CCHN negotiation resources which have been translated into Spanish. (Photo: CCHN)
Geneva, Switzerland. — After launching the second edition of the Field Manual on Frontline Humanitarian Negotiation in November 2019 and its French version in October 2020, the Centre of Competence on Humanitarian Negotiation (CCHN) launched the CCHN Field Manual in Spanish on Wednesday, 17 March 2021.
The CCHN has been working to support humanitarian practitioners in Latin America to enhance their negotiation capabilities since 2017. Meanwhile, we have built our network of Spanish-speaking humanitarians who work in some of the most difficult contexts and challenging situations in the region.
We have translated the CCHN Field Manual into Spanish to provide continuous support and an analytical framework for humanitarians operating in Latin America. This initiative follows the request of members from our Community of Practice based in the region who have expressed a need for practical negotiation tools and methods to provide assistance and protection more efficiently and reach their beneficiaries safely.
“Having the CCHN negotiation resources in Spanish means that humanitarian practitioners in Latin America can now consult and share this method in their own contexts in their own language. But more importantly, having the CCHN Manual translated into different languages creates more cohesion between the members of the CCHN Community. They now have a common language they can use while preparing their negotiations and finding a common ground, no matter if they are somewhere in Africa, the Middle East or Latin America,” says Marcia Vargas, CCHN’s Negotiation Support Specialist for Latin America and the Caribbean.
The launch of the CCHN Field Manual in Spanish was organized online and open to the general public. The event gathered many humanitarian practitioners and other professionals with first-hand experience in frontline negotiations.
We invited Isabel Márquez, UNHCR’s Deputy Director Regional Office for the Americas and Carlos Morazzani Morgad, the ICRC’s Regional Director for the Americas to give a short presentation on the current humanitarian situation in Latin America.
These presentations were followed by a video in which Andrés Martínez (REACH Initiative, Colombia), Elena Qleibo (Consultat for Libya), Jorge Días (ICRC Field Officer, México) and Maryluz Núñez (UNICEF Field Coordinator, Venezuela) talked about what it means to be part of the CCHN Community of Practice as well as the importance of being able to access CCHN negotiation tools in Spanish.
Finally, Marcia Vargas gave a brief overview of the CCHN Field Manual and its methodology, with a practical use example given by Henry Montana, a CCHN facilitator and WPF Programme Officer based in El Salvador.
The CCHN Manual in Spanish is now available for download in PDF version here. To pre-order a hard copy, please send an email to [email protected]. The other negotiation resources that we had translated to Spanish, such as Facilitators Handbook and Negotiator Handbook are available to download in PDF version.
About the CCHN Field Manual on Humanitarian Negotiations
Based on the collective experience and perspectives of several hundred humanitarian practitioners engaged in the most difficult conflict zones, the CCHN Field Manual offers a comprehensive and systematic method for conducting humanitarian negotiation. Its first edition in English was published in September 2018, which was then amended following several discussions with humanitarian practitioners. The second edition was released in November of 2019. This second edition has been translated into French, Spanish and Arabic. The Arabic version is currently being prepared and will be launched soon.
The CCHN Field Manual offers a set of practical tools based on the experience gained in the field, as well as a step-by-step guide to planning and implementing negotiation processes in a structured and personalized manner. For more information on the CCHN Field Manual, please visit: www.frontline-negotiations.org/CCHN-field-manual/
About the CCHN
CCHN is a joint initiative of ICRC, WFP, UNHCR, MSF Switzerland and HD on frontline negotiations. We are mandated to facilitate the capture, analysis and sharing of humanitarian negotiation experiences and practices with a view to supporting a more systematic approach to frontline negotiation. As a community-driven organization, we also provide a space for multiagency dialogue and foster a global community of practice among humanitarian negotiators. For more information, please visit: www.frontline-negotiations.org.
Download the PDF version of CCHN Field Manual in Spanish here. To pre-order a hard copy, please send an email to [email protected]. Other negotiation resources that we had translated to Spanish, such as Facilitators Handbook and Negotiator Handbook are available to download in PDF version.