HAP International | News

Tearfund receives certification from HAP International

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

HAP International is pleased to announce that Tearfund achieved certification against the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management in December 2011. This major achievement was made possible thanks to the dedication and hard work of the management and staff of Tearfund. The scope of this certification audit is limited to the activities of the Disaster Management Team (DMT) and the activities managed by partners receiving single disaster response grants in excess of 100,000 pounds (a total of 8 partners in Haiti and Pakistan). Tearfund usually works through local partners but, in the event of large-scale disasters or if additional capacity is needed, Tearfund may establish an operational programme through the Disaster Management Team (DMT). DMT respond directly to emergencies and Tearfund also gives technical support to partners who are responding to emergencies. As a faith-based agency, priority is given to strengthening local church capacity to respond to the disasters affecting their communities.

Tearfund was originally set up in 1968, in response to the Biafra civil war in Nigeria and is now working through partners and operational teams in more than 50 countries. It works through and alongside churches where possible to help communities find their own way out of poverty. Tearfund’s long-term development work addresses the causes of poverty, and their disaster response and resilience building activities reduce death and suffering caused by disasters and conflicts. Advocacy is an important part of Tearfund’s approach, seeking to address the underlying causes of poverty and influence those who can change policies and practices affecting people who are living in poverty.

Tearfund undertook the HAP certification audit as part of its continual work towards improving and strengthening accountability, especially towards its partners and beneficiary communities involved in all its programmes. The audit provides a public means of verification to Tearfund and its stakeholders of its commitment to the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management. It also highlights its achievements in promoting good accountability practices across the organisation and with its partners.

Tearfund was audited against the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management (pdf, 777 Kb) in Teddington, United Kingdom (head office) in July 2011 and in Haiti (programme site) in September 2011. HAP certification is valid for a period of 3 years and Tearfund will need to apply for re-certification before the certificate expires in December 2014.

A quality assurance audit consists of a sample testing process that incorporates an examination of documentary evidence, interviews with staff both at head office and at a selected programme site, interviews of aid beneficiaries and partners, and direct observation of common practices. Based on the findings of this audit the HAP Certification and Accreditation Review Board (CARB) found Tearfund in compliance with the 2010 HAP Standard and validates its quality assurance procedures.

To learn more about the organisation and its programmes, visit Tearfund's website.

Read more about HAP International membership and certification on the HAP website.

About HAP
HAP International runs the leading global quality assurance scheme for humanitarian agencies. Established in 2003, HAP is the humanitarian sector's first international self-regulatory body. There are currently 82 member agencies of HAP. HAP members can apply for certification as a form of quality assurance of their compliance with the HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management.

Contacts:
Smruti Patel Membership Services Coordinator, e-mail: spatel@hapinternational.org

The Lutheran World Federation Department for World Service receives certification from HAP International

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

HAP International is pleased to announce that the Lutheran World Federation, through its Department for World Service, has achieved certification against the revised 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management (pdf, 777 Kb), with only two corrective actions to the HAP Standard. This major achievement was made possible thanks to the dedication and hard work of the management and staff of the Lutheran World Federation. This HAP certification audit covers all activities, including development, emergency preparedness and response, and advocacy work.

The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is a global communion of Christian churches in the Lutheran tradition. Founded in 1947, the LWF has 145 member churches in 79 countries representing over 70 million Christians. The LWF Department for World Service (LWF/DWS) is the relief and development arm of the Lutheran World Federation. LWF/DWS works in 35 countries through three regional programmes, 16 country programmes and ten associate programmes that have transferred governance to a local structure. LWF/DWS is highly decentralised: only 15 people work in the head office in Geneva, which is responsible for overall management and coordination; head office staff liaise directly with country programmes representatives and offices. The majority of development work is done through implementing partners; humanitarian interventions are generally likely to be undertaken directly. The LWF is a founding member of the ACT Alliance (Action by Churches Together), one of the world’s largest networks of church and church-related humanitarian relief and development organisations.

LWF/DWS focuses on six priority areas, adapted to local contexts and informed by local communities:

Responding to and preparing for disasters
Creating sustainable communities
Combating HIV & AIDS
Promoting peace, reconciliation and human rights
Transforming gender relations
Protecting the environment

The Lutheran World Federation Department for World Service was audited against the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management (pdf, 777 Kb) in Geneva (head office) in November 2011 and in Nepal (programme site) in December 2011. The organisation submitted country site summary reports to HAP International.

