities during emergency response operations

To successfully engage communities during emergency response operations, CEA should be incorporated into all stages of the programme cycle. To help you to do this, you can follow the ten actions below which have been categorised by the different stages. Under each action, you’ll also find a list of related tools from the CEA Toolkit. View a full explanation of each step here.

Explore CEA in Emergencies Related Trainings

18 July 2023

CEA branch-level training (updated)

A highly interactive two-day training to support branch staff and volunteers to improve levels of community engagement in…

21 July 2022

CEA in Emergencies Module

A three-hour training module providing an introduction to the 10 minimum actions for good community engagement and accountability…

21 July 2022

CEA in Emergencies Training

A one-day training package exploring in detail the 10 minimum actions for good community engagement and accountability in…

Explore CEA in Emergency Case Studies

25 September 2023

Eswatini Drought FbF: Validating Early Actions with Community Members

This case study captures learnings from an Early Action Protocol (EAP) validation exercise which was carried out by…

22 February 2023

Engaging communities to build resilience and accountability mechanisms

A case study on engaging communities to build resilience and accountability mechanisms after the Nepal 2015 earthquake.

28 September 2020

Feedback mechanism, the guidelines: Hurricane Dorian operation

As part of the Hurricane Dorian emergency appeal, a community feedback mechanism was established by Bahamas Red Cross…

24 September 2020

Case study: Operating a feedback hotline in the Bahamas

This case study presents the process of establishing and operating a feedback hotline that was undertaken by the…

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2 April 2024

Humanitarian Impacts of Climate Change in Bangladesh

Type:

Report

Organization:

Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, IFRC, US AID, ICCCAD

This study assesses the humanitarian impacts of climate change by identifying vulnerabilities and challenges faced by local communities. The study includes local perspectives, gained through community engagement, ensuring active participation…

  • Climate change
  • Extreme weather

5 February 2024

Community Listening (Women): Herat Earthquake, Afghanistan

Type:

Report

Organization:

Afghan Red Crescent Society, IFRC

This report captures the results of a CEA rapid assessment that was carried out by Afghan Red Crescent Society with IFRC following a series of earthquakes that hit Afghanistan’s Herat…

  • Assessments
  • Earthquakes
  • Emergencies
  • PGI

5 February 2024

CEA Practices in Program Cycle: Indonesia Red Cross

Type:

Case Study

Organization:

Indonesian Red Cross

This case study explores the use of Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA) in the Indonesia Red Cross (PMI) programme cycle, during both emergency and non-emergency contexts.

  • Community-led solutions
  • Vaccines

5 December 2023

Information preparedness and community engagement for El Niño in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region

Type:

Briefing note

Organization:

Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform

This key considerations brief describes the implications of El Niño in the East and Southern Africa Region (ESAR) for Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) initiatives, based on previous comparable…

  • El Niño
  • Emergencies
  • Extreme weather
  • RCCE

25 September 2023

Eswatini Drought FbF: Validating Early Actions with Community Members

Type:

Case Study

Organization:

British Red Cross, Eswatini Baphalali Red Cross Society

This case study captures learnings from an Early Action Protocol (EAP) validation exercise which was carried out by Eswatini Baphalali Red Cross Society (BERCS) between June and July 2022 as…

  • Anticipatory action
  • Climate change
  • Community feedback
  • Early Action Protocol

9 August 2023

Community Engagement in Humanitarian Action Toolkit (CHAT)

Type:

Tool

Organization:

UNICEF

A toolkit designed to support with developing effective community engagement strategies for different emergencies with specific tools for natural hazards, conflicts, disease outbreaks, epidemics, and complex emergencies.

  • Conflict
  • Disease
  • Drought
  • Emergencies

9 August 2023

Learning from the Ukraine Crisis Webinar Series: CEA for Remote CVA programming webinar

Type:

Webinar

Organization:

British Red Cross

The first webinar in the series aimed to explore how Community, Engagement and Accountability (CEA) minimum actions and approaches were integrated into CVA within the Red Cross Red Crescent Movement…

  • CEA and Cash
  • Conflict
  • Ukraine
  • Webinar

22 February 2023

Engaging communities to build resilience and accountability mechanisms

Type:

Case Study

Organization:

UNICEF

A case study on engaging communities to build resilience and accountability mechanisms after the Nepal 2015 earthquake.

  • Earthquakes
  • Nepal

19 October 2022

Ten actions to engage communities during emergency response operations

Type:

Infographic

Organization:

IFRC

An infographic detailing ten actions to engage communities during emergency response operations.

  • Emergencies

27 September 2022

Lessons on communication, community engagement and accountability for the Pakistan floods response

Type:

Briefing note

Organization:

CDAC Network, CWS, IFRC

A briefing note outlining the key lessons on communication, community engagement and accountability (CCEA) from past flood emergencies in Pakistan, along with recommendations for the current response.

  • Asia Pacific
  • Emergencies
  • Flooding
  • Pakistan

17 August 2022

PASSA Case Study in Honduras – Safe Homes, Resilient Communities

Type:

Case Study

Organization:

IFRC

This case study shares the experience of Honduras Red Cross in implementing the Participatory Approach to Safe Housing Awareness and Home Repair Program developed as part of the ETA&IOTA hurricane…

  • Extreme weather
  • Flooding
  • Hurricanes
  • PASSA

25 July 2022

National Society Preparedness: Community engagement and accountability

Type:

Video

Organization:

IFRC

This video talks about the importance of community engagement and accountability when Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies work to reduce risk, prepare for and respond to emergencies.

  • Arabic
  • Bahasa
  • Emergencies
  • French

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