Core Standards

Markets play a critical role in how people survive, so understanding how they work during a crisis, and the best way for humanitarian responses to work with them, is essential. Markets are a physical and/or virtual space where people and businesses buy and sell goods and services; and response efforts take place within a country's economy as well as in its geographical area. Interventions need to be aware of market realities and how market systems link together the actors, governance and power dynamics, and formal and informal spaces where individuals, households, and businesses of all sizes come together.

Crises certainly affect markets, but not always in predictable ways. Crises can disrupt specific activities and relationships within a market or cause markets to fail completely. As a result, individuals, households, and businesses may be forced to take actions that undermine their current well-being and future viability. For households, this may include eating less, reducing spending on medical care and other essentials, removing children from school, and selling productive assets, such as livestock. Businesses may be forced to delay maintenance and investments, sell off equipment, and lay off workers. It is important to remember that some markets grow during and after a crisis, and some even thrive in this situation.

The MERS is a partner to the Sphere Handbook and as such shares the same foundations of quality and accountability for humanitarian standards. Specifically, the MERS Core Standards are harmonized with and emulate the Core Humanitarian Standards (CHS), adapted specifically for those working in economic recovery. The aim of linking the MERS and CHS is to establish stronger accountability to affected populations.

The MERS Core Standards help to ensure that programs meet the most basic responsibilities of economic recovery activities, and that interventions support opportunities for people to earn an income – via wage employment or self-employment – and to rebuild their lives, on their own terms, with dignity.

Core Standard 1

Humanitarian programs are market aware

Program design and implementation decisions consider context, market system dynamics, and communities. Market systems programming begins with the needs of the targeted groups.

Key Actions

• Learn which markets the program may interact with by speaking to procurement, logistics, and other operational teams in addition to the program staff.

• Determine if market assessment or analysis has taken place. If not, conduct one to develop interventions based on the needs of the population and sustainability of activities. Include a determination of economic viability, through a cost–benefit analysis and/or feasibility study (see also Assessment and Analysis Standards).

• Use the analyses to decide on your program activities. Consider the right level of market intervention and the views of a variety of stakeholders, including the community. Utilize existing market mechanisms, unless there is a compelling reason not to.

• Consult with relevant public and private-sector stakeholders to work in partnership.

• Establish monitoring systems to collect and analyze information on the market and the impact of the program. Feed this information (including social impacts) into project learning for ongoing improvements.

• Communicate the intent of economic activities with staff, partners, and community members, and be clear about who they can serve.

• Engage the targeted population throughout the program cycle.

Key Indicators

• Interventions invest in economically viable activities that target stable or growing markets.

• Interventions do not negatively distort markets.

• Interventions should be appropriate and relevant, with a clear logic for how they will meet people's needs and support capacities.

• Interventions have a monitoring system in place to enable regular and ongoing monitoring of changes (e.g. market prices, risks to market actors). Programs are regularly adjusted based on changing market and social conditions.

Guidance Notes

(1) Market systems

Economic recovery should consider interventions that work at multiple points across a market, from input suppliers to producers, end markets, and policymakers. Programs that work at only one level and do not recognize these interconnections risk missing opportunities and creating market distortions with social consequences. Interventions may require a wide range of activities to have the greatest impact.

(2) Viability

Choosing the right program activities depends on understanding the markets in which enterprises and households operate. Economic recovery programs should orient enterprises and households to markets that are growing, stable, or have unmet demand in order to provide opportunities for employment and/or increased income to sustain livelihoods. Shrinking or non-competitive markets are ultimately not sustainable. Assistance that pushes people to stay in these markets will undermine their livelihoods in the long run. Additionally, noncompetitive markets have fewer incentives that encourage entrepreneurs to invest, adopt new technologies, or benefit from program activities. This limits program effectiveness and reduces the ultimate goal of providing viable livelihood opportunities in communities affected by crisis. Understanding the affected market systems and marketplaces is a critical step and is covered in the Assessment and Analysis Standard, as well as the MiSMA.

On the other hand, economic recovery activities should target groups or individuals that are capable of sustaining and expanding their economic activity into the future. Should vulnerable groups lack the ability to sustain an activity, they are best served if, in addition to livelihood support, they receive cash transfers and other social safety-net interventions as well as capacity-building to build skills for the future. Such supplemental interventions should take into account the specific needs, capacities, and risks of sub-groups (e.g. women, people with disabilities, non-conforming gender identities and sexual orientations) to ensure inclusion, protection, and efficacy.

(3) Market distortion

Despite the best intentions, many emergency or development interventions can create market distortions. Market distortions include any unintended results that negatively affect a market system, ranging from extreme price fluctuations to the physical destruction of a market. It is the responsibility of those intervening in crisis situations to ensure that their interventions do not replace local products and actors, or otherwise create harmful distortions. Interventions should create positive effects beyond their intended...