The CwC Tactical Working Group was launched in July 2015 to drive the ETC’s strategic expansion into this area, ensuring that the cluster plays an incremental, tangible role in humanitarian CwC coordination from now until 2020.

The Working Group became more of a network - focusing on using partnerships, advocacy and pilot projects. Like all ETC2020 Working Groups, the working group structure was revised to serve more as a contact list/informal network, with relevant members meeting on a project-by-project basis.

The group raised awareness ETC2020 strategy and new priorities, expanding the ETC ‘network’ to include many new non-traditional ETC partners and participating in key multi-agency initiatives (common services; training; joint proposals for HIF; crisis innovations initiative; CDAC strategy). A deployment profile and ETC ‘Services for Communities’ training were developed with content from various organisations, for membership and network capacity building.

A strategic decision was taken in May 2016 to stop calling this work ‘CwC’. It is more accurate to describe the ETC work in this area as services for communities, under the umbrellas of ‘CwC’, ‘Community Engagement’, and ‘Accountability to Affected Populations’.

Led by the Global ETC cell, organisations that participated in the CwC Tactical Working Group included: CDAC Network, World Vision International. 

All ETC2020 Tactical Working Groups were transitioned in 2016 into a more ‘consultative’ type role, carrying forward activities that emerged from discussions.