HAP International | News

First steps agreed to develop a new humanitarian standards architecture

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP), People In Aid and the Sphere Project have now moved into the action phase to develop a new humanitarian standards architecture.

In a meeting in Geneva on 16 May 2013, the three Boards jointly committed to the following:

1. The three initiatives will deliver a verifiable Common Core Standard by the end of 2013. This Common Core Standard will be based on humanitarian principles, will promote coherence and improved usability and access for aid workers and agencies, and will put the voices of affected populations at the heart of humanitarian action.

2. HAP, People In Aid and the Sphere Project will, through their global reach, provide joint awareness-raising and support activities around the Standard, aimed at aid workers and humanitarian agencies.

3. The three initiatives will collaborate with other humanitarian actors to develop a new standards architecture. This architecture will enable aid workers and agencies around the world to easily navigate and put humanitarian principles, the Common Core Standard and technical standards into practice.

The three boards are confident that these commitments, which are the result of a broad consultative process coordinated by the Joint Standards Initiative, will improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian action.

HAP, People In Aid, and the Sphere Project will launch these activities together with a road map for their implementation at the Humanitarian Standards Forum, a gathering of the international humanitarian community to be held in Geneva on 27 June 2013.

Humanitarian standards consultation report now published

Thu, 02 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The global stakeholder consultation report on humanitarian standards, commissioned by the Joint Standards Initiative (JSI) has been made public on the Joint Standards website. Download the full report here.

The JSI process is a groundbreaking collaboration between three leading standards-setting initiatives: the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP), People In Aid and the Sphere Project. Its goal is to achieve greater coherence between humanitarian standards in order to better assist people affected by disaster or conflict.

The global stakeholder consultation focused on four key thematic areas: the use and accessibility of standards, their implementation, compliance and verification mechanisms and future needs.

Through one-to-one interviews and focus group discussions around the world as well as an online survey, the JSI stakeholder consultation involved over 2,000 people from 350 organisations in 114 countries. Lois Austin and Glenn O’Neill, the independent consultants running the consultation, generated evidence from a wide range of actors across the humanitarian sector and are “confident that the resultant findings represent a robust and representative view of the humanitarian sector”. It should be noted that, at this stage, the recommendations included in this report only reflect the views of the consultants.

Next steps
On the basis of this report, the JSI Advisory Group will produce a series of recommendations by 3 May 2013. Building on these recommendations the JSI Steering Group will meet together for 2 days in May to determine final recommendations. The Boards of the three initiatives will consider these inputs when they gather in mid May to make decisions on the way forward.

The final outcomes of the JSI process will be presented at the Geneva Standards Forum on 27 June 2013.

For more information on the JSI process please visit JointStandards.org

Accountability resources from the FAO

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, a recent pioneer of accountability to affected populations, has just launched a web portal dedicated to outlining its seven commitments to accountability. Although FAO-specific, the resources and practical tools available provide some great guidance for organisations looking to instil accountability mechanisms into their work, including those organisations working with partners.

To access these resources and find out more about how the FAO is helping to improve the quality and accountability of its programming, visit http://www.fao.org/emergencies/fao-in-action/accountability-to-affected-populations/en/

Strengthening the HAP certification system

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

At the end of 2012, HAP launched a study looking at the impact of its certification scheme, with a focus on 6 specific areas:

Document the HAP certification process within the broader context of humanitarian certification, in order to explain options and choices made with the HAP certification scheme
Understand and summarize the motivations behind the decision of an organisation to certify, and compare these expectations with perceived results of certification
Understand the main reasons for organisations not to certify, in order to identify perceived shortcomings and weaknesses of the process
Assess the impact of certification on accountability systems of certified organisations
Assess the impact of certification on programme quality of certified organisations
Learn from the experience of certified organisations how to best improve accountability and quality, as well as the HAP certification process itself

Conducted by an independent consultant, and relying on a desk review, interviews, an electronic survey and a field visit to Bangladesh, the study is in its final stage, with a report due to be released by May 2013. Concurrent to the study, HAP organised a meeting of all members certified against the HAP Standard. The fruitful discussions, held in Geneva in January, provided significant contributions towards the improvement and relevance of the certification process. Certified member representatives agreed that the motivation to seek certification was primarily an ambition to demonstrate the seriousness of the organisation’s commitment to being accountable to the people they assist in humanitarian and development contexts. In that respect, certification was considered an incentive to make progress and a useful, structured process, both to guide the exercise, support organisational development and serve as baseline to measure progress.