HAP certification is valid for a period of 3 years and the Lutheran World Federation will need to apply for re-certification before the certificate expires in January 2015.

A quality assurance audit consists of a sample testing process that incorporates an examination of documentary evidence, interviews with staff both at head office and at a selected programme site, interviews of aid beneficiaries and partners, and direct observation of common practices. Based on the findings of this audit the HAP Certification and Accreditation Review Board (CARB) found the Lutheran World Federation through its Department for World Service in compliance with the HAP Standard and validates its quality assurance procedures.

To learn more about the organisation and its programmes, visit the website of the Lutheran World Federation.

Read more about HAP International membership and certification on the HAP website.

About HAP

HAP International runs the leading global quality assurance scheme for humanitarian agencies. Established in 2003, HAP is the humanitarian sector's first international self-regulatory body. There are currently 82 member agencies of HAP. HAP members can apply for certification as a form of quality assurance of their compliance with the HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management.

Contacts

Ester Dross, Certification Manager, e-mail: edross@hapinternational.org

Survey: Perceptions of Accountability in Humanitarian Action

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) International is preparing the 2011 Humanitarian Accountability Report. An integral part of the Report is the annual perceptions survey through which HAP gauges interest in, and perceptions of, accountability in the humanitarian sector.

We would very much appreciate if you could take 3 minutes to complete the survey at: https://www.surveymonkey.com before 13 February 2012.

An analysis of survey data will feature in the Humanitarian Accountability Report, alongside a chapter on voices of disaster survivors, a synthesis of HAP member agencies' accountability progress reports, and an overview of humanitarian accountability developments in 2011. For more information, download previous Humanitarian Accountability Reports.

If you have any questions about the 2011 Humanitarian Accountability Report, please contact Gregory Gleed at ggleed@hapinternational.org.

Quality and Accountability capacity building activities to be held in Japan

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Church World Service - Asia/Pacific, in collaboration with the Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC) and with support from FASID, will organise a number of capacity building activities in Japan with a focus on the orientation and implementation of HAP and Sphere Standards.

The activities will take place from 30 January to 9 February 2012 in Tokyo and Miyagi, Japan.

For the first time, a joint HAP and Sphere Training of Trainers (ToT) will be offered in Japan to create a pool of Japanese trainers who could further promote Quality and Accountability in Japan. International NGOs are encouraged to support their partner agencies to attend the training.

Representants from the Sphere Project, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) and People In Aid will share their expertise with participants.

To learn more about the Quality and Accountability capacity building activities in Japan, read the document International Standards in Humanitarian Assistance: Capacity Building in Quality and Accountability (pdf, 143 Kb).

To take part in the activities and for further details, please contact Yoko Ito at Church World Service-Asia/Pacific, e-mail: cwstokyo@gmail.com

2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management now available in Urdu

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Urdu translation of the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management was commissioned and provided by Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan through the Strengthening Humanitarian Assistance (SHA) programme and has even reviewed by the Accountability and Learning Working Group (ALWG) in Islamabad, along with input of Maria Kiani at HAP International.

The HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management is a practical and measurable tool that represents a broad consensus of what matters most in humanitarian action. The 2010 edition is the result of an extensive review process that involved wide consultation with different stakeholders, including crisis-affected communities, aid workers and donors.

Download the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management in Urdu (pdf, 5.8 Mb).

State of the Humanitarian System Report - input from international aid practitioners and aid recipients needed

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The State of the Humanitarian System Report is a collective endeavour to measure and assess the entirety of the international humanitarian system. This ambitious report provides updated descriptive statistics, reviews key trends, and evaluates the system on overall progress on performance.

The State of the Humanitarian System Report will be published by the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP) in early summer 2012. A pilot study (pdf, 5 Mb), published in 2010, can be dowloaded for reference from the ALNAP website.

To ensure more inclusive and representative samples, ALNAP aims to include the opinions and perspectives of humanitarian aid actors and the recipients of aid throughout the world.

Two surveys have been developed for this purpose:

1. The International Aid Practitioners Survey

Aid practitioners are invited to share their views by completing the survey in their language of choice:

2. The Aid Recipient Survey

Anyone working in an agency is invited to disseminate a 14-question aid-recipient survey to affected populations. If you are interested, please contact Abby Stoddard by e-mail: abby.stoddard@humanitarianoutcomes.org

International aid practitioners and aid recipients input is vital to make this report as inclusive and representative as possible.

