Author(s)
Cécile Le Grix
QUALITY AND LOCAL ACTORS
How can we ensure that actors from the ‘Global South’ have access to international quality standards without changing them into clones of international NGOs? What should our approach to quality and accountability be in formal and informal partnerships with local actors? How should alternative visions of quality be taken into account and recognised within a structured and standardised conventional aid system?
“Localisation and local humanitarian action”, Humanitarian Exchange, N°79, HPN, ODI, May 2021
The theme of this edition is localisation and local humanitarian action which became a priority under the Grand Bargain (2016). Yet progress has been slow and major gaps remain between the rhetoric around humanitarian partnerships, funding and coordination and practices on the ground.
https://odihpn.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/HE-79_Localisation_WEB-1.pdf
Acteurs locaux et conventionnels de la solidarité internationale : quelles articulations, quelles inspirations ?, Valérie Léon, Groupe URD, 2022
Though the sector has not sufficiently changed since the Grand Bargain in 2016, there have been reforms, a number of interesting experiments are taking place, and sources of inspiration do exist. This review of practices presents an overview of the situation, with concrete examples and possible routes towards a new paradigm.
https://www.urd.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Rapport-Localisation-aide_2022_FR.pdf
The State of Local Humanitarian Leadership, Janice Ian Manlutac, Oxfam, 2022
From May 2021 to January 2022, Oxfam, in partnership with Sejajar Indonesia, the Tamdeen Youth Foundation in Yemen, and the Palestinian Agricultural Development Association (PARC) in Palestine, convened a total of 10 learning series through online convenings on local humanitarian leadership (LHL). Approximately 450 people participated, of whom 60% were from local and national NGOs representing approximately 30 countries. This document offers a snapshot report on the state of LHL across the four regions based on discussions, insights, and materials shared by the resource persons and audience members who participated in the series.
Is “decolonized aid” an oxymoron? Rethinking Humanitarianism Podcast, The New Humanitarian, 2022
In this episode of Rethinking Humanitarianism, host Heba Aly discusses tensions related to the decolonisation of aid with one of the leaders of the movement, Degan Ali, executive director of Adeso. There are two very different schools of thoughts on decolonising aid within the humanitarian community. Some define decolonisation as a call to reform an otherwise worthy endeavour. Others see it as a call to end aid altogether.
Are these two approaches mutually exclusive, or can they co-exist? Is decolonised aid even achievable within our current global governance system?
https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/podcast/2022/10/19/Degan-Ali-decolonising-aid
The damage aid workers can do – with just their words, Tammam Aloudat, The National, 2022
This article is about “humanitarian language”. It shows how the language and psychology of the aid sector has divided the world into “saviours” and ‘beneficiaries’. The author invites humanitarian actors to find a new language, and a world view and tools to create the words to talk about the poor, the sick and crisis survivors as owners of their fate, rather than as an inconvenience that has to be overcome in the grand humanitarian narrative.
QUALITY AND ENVIRONMENT
What does quality mean in relation to environmental degradation and climate change? How can the concepts of quality and accountability be redefined in relation to these issues? How can we make sure that international norms and standards are not an obstacle to taking environmental issues into account? To what extent can quality help to change attitudes and practices in relation to these issues?
Greening the System: A Vision for a Green Humanitarian Future, Humanitarian Advisory Group, GLOW, PIANGO, 2022
Humanitarian actors are faced with the accelerating imperative to improve the environmental and closely related social impact of their activities. While this is a global problem, the Asia-Pacific region presents its own specific obstacles to collectively greening humanitarian action. This paper, developed by NGOs based in the Asia and Pacific regions, presents their vision for a green humanitarian system. It strives to elevate discussion and promote fresh thinking from within the sector, based on evidence and grounded in the lived experience of people and communities participating in and directly impacted by humanitarian action.
https://humanitarianadvisorygroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/HAG-HH2-GTS-Vision-Paper.pdf
Principles for locally-led adaptation: A call to action, Marek Soanes and al., Issue paper, IIED, 2021.