When asked about the perceived benefits of certification, most members underlined the resulting effect on awareness and understanding of accountability both as a concept and as a set of systems and processes. The feeling is that accountability is now better understood by staff more embedded in organisational culture. Other improvements mentioned as a result of the certification process included:

Clearer assignment of responsibilities for at headquarters and programme levels
Greater transparency when interacting with communities and partners
More clarity about information to be routinely provided to communities and better processes to make this happen in a way that is accessible to those communities
Improved policies and operational guidelines – including, for some agencies, development of practical field guidance and tools
Development and implementation of complaints handling mechanisms
Increased understanding of the pivotal role of participation in accountability mechanisms

The member meeting further underlined the need to better define expectations of the HAP Standard when working with partners, and to provide additional resources to illustrate how it happens in practice. A working group has been formed to address this issue and is expected to provide initial guidance by the second half of 2013. For HAP, the result of the study and the achievements of the working group will help to further refine the purpose and value of certification; to allow for a more thorough review the certification process; and to provide insight on future directions for the certification experience. The outcome will inform the development of a clear HAP certification policy and contribute to the revision of the Guide to HAP Certification. It will also inform other strategic processes currently underway – such as the development of HAP International’s 2013-15 strategic plan. Beyond HAP itself the ideas generated will inform HAP’s contribution to the Joint Standards Initiative and its dialogue with the Standing Committee on Humanitarian Response (SCHR) Certification Project.

HAP is now recruiting for an intern for the Policy Services Department

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

HAP is recruiting an intern to support the policy services department. The role will be one that spans the diverse activities of the Policy Services team, ranging from analyses and help with research, assistance with communications activities, and some administrative tasks. This is a paid position starting on May 1, 2013. The deadline for applications is April 10, 2013. More information at www.hapinternational.org/vacancies.aspx

IFRC's new beneficiary communications video - out now!

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The IFRC has just released a video outlining the need for greater communication with disaster-affected communities, summing up in a nutshell the importance of sharing information (2010 HAP Standard benchmark 3) for a more effective humanitarian response. Watch it now at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJwWJ2QzGec

Church of Sweden's International Mission and Diaconia becomes HAP-certified

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

HAP International is pleased to announce that Church of Sweden’s International Mission and Diaconia has become the 16th organisation to become certified against the 2010 HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management. HAP’s Certification and Review Board (CARB) confirmed their certification after an audit of their Uppsala head office in November 2012, and consultations later in the month with their partners in Bangladesh and South Africa. The Church of Sweden works with more than 120 partners across the world, and demonstrated their commitment to supporting their partners. Results of the audit also showed that the organisation’s leadership and management have a strong commitment to accountability.

Maria Möller, the Church of Sweden’s Policy Advisor, said: “The HAP certification is an important hallmark that expresses the core of the Church of Sweden’s values. To systematically ensure communication with the people that we aim to assist and empower is an invaluable compass for us in our quest to make a difference in their lives. This aspiration is the foundation for our partner dialogue, which is aimed at finding a way of working that systematically considers the point of view of these people. We are truly proud of having achieved the HAP 2010 Standard in Accountability and Quality Management, and are likewise determined to continue to learn and improve together with our partners throughout our programmes in the coming years.”

The Church of Sweden’s International Mission and Diaconia has cooperated with churches in African and Asia for more than 100 years. Working in disaster relief, rural development, assistance to churches so that they can operate in their communities, microloans and savings, peace, reconciliation and religious dialogue, the organisation has strived to achieve a fair and just world that is free from hunger, poverty and oppression. HAP congratulates the Church of Sweden’s International Mission and Diaconia on this important step of putting accountability to affected populations at the heart of their work.

View the full press release here

Accountability Framework training in Pakistan

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan will be holding training on Accountability Frameworks in Islamabad on April 16-18. The training workshop will cover the following modules:

• Orientation to HAP Standard Benchmarks; understanding the “Accountability Framework” and its value.
• A case on Accountability Framework development process.
• Development of draft Accountability Framework for respective organization

For those looking to participate, the deadline is March 10. Proficiency in Urdu is a must. More details here.