HAP in Kyrgyzstan
The recent clashes and ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan claimed hundreds of lives and resulted in massive destruction of property. To this day, the situation in the region remains volatile, with tensions high between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.
Several HAP member organisations are currently deployed in the region (ACTED, members of the ACT Alliance, DRC, Save the Children) and are working towards the promotion and implementation of good accountability practices within their work. These organisations recognise the relevance and importance of ensuring transparency and accountability in the context of the humanitarian intervention in Kyrgyzstan and have taken initial steps to strengthen their work in this area.
Attendees of the Accountability Working group agreed that a stronger focus on accountability to beneficiaries is essential in the frame of the current intervention in Southern Kyrgyzstan, in a context characterized by fear, division, and mistrust among the population. To support and build capacity of the working group’s current practices, a HAP Accountability Advisor has been deployed to work alongside participating organisations.
The HAP deployment started on 20 September 2010 and will last for about 2 months.
Focus of activities
The agreed overall aim of this two-month deployment is to improve understanding and strengthen practice of humanitarian accountability and quality management as part of the current humanitarian response in Kyrgyzstan.
HAP is committed to working broadly with both HAP member and non-member organisations. The selection and number of organisations involved will depend on resources, organisational capacity and demonstrated commitment to take forward work on accountability beyond the terms of this deployment. It has been identified that there is a need to support national actors in the response in order to ensure sustainable accountability activities. Therefore, emphasis will also be given to identifying ways to support national actors (in particular national NGOs).
The key objectives of the deployment in Kyrgyzstan are:
- to lead the establishment and development of a complaint mechanism within interested agencies, as well as an inter-agency complaint mechanism;
- to identify and deliver appropriate support and learning activities in order to strengthen understanding and practice of Quality and Accountability;
- to advocate for strengthened quality and accountability of the wider humanitarian response in Kyrgyzstan;
- to build upon pool of good practice resources by documenting and sharing learning from Kyrgyzstan to be publicly available and for use as part of wider discussions on the current state of quality and accountability in humanitarian response;
For more details see the Terms of Reference of the deployment to Kyrgyzstan (pdf, 66 Kb).
Longer-term support and sustainability of the deployment
The capacity of the deployment to establish longer-term support and secure sustainability will be determined by the resources and the length of the deployment. Support will be given to build the capacity of the Accountability Working Group to sustain their activities and function. The group have proposed that each organisation identify and assign one focal point person per organisation to be in charge of complaint mechanisms which could be developed further in order to sustain these activities.
Assessing the impact of the deployment
The HAP Advisor will draft a workplan against the Aims and Objectives of this deployment, outlining specific activities and indicators that have been agreed with involved organisations. This workplan will be reported against and monitored by HAP’s Programme and Membership Services Coordinator. The workplan will be reviewed and updated as appropriate through the deployment.
A review (After Action Review) is generally conducted at the end of a HAP deployment, the size and scope being determined depending upon the length of the deployment. If it is decided to conduct an AAR of HAP’s work, the terms of reference will be developed with HAP members and other stakeholders in due course.
HAP in-country team
The Accountability Advisor is an independent consultant, Claire Goudsmit, who has extensive experience of HAP and of Quality and Accountability more broadly. The Accountability Advisor is managed by Barb Wigley, Programme & Membership Services Coordinator, HAP (bwigley@hapinternational.org).
End of deployment report
The deployment was completed in October 2010. Read the final report about the HAP deployment to Kyrgyzstan (pdf, 1.5 Mb). HAP would like to thank Claire Goudsmit for her commitment, independence, humour and expertise in carrying out this deployment on behalf of HAP.
