At the end of 2008, HAP member agencies and the Secretariat embarked upon a process of reviewing the HAP 2007 Standard in Humanitarian Accountability and Quality Management to reflect learning from its application over the past two years and to incorporate emerging good practice on humanitarian accountability and quality management in the sector. The result of the review process will be an updated and improved HAP 2010 Standard and a new edition of The Guide to the HAP Standard.
Latest newsalert: joint HAP-Sphere consultation in Bangladesh
Why review the HAP 2007 Standard?
Since its adoption in January 2007, the HAP Standard has been used by NGOs and their partners, donors and host governments, communities and other civil society groups to measure, validate and improve humanitarian action. For the Standard to maintain its relevance and continue to drive improvements on accountability and quality management in the sector, it needs to reflect learning from its application to date, emerging good practice, changing expectations of relevant stakeholders and other system-wide developments. The Guide to the HAP Standard will also be revised and a new edition prepared for publication.
Aims of the review
- To consider known impact of the HAP 2007 Standard upon the lives of disaster survivors
- To identify lessons learned from experience with the HAP 2007 Standard and the certification scheme
- To ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of the current Standard and the certification scheme and to identify areas for improvement
- To highlight positive and negative consequences of compliance with the Standard for Board and General Assembly approval
- To reach consensus on areas for revision, including options for making the Standard and the Standard certification system more explicitly applicable to multi-mandate agencies, and prepare a draft HAP 2010 Standard
- To develop new and consolidate existing materials for managing, communicating and promoting the Standard and the quality assurance certification system to key audiences
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The review process
Through an extensive process of engagement, communities affected by disasters, field practitioners and managers of HAP member agencies, the UN, donors and other relevant stakeholders contribute to revising the different elements of the Standard. An improved HAP Standard will be submitted to the HAP Board for adoption in 2010 following research and analysis, regional consultations and testing at field locations such as Bangladesh – where there is a high risk of recurring emergencies, and where a large number of HAP members, partners and other agencies committed to the Principles of Accountability have expressed an interest in the Standard review. Options for making the HAP Standard more explicitly applicable beyond the humanitarian emergency domain are also explored.
Robust stakeholder involvement, including participation of disaster survivors and staff from member agencies and their partners is observed at all stages in the process, as is complementarity with planned processes of other relevant quality and accountability initiatives, particularly the Sphere Handbook revision and the ECB Phase II. Options for improving coherence and moving towards convergence with relevant standards and codes of conduct such as those of the Sphere Project and People In Aid are explored. As in the development of the HAP 2007 Standard, the review process uses the ISO guidelines for the development of international standards.
A Steering Committee provides leadership and retains an oversight function of the process; individual members provide input and feedback at different stages, depending on their area of expertise. The following are members of the Steering Committee as of October 2009:
- Dr Ivone Atar Adaha, Independent
- Marie-Luise Ahlendorf, Transparency International
- Kitty Arie, Save the Children UK
- David Bainbridge, Tearfund
- Niels Bentzen, Danish Refugee Council
- Avishan Chanani, Sphere Project
- Steve Darvill, OECD
- Nicole Gaertner, US Department of State
- Jan Pieter Lingen, International Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions
- Nicholas Morris, Independent
- Esther Mujawayo, Independent
- Yeshey Pelzom, Independent
- Ed Schenkenberg, ICVA
- Maria Thorin, SIDA
- Pauline Wilson, Independent
See the Terms of Reference for the Standard Review Steering Committe.
A Reference Group provides the basis for wider consensus building on changes proposed to the HAP 2007 Standard. Members of the Reference Group:
- Share their expertise, skills and knowledge on improving accountability and quality management;
- Provide timely input and feedback to the Secretariat at different stages in the process, both in relation to the Standard and to the Guide to the Standard;
- Facilitate consultation meetings or host the HAP team during programme site consultations and field testing, where relevant and appropriate;
- Receive regular updates from the Secretariat on the review process;
- Promote accountability and quality management in and beyond their organisation.
