Crown Agents remain engaged in countries after the immediate emergency ends and are committed to assisting with the recovery and restoration of pre-crisis patterns of life.  

Our approach 

Our approach focuses on strengthening resilience, rebuilding capacity, and working to address the long-standing challenges that contribute to crisis.  

How we work 

We work with local partners to rebuild or improve access to basic services and to create livelihood opportunities. We adopt a principle of co-creation in the programmes we implement, so that local voices and priorities are ingrained in programme design.  

We draw on existing resources to collaborate with governmental institutions and local and national partners that are often overlooked by mainstream agencies. This enables our operations and programming to be specifically designed to adapt and respond to the demands of operating in crisis environments.  

Restoring services to recover from crises 

Restoration of services in the immediate aftermath of conflict or disasters helps rebuild social cohesion and community confidence. Our programmes offer visible evidence of investment and renewal and mark the start of a sustainable process of recovery from crisis. 

What we do 

Crown Agents provide an industry leading team capable of providing advice and management in crisis contexts: 

• Monitoring and assessment of global crises including targeted information sharing, early recovery recommendations and solutions
• Access to a pool of industry–leading infrastructure experts with specialisms including WASH, health, electrification, education, debris clearance, waste management and food security
• handover, stewardship and monitoring to local governance structures or national institutions 
• Risk management
• Specialist procurement, logistics and infrastructure teams
• Security advice and management
• Lessons learned, evidence and results

Restoring basic services and supporting livelihoods 

Crown Agents supports the early recovery phase of global crises. We have the experience, capacity, and contextual knowledge of operating in natural disasters and conflict settings to assist with: 

Resuming pre-crisis patterns of life by facilitating access to basic services  

Crown Agents work through local partners to restore basic services including education, food security, health, WASH, livelihoods and the rehabilitation of critical infrastructure. In addition, we retain specialist teams focused on solid waste management, debris clearance, solar projects and electrical grid restoration.  

Creating livelihood opportunities

Our early recovery programmes are implemented through cash for work schemes, which cover various cash transfer modalities, to enable efficiency and accessibility for all stakeholders. Our cash programming considers localised cash transfer modalities that accounts for: 

1. Accessibility for beneficiaries to cash the transfer 
2. Access for vulnerable groups (including women, the elderly, disabled and minority groups)
3. The technical literacy of beneficiaries  
4. Ease of monitoring and reporting 
5. Localised transfer costs and the various control instruments to supply cash transfers. 

Our cash transfer modalities used in past and current cash programmes include: E-vouchers, mobile money, in-kind cash payments. 

Strengthening locally led and locally managed institutions to sustain and maintain services 

Locally led in close coordination with local stakeholders, whether through the rehabilitation of street lights and connection to the grid in Syria, local governance initiatives in Lebanon or supporting sub-national governance and decentralisation in Libya. We empower and build capacity of national and local partners to be agents of change in responding to crises. We also prioritise gender and inclusiveness in our delivery, because we know how essential it is for early recovery and long-term stability that the needs of men, women, boys and girls are properly understood, and their participation increased. 

Providing visible evidence of investment and revival 

Crown Agents undertake ground–level assessments to define projects that maximise impact and long-term early recovery efforts. Crucial baseline and endline data is collected to identify the needs and capabilities of partners to carry out project objectives with close capacity building and monitoring throughout all stages of the project cycle. Investment and revival is the end goal of early recovery, and enabling handover to local partners, municipalities or other organisations is crucial for sustained impact post–project completion.