HAP in Haiti
Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti on 12th January, 19 HAP members are undertaking humanitarian operations either directly or through implementing partners. Given the magnitude of this emergency there will be many opportunities and challenges to ensuring both quality and accountability (Q&A) as part of the response. In collaboration with other initiatives, and as part of our New Emergencies Policy, HAP is working to ensure that quality and accountability are given due focus as part of this large response.
For more information about HAP’s response in Haiti see the Terms of Reference (the previous draft version is also available in French) for our six month deployment, or contact the HAP team for Haiti: Senior Accountability Advisor: Elie Gasagara (egasagara@hapinternational.org), and Accountability Advisor: Troels Egeskov Sorensen (tesorensen@hapinternational.org).
(Photo credit: Paul Jeffrey/ACT Alliance)
Phase 1: Initial Quality & Accountability Support Team (February 2010)
The ACT Alliance (including HAP members DanChurchAid and Lutheran World Federation) were instrumental in initiating and supporting the deployment of a Quality and Accountability (Q&A) Support Team to Haiti for the initial three weeks mission. The team, comprised of Coleen Heemskerk (HAP) and Annie Lloyd (Sphere Resource person) worked to support the ACT Alliance staff in Haiti on their efforts to strengthen the humanitarian accountability and quality in their programming, to assess the current issues and support needs for a longer term deployment and contribute to the work of the other quality and accountability initiatives in Haiti.
During their time in Haiti, the Support Team:
- Conducted trainings on quality and accountability, HAP and Sphere.
- Provided technical advice.
- Conducted two field visits.
- Met with key stakeholders in the humanitarian response, including HAP members and other NGOs, Sphere ToT trained trainers, quality and accountability initiatives, support services, the Haitian Government and UN agencies.
More details of their activities, learning from the deployment and recommendations for future HAP and Sphere programming in Haiti can be found in their Summary Report.
The team was part funded by ACT Alliance/DanChurchAid and ECHO, and was hosted by Lutheran World Federation.
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Phase 2: Six-month deployment of a HAP team (from 21st March 2010)
The HAP team, comprised of Elie Gasagara, seconded to HAP from World Vision and Troels Egeskov Sorensen, arrived in Haiti on 21st March 2010 for 6 months. The aim of the HAP longer-term deployment is to improve understanding and strengthen practice of humanitarian accountability and quality management as part of the current humanitarian response in Haiti, through a combination of:
- Tailored made support to individual agencies.
- Advocate with relevant stakeholders for quality and accountability of the wider humanitarian response.
- Collaboration with other initiatives working towards improved accountability in the Haiti response.
- Documenting and sharing good practice and learning.
The team is based with RedR/Bioforce, and working closely with Sphere, as part of a ‘hub’ of practical support, capacity building and technical expertise working to help maximise the accountability, quality, and effectiveness of the international relief effort. In addition HAP has been working with People in Aid, ALNAP, Collaborative Learning Projects (Listening Project and Do No Harm), CDAC, and ICVA and InterAction as part of our Haiti response.
This longer deployment is part funded by ECHO and Danida (via DanChurchAid) up to the 31st March, after which costs will be funded by a Danida grant to DanChurchAid, and by ACT Alliance/DanChurchAid.
News from the HAP team in Haiti - 12th April 2010
Much has been achieved in the three weeks since the HAP team arrived in Haiti on the 21st March. Highlights of activities to date include:
- Introduction of the team to HAP members and the wide humanitarian community in Haiti.
- Consultative meeting with twelve HAP members and key partners to define the strategy for the six-month deployments.
- A full day HAP workshop attended by 15 participants from 10 different agencies.
- Attending meetings with OCHA; WFP and MINUSTAH on the issues focused on the protection from sexual exploitation and abuse in Haiti. As a result, the HAP team is now part of a small steering group to set up a joint mechanism to promote PSEA in the humanitarian response in Haiti.