Technical Working Groups were established under guidance from the Steering Committee for those areas that require more extensive revision. At the Steering Committee meeting in May 2009, two technical working groups have been agreed:
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Partnerships Working Group: to review the Standard from the perspective of agencies working with partners. For more information on this, contact the current lead agency focal point, Richard Cobb via richard.cobb@merlin.org.uk.
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Working Group on Handling Complaints of Exploitation and Abuse: to review the Standard with specific focus on prevention of and response to exploitation and abuse of beneficiaries by aid workers. See the Terms of Reference for the Working Group on Handling Complaints of Exploitation and Abuse. For more information on this, contact the lead agency focal point, Richard Powell at Save the Children UK via R.Powell@savethechildren.org.uk or Coleen Heemskerk at the HAP Secretariat via cheemskerk@hapinternational.org.
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Main activities and timelines
1. Planning, research and preliminary consultation, January- June 2009
Preliminary consultation with member agencies and other key stakeholders to identify major suggestions and recommendations for revision will take place during this period, alongside a review of latest developments related to humanitarian accountability and quality management. The Steering Committee, Reference Group, and technical Working Groups were established and inter-operability options explored, with the Sphere Standards and the People In Aid code in particular.
2. Steering Committee meeting, May 2009
The Steering Committee oversees the review process. The purpose of the first meeting is to reach agreement on the scope of the review, key elements for consideration and working arrangements. Technical Working Groups were also set up then. Notes from the Steering Committe meeting in May 2009 are available here.
3. Consultations, July 2009 – January 2010, locations tbc
HAP staff are facilitating wide consultation with beneficiaries and staff, including at three locations chosen based on the following criteria: beneficiaries and agencies have first hand experience with implementing the Standard; high risk of recurring emergencies; HAP members, partners and other agencies committed to the Principles of Accountability have expressed an interest in the review process; potential for working jointly with the Sphere Handbook revision, ECB Project activities, or other relevant processes. A host agency and a local facilitator, who has first-hand experience of disasters or has been a recipient of aid works closely with the HAP team at these locations. Members and other interested agencies are encouraged to host HAP Standard Review consultation meetings or joint HAP-Sphere consultations and contribute to improved coherence between the HAP Standard and the Sphere Project's Handbook.
Options for testing specific changes to the benchmarks or additional benchmarks are explored through agency-led self-assessments or HAP-facilitated reviews considered as progress towards (re-)certification, where appropriate. The focus here is on the criteria of measurability and affordability.
Wide consultation through the Reference Group and beyond will take place until the end of March 2010.
4. Regional workshops, Sept 2009 – March 2010, tbc
Findings from the consultations will be complemented through a minimum of three HAP-staff led workshops. Depending on the timing of these workshops, findings to date will be presented and analysed to feed into the HAP 2010 Standard draft; feedback on the draft will be sought from the wider Reference Group and the Steering Committee.
5. Final workshop and Steering Committee meeting, March/April 2010
A synthesis of outcomes from all processes to date will be prepared, presented and discussed at a final workshop in spring 2010.
6. Prepare final draft, April 2010
Based on earlier feedback from the Final Workshop and a last consultation with the Reference Group, the final draft of the HAP 2010 Standard will be edited by the Policy Coordinator with the support of, and to reflect recommendations from, the Steering Committee. The draft Standard will be presented to the HAP Board and General Assembly in May 2010, for further discussion. It is expected that the new draft will be adopted and launched before the end of the year.
Work on the revision of the Guide will take place alongside the Standard Review process and will be completed by the end of 2010.
Note that changes are likely to take place in the activities and timelines above based on ongoing feedback from key stakeholders.
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Other relevant documentation:
For more information
Contact Monica Blagescu, Policy Services Coordinator by email: mblagescu@hapinternational.org.
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