Standard in Quality & Accountability
Why a Standard in Accountability and Quality Management?
The problem of power
Non-government organizations exercise significant power in humanitarian crisis through their control over essential goods and services, such as food, medical aid and shelter. However, until recently, the "helping power" of emergency relief agencies has been fairly unregulated as few organizations formalized procedures to allow disaster survivors to participate in decisions about services or complain about poor practices.
Agencies take note
UN and NGO agencies became acutely aware of their lack of accountability after the Rwanda genocide of 1994. Over the next 10 years, they worked together on various initiatives directed at remedying the so-called 'accountability deficit' in humanitarian action. One of those initiatives eventually became HAP.
Read more about HAP's history.
From Principles to the Standard
Immediately following its launch in 2003, HAP set about developing a set of Principles of Accountability. These summarized - for the first time - core elements of good practice in accountability in humanitarian situations.
Based on the Principles of Accountability alone, agencies were not able to demonstrate the quality and accountability of their humanitarian action. Therefore, HAP members asked the Secretariat in 2005 to develop a set of benchmarks and indicators for accountability and quality management in humanitarian work. HAP did so, consulting over two years with disaster-affected communities and staff from over 120 organisations. The result of this process was The HAP 2007 Standard in Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management, now used by agencies to assess accountability and quality management in their operations, including through certification.
To help agencies use the benchmarks in their work, HAP has developed a Guide to the Standard, which was published by Oxfam Publishing in 2008. You can order the Guide by contacting Oxfam Publishing.
Continual improvement of the Standard
To ensure that the HAP Standard in Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management continues to remain relevant to communities, agencies, donors and other stakeholder alike, emerging new practice, expectations and developments in aid assistance will be captured through a regular process of Standard revision. The Partnership, facilitated by the Secretariat, will continue to improve the Standard and strengthen the certification process.
The first review process started in the latter part of 2008; and is expected to result in the HAP 2010 Standard (to be submitted to the HAP Board for approval in 2010) and a revised edition of The Guide.
