HAP International | News

The Sphere Handbook in Haitian Creole!

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Sphere Handbook "Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response" is now available in Haitian Creole.

This translation has been coordinated by Oxfam Canada and funded by the following members of the Policy Action Group on Emergency Response (PAGER Canada): World Vision Canada, Plan Canada, Oxfam Quebec, Development and Peace, CARE Canada, Canadian Red Cross, Save the Children Canada, Christian Children's Fund of Canada, Mennonite Central Committee of Canada and Adventist Development and Relief Agency of Canada.

The Sphere Handbook in Haitian Creole is available on the Sphere Project website.

New International Director at Tearfund

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Tearfund has announced the appointment of David Bainbridge as its new International Director.

Bainbridge has worked in the NGO sector for over 20 years and has held various roles within Tearfund, with a particular focus in disaster management and working with local partners.

Among his achievements, Bainbridge led Tearfund to become the first UK agency to achieve certification with HAP.

For more information: http://www.christiantoday.com/article/tearfund.appoints.new.international.director/26624.htm

Draft 2010 Standard available for public review

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The second draft of the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management is now available for public review. The deadline for feedback is Monday, 20 September 2010.

To review the draft and submit your feedback, please visit the 2010 Standard page.

The draft was informed by contributions from over 1,600 people in over 120 countries. The ISO/IEC Rules for the Structure and Drafting of International Standards and criteria agreed by the Standard Review Steering Committee guided the development of this draft. To find out more about the review consultations, please visit the Standard Review and Consultation pages.

Update - Accountability and the Humanitarian Response in Kyrgyzstan

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

On the 13th August ACTED hosted the first introductory meeting on accountability in the humanitarian response in South Kyrgyzstan.

The meeting held in Osh was attended by ACTED, Danish Refugee Council, ACT-Alliance, Save the Children US, Action contre le Faim, Mehr Shaykat, OCHA, UNHCR, Unicef and UNDP.

ACTED called the meeting with 3 main objectives in mind:

• To present the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP)
• To review existing accountability mechanisms within NGOs currently responding in the region
• To identify current gaps and needs and discuss possible coordination regarding complaint mechanisms and accountability.

After a presentation by ACTED, covering HAP International’s history, mandate, principles and in particular, the New Emergency Policy. Attendees agreed to operate under the guidance of the HAP Principles, and the relevance and importance of ensuring accountability in the context of the humanitarian intervention in Kyrgyzstan.

The meeting established that, several organisations have set up their own complaint and response mechanisms (CRM). Some examples of these include, distributing leaflets to beneficiaries on their entitlements, positioning complaint boxes in public areas and establishing a team of two officers dedicated to receiving and responding to complaints.

Attending agencies agreed, with only a few organizations working under pre-established processes, the number of accountability mechanisms, in particular with regards to beneficiaries, remains limited.. In light of this, several needs where identified in order to build on the current accountability mechanisms. These include, building on local expertise, the need for increased support and information, improved systems to allow increased outreach of complaint mechanisms and improved interagency coordination on accountability and complaint mechanisms.

The meeting concluded with an agreement on the general need to improve accountability towards beneficiaries and a specific need for increased information sharing.

HAP in Haiti - key highlights from the last 4 months

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Workshops and trainings, camp committee assessment tool, joint complaint and response mechanisms, an Accountability Learning Working Group, and more! The last four months have been packed with activity for the HAP team in Haiti. Below is a summary of our key achievements to date and priorities for the coming two months.

Workshops, training, coaching and other tailored support for agencies
A variety of trainings have been delivered for both members and non-members, international and national NGOs. Over the last 4 months over 260 staff from 11 HAP members and 28 non-HAP members have participated in 15 training workshops. These have included: an introduction to HAP and accountability for practitioners and management; benchmark specific training on information sharing and participation; approaches for rapid-assessment of practice at project level with site visit.

The rapid-assessments as part of training programmes have been particularly successful in helping participants to realize existing gaps between their understanding of current practice, and the realities on the ground from the perspective of beneficiaries. The training so far has covered the regions of Port-au-Prince, Leogane and Jacmel.

Development and testing of a camp committee assessment tool to strengthen community participation
During the early stages of the deployment the HAP team identified that camp committees, and the responsibilities given to them by the humanitarian community, are playing a key role in agency accountability. While agencies are commonly working through these committees, they do not necessary understand how the committees were created and by whom, if the committees were well-respected and viewed as representative by the population.

