Co-ordination between organisations in any given area is important to:

• optimise sharing of information and analysis
• avoid overlap in activities, and rationalise use of resources
• avoid situations where interveners are trying to carve out a niche for themselves
• avoid counter-productive programming.

At certain levels of conflict, it can become imperative to negotiate with other organisations or groups to develop a common set of guidelines or rules of engagement. For instance, in Sri Lanka, a group of donors and organisations came together to co-ordinate their work and define common perspectives and principles of operation in conflict-affected areas. And in Northern Uganda, a consortium of INGOs under World Vision leadership is conducting a joint conflict analysis. Annex 1 to this module summarises an example from Sri Lanka of the principles that can be applied when operating in conflict prone or – affected areas. Note that such co-ordinating principles are not conflict-sensitive unless they are respected and implemented effectively. Experience with Operation Lifeline Sudan shows that this does not always happen.