Minimum Economic
Recovery Standards (MERS)
Minimum Economic Recovery
Standards (MERS) Training Sessions
Tony Dines & Adam Clark
Training consultants
General Practitioner (2 day course) / Trainer of Trainers (4 day course)
RATIONALE FOR THE COURSE
COURSE AIM
To promote effective economic recovery programs after
crises through appropriate application of the Minimum
Economic Recovery Standards (MERS).
COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
• state the definition of economic recovery for people
affected by crisis;
• explain the need for minimum economic recovery
standards (MERS);
• list at least five major benefits of employing MERS;
• explain the structure of the MERS handbook;
• list the major groups of standards within the MERS
handbook, and how they relate to each other;
• more confidently apply MERS appropriately and effectively
for those affected by and recovering from crisis.
Increasingly, practitioners and donors who respond to disasters recognize
the need for rapid, tailored support for the livelihoods, enterprises, and
economies affected in the wake of a crisis. This support is often in parallel
with emergency efforts to meet basic human needs for shelter, water,
food, and health services. In the past, economic recovery assistance has
often been viewed as a later-stage activity. However, disasters—such as
the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the prolonged conflicts in the Middle
East and South Asia, and the 2010 Haiti earthquake—illustrate that an
economy continues to function during a crisis, albeit at a reduced or
shrinking rate of growth. Affected populations require sources of income,
at a minimum to survive and at best to thrive once again.
The MERS represent a consensus across agencies engaged in economic
recovery and development on what constitutes an effective and
appropriate response to help disaster-affected populations gain fair access
to viable economic opportunities, allowing them to regain their
livelihoods and provide for themselves and their families with dignity.
The Sphere Handbook is commonly used by humanitarian institutions
and has therefore become second nature in the thinking of humanitarian
practitioners. In order to ensure sustained and long-term economic
recovery from crisis, the Minimum Economic Recovery Standards need to
become just as integral a part of the development and implementation of
humanitarian assistance. As the Sphere Guidelines are “common
standards” and do not address economic recovery programming, the
Minimum Economic Recovery Standards were developed, in coordination
with the Sphere Project, to address this gap.
Promoting and using the MERS will provide practitioners, regardless of
their familiarity with economic recovery initiatives, with knowledge of
the minimum requirements to ensure quality, accountability, and with
the processes and procedures to implement good practice to support
economic recovery.
Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS)
MERS TRAINING COURSE
The MERS course is made up of two courses:
1. A two day General Practioner Training Course that provides a certificate of
General Practitioner
2. And a follow on two day Training of Trainers course (includes the 2 day
General Practitioner Training) and is a 4 day course including training
practice and certification process to become an accredited MERS trainer.
General Practitioner (2 day Course)
$300
Training of Trainers (4 day course)
$500
TIMETABLE
GENERAL PRACTITIONER
GENERAL PRACTITIONER
DAY 1
DAY 2
8:30 START
8:30 START
Introductions
8:30 - 9:15
Assessment standards - preparation
8:30 - 9:05
Why minimum standards
9:15 - 10:20
Assessment standards - presentation
9:05 - 10:05
10:20 - 10:25 BREAK
10:05 - 10:20 BREAK
Agenda and objectives
10:25 - 10:55
Quiz: review of Part 1 of the course
10:20 - 10:50
What is economic recovery?
10:55 - 11:15
Group work on applying the standards
10:50 - 11:55
Agree/Disagree exercise
11:15 - 11:40
11:55 - 12:55 LUNCH
The what and the why of MERS (Part 1)
11:40 - 12:05
Applying the standards - presentations and discussion
12:55 - 2:55
12:05 - 1:05 LUNCH
2:55 - 3:10 BREAK
The what and the why of MERS (Part 2)
1:05 - 1:50
How MERS might have helped (optional if time)
3:10 - 3:40
The benefits of MERS
1:50 - 2:05
Review and Summary
3:40 - 4:10
The structure of MERS
2:05 - 2:30
Evaluation
4:10 - 4:30
2:30 - 2:45 BREAK
The Core Standards
2:45 - 4:15
Review of Day 1
4:15 - 4:30
Minimum Economic Recovery Standards (MERS)
TIMETABLE
TRAINING OF TRAINERS
TRAINING OF TRAINERS
DAY 3
DAY 4
9:00 START
9:00 START
What is a good training course?
9:00 - 9:25
Review / Training Practice Preparation
9:00 - 10:00
Introduction to the ToT course
9:25 - 9:40
Training Practice 1
10:00 - 11:00
Critique of MERS Training Course
9:40 - 10:40
11:00 - 11:15 BREAK
10:40 - 11:00 BREAK
How learing sticks
11:00 - 11:15
Adult learning styles
11:15 - 11:55
Introduction to the MERS Training Course Manual
11:55 - 12:55
12:55 - 1:55 LUNCH
Navigating and Understanding the MERS Training Manual
1:55 - 4:00
Training Practice 2
11:15 - 12:15
Training Practice 3
12:15 - 1:15
1:15 - 2:15 LUNCH
Training Practice 4
1:15 - 2:15
Training Practice 5
2:15 - 3:15
3:15 - 3:30 BREAK
Above session to include 15 minute break at convenient time
Review, Q&A, Action Planning
3:30 - 4:15
BREAK INCLUDED IN ABOVE SESSION
Evaluation and Close
4:15 - 4:45
Training tips, PowerPoint, Flipchart & Challenging Behavior
4:00 - 5:00