Together with ACTED, the HAP team developed a camp committee assessment tool, which was used in Ti Savanne camp, a camp managed by ACTED. The results proved instrumental for ACTED in their management of the camp and resulted in ACTED ensuring a better camp governance structure and ensuring that particular groups, such as women and people living with disabilities, are now participating more. To read our article outlining the role of camp committees and the findings based on the work with ACTED see: Camp Committees in Haiti: Un-Accountability Mechanisms?

Following this, and building on the interest it generated, IOM and HAP have been working together to further test and refine the tool in three camps. The tool will then be shared widely within Haiti, so that agencies working in camps (either providing services or as the camp manager) can map and analyze the existing committees in order to make a more informed decision about how they want to work with these committees and the wider camp population.

Support with the development of a Joint Complaints and Response Mechanism (JCRM)
Working with Lutheran World Foundation (LWF), Save the Children and World Vision, the HAP team has been supporting with the development of a JCRM to be piloted by these three agencies in St. Therese camp. This has including facilitating a series of meetings, providing technical expertises, offering feedback on tools, and supporting with the drafting of complaints handling procedures. Following consultation with the camp committee and camp population it is envisaged that the JCRM will be rolled out in the camp in August.

Setting-up an Accountability Learning Working Group (ALWG)
With interested agencies, an Accountability Learning Working Group (ALWG) was established to provide a forum for international and national agencies to share examples of good practice, tools and learning on accountability. Up to the end of July, the group met five times to develop a brief Terms of Reference for the group and to have discussions on:

• Conducting a camp committee assessment to strengthen community participation (presentation by ACTED).

• Setting up a complaint and response mechanism for beneficiary complaints (presentation by Concern).

• Developing a committee of grass roots organisations to ensure stronger accountability (presentation by Oxfam GB).

The initial success of the ALWG in Port-au-Prince has sparked interest among participating agencies in launching a similar group in Leogane.

Participation in UN and NGO Steer Committee on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA)
The HAP team has been supporting the Haiti PSEA coordinator engaged by OCHA, and participating in the Steering Committee on PSEA. In June, HAP facilitated a session as part of training for agency focal points on PSEA, and it is envisaged the HAP team will continue to play a role in the working group looking at Complaint and Response Mechanisms.

Successful secondment of staff to work with HAP in Haiti
The first three months of the HAP deployment was led by Elie Gasagara, who was seconded to HAP from World Vision. As the Accountability and Protection Advisor for World Vision’s Food Programme Management Group, Elie brought with him much expertise, and found the secondment offered good opportunity for him to understand what other agencies are doing in the area of accountability and to access extensive resources available at HAP.

To support the team, and help build capacity that will remain in Haiti after September, Reseau National de Droits Humaines (RNDDH) has seconded a member of staff to HAP from August. It is hoped that this staff member will continue to deliver trainings on accountability after the HAP team has left, and will maintain the call for accountability in the emergency and relief efforts in Haiti.

Documenting through photos and video
In May, the HAP team worked with photographer and video documentarist, Robin Moore, to capture the life of camp residents in Ti Savanne, where HAP had conduced their first camp committee assessment. The work resulted in a photo series and video documentary (available soon).

Priorities for the final two months (August – September):

a) Following up on training to date to review the impact of this, and support agencies with capitalizing on internal knowledge developed as a result trainings.

b) Continue to support agencies in rolling out a Joint CRM. Following this, the tools and learning from the process will be shared widely, in order to raise awareness on the importance and feasibility of joint CRMs.

c) Continued regular meetings of the ALWG, and build ownership of participating agencies so that this continues after the end of the HAP deployment.

d) Continue to participate as part of the PSEA Steering Committee, and in the working group on Complaint and Response Mechanisms.

e) Finalise and share widely the camp committee assessment tool to strengthen participation.

f) Work with the Sphere resource people in Haiti, to identify and deliver joint support activities.

g) Document learning from the deployment, including examples of good practice.

The HAP deployment in Haiti will end on the 30th September 2010. For more information please contact Accountability Advisors: Emily Rogers (erogers@hapinternational.org), and Troels Sorensen (tesorensen@hapinternational.org), or see the HAP in Haiti webpage.

The HAP team is hosting by RedR/Bioforce as part of the Disaster Response Support Service (DRSS) project. Current activities in Haiti are supported financially by Danida, the ACT Alliance/DanChurchAid, Tearfund, and World Vision, with an earlier grant additionally from ECHO.