2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management now available in Japanese

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

The Japanese translation of the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management was provided by a committee composed of representants of Church World Service Asia/Pacific, OXFAM Japan, Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC), Institute for Human Diversity Japan, National Christian Council in Japan (NCCJ) and Peace Boat. All these agencies are part of the Quality and Accountability Working Group, which was established to carry out this translation work and which will continue to meet in the future.

Download the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management in Japanese (pdf, 793 Kb).

2011 Floods Response in Pakistan

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Hannele Kankuri, "Hanski", works as Networking & Coordination Officer at Finn Church Aid. She was seconded to Church World Service Pakistan/ Afghanistan to assist with NGO coordination and advocacy within the UN cluster structure during the 2011 floods response in Pakistan. She explains her experience working with a HAP member agency.

Checking identity in Mirpur Khas, Pakistan

"Over the past three months, I’ve had the opportunity to assist in the 2011 floods response in the Sindh province of Pakistan. In the last six years, there have been severe natural disasters in the country: a massive earthquake hit Northern Pakistan in 2005, where 73,000 individuals lost their lives; nation-wide floods affected 18 million individuals last year; and this year floods hit the country once again. Extremely heavy monsoon rains caused severe flooding in the Sindh and Baluchistan provinces in Southern Pakistan, affecting the lives of 10 million individuals. 1.5 million houses were destroyed or damaged, and approximately 7 million acres of agricultural land were disturbed.

Although it is difficult to compare the impact of these disasters, it seems that this year’s floods have affected the poorest of the poor in the less privileged parts of the country. Even during the best of times, the poverty level in Sindh is extremely high. In addition, the flood-affected areas are home to minority groups, including religious minorities such as Hindus and Christians, who are often marginalised. The majority of the working population in Sindh is composed of agricultural labourers, who have to pay their landlords, even if there is no crop to cultivate. Because of the floods, many farmers have lost a full year's crop and will end up in debt. Even several months after the floods, some areas of Sindh are still under water.

Participatory Village Development Pakistan (PVDP), a local NGO, is implementing programmes for Church World Service in Sindh. I had the opportunity to visit a number of their food and non-food item distribution sites. I witnessed distributions in three of the most affected districts, namely Badin, Mirpur Khas and Umar Kot. Badin is by far the most affected district of all.

During my field visits, I found that distributions were well-organised, even if the situation in some sites was difficult, because so much of the area was still under water. One example was in Mirpur Khas during a non-food item distribution. Items were distributed by the roadside, because it was the only place large enough for the distribution to take place. Although it looked very scary at the beginning, I soon realised that everything was under control and distribution went well. During the various distributions I witnessed, I have observed that Pakistanis behaved themselves extremely well, which is quite different from the distributions I have been involved with for Somali refugees in Kenya. I guess this is thanks to the good planning by Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan.

Waiting shed for women in Umar Kot, Pakistan

Prior to distribution, waiting sheds were arranged for women and men separately, safe drinking water was made available and banners detailing what each beneficiary would receive were placed in the local language (Sindh) and in English. All items were displayed; women and disabled persons were served first. Each beneficiary was checked against the distribution list in the most dignified manner and even transportation money (worth 1 USD) was paid to get the food items to their homes. I was really impressed.

At each distribution site I saw a complaint box. Although complaining to government and service providers (such as the electricity company) is quite common, many people do not really expect to receive a response during times of crisis. I heard that sometimes electricity bills are found in the boxes. This may be because community members know that they will receive an answer from complaints handled through this mechanism.

Post-monitoring of the food distribution programme is scheduled to take place in the next few weeks. The effectiveness of the distribution will be evaluated and information on quantity and quality of the food received will be collected. During the testing of the survey questionnaire, one finding was that beneficiaries would have preferred rice instead of wheat flour, as storing the flour in flood situations can be a challenge. Originally our assessments and consultations indicated that wheat flour was the best choice, because access to clean water was a major issue.

Overall, I have been impressed of what I have seen. I believe that Church World Service Pakistan/ Afghanistan will continue saving lives and reducing suffering in Pakistan in an effective way and carry on the good work on accountability."