- Discussions on setting up an Accountability Working Group, which the HAP team will play a leading role in.
News from the HAP team in Haiti - 4th May, 2010
In the three weeks from April 7 -30, interesting progress, initiatives and projects have been achieved in Haiti for the HAP deployment team.
Camp Committee Structure and Camp Assessments
During this period the team engaged with ACTED on a committee camp assessment. ACTED has taken on the role of camp management agency and is faced with the challenge of ensuring a satisfying participation level. Through consultation it was decided that the HAP members of the Haiti Q&A team together with ACTED staff and community mobilizers should undertake an assessment of the camp committees to:
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explore how they work;
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if they are representative;
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if they meet with the people in the camp, and;
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whether the people are satisfied with the committees and the collaboration with ACTED.
The committee members interviews have taken place and the second phase of interviewing the people living in the camp is about to begin. It is hoped with this camp assessment that the HAP staff will develop generic tools on how to undertake such committee assessment in Haiti and develop guidelines for both camp managing agencies and the camp committees on structure and functioning. As such, the work and conclusions are envisaged to be presented in the Camp Management Cluster (CCCM) and to be shared with the wider humanitarian community in Haiti.
Working with the UN and NGOs on Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
The HAP staff of the Haiti Q&A team were invited by OCHA to be a member of the steering committee for developing and implementing a PSEA (Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse) mechanism in Haiti. Since April 7 this work has really taken off, with meetings and brain storm sessions. HAP is planning to invite its members and partners with expertise on complaint mechanisms in Haiti and networks with civil society and local experts to provide input in the phase of designing the complaint mechanism.
Training
The team is continuing to meet and support member agencies and their partners in Haiti on improving accountability in their strategies and implementation on the ground. Two HAP training session where held, April 12 and April 30. The first was for various members, non-members, partners and Haitian NGOs, where the second was specific for Lutheran World Foundation and four partners. The training resulted in concrete action plans, and the team will provide technical assistance during implementation.
Ongoing Collaboration with Sphere
The impression we have of the situation in Haiti is that there is widespread and strong demand for assistance with the “how to” of improving accountability. We have found ourselves warmly welcomed and our efforts are clearly appreciated. We enjoyed a fruitful collaboration with Sphere resource person, Anne Lloyd, who left Haiti on April 23. There is a strong synergy between the aims of HAP and Sphere and once the new Sphere resource people arrive, the team work will be revived to further highlight quality and accountability on the agenda in Haiti and to support implementation more broadly.
See the HAP facebook page for on-going updates and photos.
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Quality and Accountability resources for Haiti
HAP resources - the following are available in English and French, and will soon be available in Creole:
- The HAP 2007 Standard Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management - English, French and Creole
- The HAP Principles of Accountability - English and French
- Quality and Accountability in New Emergencies, Quick Reference for Staff - English and French
See also HAP’s collection of Case Studies and Tools documenting good practice aimed at strengthening accountability. These have been collected from HAP members during emergencies all over the world. For case studies and tools in French and Creole, including a number developed for Haiti, see Etudes de cas et outils en Français et Créole.
External Q&A portals - two portals have been opened to share resources related to Q&A in the Haiti response:
- OneResponse Quality and Accountability subsite (under Cross-Cutting issues) – aimed at field staff for sharing real time knowledge sharing and practical resources (such as tools tools, translations, operational material).
- ALNAP Haiti Learning and Accountability Portal – aimed at providing a structured strategic overview of ongoing and planned learning and accountability efforts by agencies operating in Haiti. The site aims to encourage complementarity amongst agencies undertaking such work, through sharing of approaches, contacts, key resources and evaluation plans.
Key HAP meeting minutes and Haiti reports
NEP HAP members telecon - On the 2nd February a telecon was held with 23 staff from 17 organisations to share some of the challenges and issues related to Q&A faced by HAP members, agency approaches to date to strengthening accountability, and possible types of support needed. A summary of the main points raised is available here.
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Updated April 2010
