As part of the series, we will host workshops in Kampala, Addis Ababa, Amman and Beirut. We hope to see you there!

The Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS) articulate the minimum level of assistance required to support the economic recovery of vulnerable populations in the wake of crises. The MERS handbook offers tools and approaches that support practitioners, multi-lateral stakeholders, local market actors, governments and donors to support economic recovery through market-based response. The standards draw from the accumulated experience of the world’s leading humanitarian agencies and economic development practitioners. The third and most current edition of the MERS represents the expertise of over 90 organizations and 175 technical professionals.

Why Should I Enroll in This Workshop?

The MERS are an invaluable tool for designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating any type of program or activity that supports the economic recovery of individuals, businesses, and communities. As a member standard of the Humanitarian Standards Partnership, MERS are designed to promote humanitarian quality and accountability for and with people in crises.

The MERS should be used:

• By anyone planning or implementing economic or livelihood programs in a humanitarian context.
• By operational staff procuring and/or providing large volumes of goods for a specific area (such as non-food items distributions) to understand how to avoid a negative impact on the market.
• By practitioners working in technical sectors such as WASH or Shelter to benefit from applying MERS as means of linking assistance to local markets.
• By donors, governments, private-sector actors, proposal writers, and evaluation staff as a resource for designing or reviewing project activities.

Designed to equip everyone from practitioners to policymakers with the knowledge, skills, and resources to apply MERS, these workshops are highly interactive and supportive of diverse learning styles and preferences. Through a combination of lecture, discussion, reflection, and structured learning activities, expert facilitators work closely with workshop participants to convey the background, use and value of MERS in economic recovery and market systems programs.

The workshop culminates in a hands-on learning lab, where you will have the opportunity to explore the use of MERS in practice – thus gaining useful skills and knowledge around how to apply MERS in various contexts.

Workshop Topics

• Economic Recovery and Market Systems
• MERS Overview: Background, Use, Structure, and Resources
• Using and applying the MERS In Practice
• The Six Sets of MERS Standards:
  1. Core
  2. Assessment and Analysis
  3. Enterprise and Market Systems Development
  4. Asset Distribution
  5. Financial Services
  6. Employment

Course Objectives

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Communicate what the MERS are and how they could be used effectively to their peers;
• Articulate the value of the MERS to their work with crisis-affected populations;

• Recognize the relevance of the MERS for all types of market-based programming for relief, recovery, long-term development and resilience building across any sector;
• Identify and use the most appropriate MERS in planning, implementing and evaluating intervention activities.

Who Else is Joining?

Participants from USAID, Humanity and Inclusion, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, Oxfam, ACDI/ VOCA, Catholic Relief Services, CARE and UNHCR are already registered! Register below to join them.

Registration

Please note that there is limited space available for this workshop, and your registration will not be confirmed until we receive your payment.

Register Now

About the Facilitator

Katie Whitehouse finds satisfaction in implementing strategies in the field providing innovative yet practical ideas and solutions to problems. She recognizes the need for a balance between top-down strategy and bottom-up applicability preferring to be the bridge between operations and strategy.

Katie has 10 years of experience in applying strategic and business thinking to the areas of sustainability, innovation, technology, emergency response and international development. Katie has worked for Accenture, Oxfam, and The Springfield Centre across multiple sectors including WASH, Livelihoods, M4P, Energy Access, and markets-based humanitarian and development programming. She is currently working with the Moving Energy Initiative - analyzing market approaches to improve clean energy access for refugees in protracted crisis contexts. She also supports SEEP’s Mainstreaming the Minimum Economic Standards initiative and has produced MERS case studies, training materials and organizational assessment tools that support organizations and practitioners to apply MERS in practice.

Venue and Lodging

This is MERS Workshop will be held at:

Riviera Hotel
Corniche El Manara
Beirut, Lebanon

For discounted room rates, contact the hotel at larabeaini@rivierahotel.com.lb with a reference to the MERS Workshop and The SEEP Network.

Questions?

The MERS are an initiative of The SEEP Network. To learn more about MERS, visit www.mershandbook.org. For questions and inquiries about, please contact us at resilientmarkets@seepnetwork.org.