The Programme's activities are centred around the four pillars of country-level rapid needs assessment, programme formulation and implementation; knowledge and tools development; capacity building of relevant bodies for crisis response; and promotion of decent work and other socio-economic programmes to reintegrate the crisis-affected groups. The programme's planned activities include knowledge development, provision of technical assistance and other rapid response services, capacity building and advocacy. ILO's current knowledge base on crises is being reviewed and updated; links have been established with research institutions and individuals working in the area, and close collaborative links with other departments and programmes within the ILO at headquarters and the field have been set up. Crises call for rapid response. For this reason, guidelines, standard packages, and other tools which can be quickly adjusted to the specific needs of each individual crisis situation, are being prepared.

The principal activities of the IFP/CRISIS, in the short term, will be to:

- develop an ILO Crisis Network incorporating staff from headquarters and the field and build their crisis capacity;

- create ad-hoc task forces that can effectively follow-up on our rapid needs' assessment in specific crises countries;

- establish a roster of crisis consultants that can be used for our country assessment and early response programmes;

- develop a set of generic tools that can serve as the basis for building response programmes to the various types of crises;

- commence relevant research on the different crises;

- contribute to the development of early warning systems, to prevent crises and to mitigate their effects;