World Humanitarian Day

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) reminds you to take a moment for World Humanitarian Day on August 19th. In the spirit of the day, let us remember the sacrifices made by humanitarian workers who have lost their lives or been injured as result of their dedication to the humanitarian cause. Also, we recognise the humanitarian aid workers who continue to provide assistance to some of the most vulnerable people in the world irrespective of race, age, gender or religion. Humanitarians in many cases work in hazardous locations that have fallen out of the media spotlight, engaging with communities and individuals who would otherwise not receive assistance.

The Partnership joins the World Humanitarian Day initiative to commemorate those humanitarians who have been injured or lost their lives, to highlight the commendable work humanitarians engage in and most importantly, to call attention to the millions people worldwide in need of humanitarian assistance.

Support World Humanitarian Day!

To find out more about the World Humanitarian Day click here

Accountability and Humanitarian Intervention in South Kyrgyzstan

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Almost two months have elapsed since Kyrgyzstan’s worst ethnic clashes, transparency and accountability is paramount in the delivery of relief to ensure a quality humanitarian response.

The fighting began on the 10th June in Southern Kyrgyzstan and lasted several days resulting in hundreds of people being killed, thousands of people being displaced and thousands of homes being destroyed. The situation remains volatile, with the fear of a resurgence of violence during this time of political transition and the large numbers of people that remain affected as a result of the ethnic clashes.

Several member agencies of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) are currently deployed within the region. These include; members of the ACT Alliance, ACTED, DRC and Save the Children.

ACTED has taken several steps towards facilitating and coordinating a transparent and accountable response. Firstly, they have translated The HAP 2007 Standard in Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management and The Guide to the Standard into Russian. This is in the process of being reviewed and should be available shortly. Secondly, they have taken the lead in hosting a meeting under the New Emergency Policy on how to ensure the accountability and effectiveness of the humanitarian intervention in South Kyrgyzstan. This meeting has been prepared in partnership with HAP Secretariat. So far, the organizations that have expressed interest in attending this meeting are International Medical Corps, OCHA, UNHCR, ACT Alliance, DRC and DCA.

The following discussion points have been proposed for the meeting:

1. Why, and to whom should the humanitarian intervention in South Kyrgyzstan be accountable?

2. Brief overview of needs and existing processes and approaches to ensure accountability.

3. Presentation of ACTED's complaint mechanism.

4. Discussion on possible coordination between NGOs regarding complaint handling.

5. Possible resources to be deployed to help ensure humanitarian accountability.

6. AOB

The meeting will take place on Friday 13 August at 4:00 pm at ACTED’s offices in Osh. All interested parties wishing to attend the meeting, including those who are not members of the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership, are asked to please contact Robin Nataf of ACTED or Gregory Gleed of HAP International for further information.

Quality and Accountability Meeting in Pakistan

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

The flood emergency is becoming complex and more challenging for all of the aid agencies in Pakistan. The need of more efficient and effective organizations is far greater at this time than ever before. Hence, the standards and principles that ensure quality and accountability in the response should be given appropriate priority.

CWS-P/A has planned ten introductory workshops on Sphere’s Minimum Standards in Disaster Relief and the HAP 2007 Standard in Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management for humanitarian organisations operating in the region. In addition, CWS-P/A, being a HAP focal agency and Sphere Focal point in Pakistan, is organising a short meeting with all of the HAP members and non-members in Pakistan to discuss challenges and opportunities to bridge the gap between the theory and practice in adhering to humanitarian standards and principles at organisational and national levels. This meeting has been organised under the umbrella of the New Emergency Policy, through which HAP members make a commitment to apply the HAP Principles of Accountability from the beginning of all new humanitarian emergencies. A number of agencies have confirmed their intention to attend the meeting. These are Sungi Development Foundation, Concern Worldwide, Care International in Pakistan, CWS-P/A, Women’s Rights Association, World Vision International, Action Aid, Catholic Relief Services.

The following agenda has been proposed for the meeting:

a. Situation: CWS-P/A will provide a brief summary of the new emergency situation. Participants will be invited to share their perspectives.

b. Responses: Participating organisations will provide a brief description of their current and planned response.

c. Opportunities and Challenges: Members will highlight their views on the major opportunities for, and challenges to, promoting accountability in this emergency. Pertinent lessons learned from past experience can be shared.

d. Action: Options for action will be considered and decisions on the next steps for undertaking collective action will be taken.

The meeting is to be held on Thursday August 12, at CWS-P/A Office in Islamabad at 11:00 am local time.

Please contact Naveed Mirza of CWS P/A OR Gregory Gleed of HAP International for further information.