This paper outlines more than five years of action research, including collaborative research and dialogue between IIED, WRI and more than 50 adaptation stakeholders in support of the Global Commission on Adaptation’s Locally Led Adaptation Track. It details the core concepts of locally led adaptation; discusses the problems in business as usual and the solutions offered by business unusual; and proposes eight principles to help stakeholders build an adaptation ecosystem that empowers local actors on the frontline of climate change to lead more adaptation solutions. It closes with an open invitation to participate in a complimentary learning journey.
https://pubs.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/2021-01/10211IIED.pdf
No Plan B: The Importance of Environmental Considerations in Humanitarian Contexts, An analysis of Tools, Policies, and Commitments of DEC Members, A. Johnson, I. Mele, F. Merola, K. Plewa, DEC, LSE, 2020
Humanitarians understand the importance and urgency of the environmental agenda, and they have a clear desire to incorporate environmental considerations into their work. However, they are hindered in their endeavours by multiple challenges. This study examines these challenges, as well as key opportunities for change and development.
Environment and Humanitarian Action: Increasing Effectiveness, Sustainability and Accountability, Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit, ProAct network, Groupe URD, 2014
This study reviews the current state of integration of environmental considerations in humanitarian action and outlines a way forward on how environment should be consistently taken into account at all phases of humanitarian programming, leading towards improved effectiveness, accountability and sustainability of humanitarian action
https://www.unocha.org/sites/unocha/files/EHA%20Study%20webfinal_1.pdf
QUALITY AND AFFECTED PEOPLE
How can we finally give affected people a significant role in the assistance that they receive ? How do we ensure that this aid remains appropriate and agile in relation to people’s needs and expectations and changes to the context? How do we ensure that quality does not view affected people simply as passive beneficiaries but includes them as genuine actors of the response? How can we move from a ‘donor’ vision of quality to a vision that genuinely takes beneficiaries’ feedback into account?
Humanitarian Accountability Report 2022, CHS Alliance, 2022
The Humanitarian Accountability Report (HAR) 2022 draws on seven years of accountability data analysis, system-wide studies and expert thought. The report is an evidence-based overview of the current state of accountability in the aid system, providing a critical opportunity to see the trends, patterns, weaknesses and strengths. It aims to answer the question – is accountability to people affected by crisis really a non-negotiable for the aid system?
https://www.chsalliance.org/har2022/
The State of the Humanitarian System 2022 (SOHS), A. Obrecht, S. Swithern, J. Doherty, Alnap, 2022
The State of the Humanitarian System 2022 looks at the period from January 2018 to December 2021, as well as drawing comparisons with our previous editions to take a 15-year long view. It assesses the size, shape and performance of the humanitarian system against key criteria over time. It is independent and based on evidence from frontline practitioners, crisis-affected populations, academics, policy-makers and donors.
https://www.alnap.org/help-library/2022-the-state-of-the-humanitarian-system-sohs-%E2%80%93-full-report-0
People-Driven Response: Power and Participation in Humanitarian Action, Jeremy Konyndyk, Rose Worden, CGD Policy Paper 155, Center for Global Development, 2019
The notion that humanitarian response should center on the people it serves, rather than the aid agencies serving them, has been repeatedly codified in humanitarian commitments as far back as the early 1990s. Yet the mainstream humanitarian system has struggled to translate these commitments into practice. This paper proposes a set of mutually reinforcing recommendations centered around three imperatives: enshrining the influence of aid recipients at all levels of aid decision-making; developing independent channels for soliciting the priorities and perspectives of crisis-affected people; and institutionalizing a set of enabling changes to humanitarian operational and personnel practices.
https://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/people-driven-response.pdf
Accountability to affected people: Stuck in the weeds, Meg Sattler, Humanitarian Horizons Practice Paper Series, Humanitarian Advisory Group, 2021
It would be hard pressed to find a topic more pervasive in global humanitarian speak than accountability to affected people (AAP), its unofficial motto ‘putting people at the centre’ the catch-cry of almost every humanitarian reform process, discussion and publication. This practice paper provides a summary of the evaluations and reviews that have concluded that AAP is not having its intended impact. It goes on to provide possible explanations for this failure with a focus on the blockages between policy, practice and outcome, and concludes by proposing six ways to think about improved outcome-focused AAP.
https://humanitarianadvisorygroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/HH_Practice-Paper-8_AAP_draft7.pdf
Linking Constituent Engagement and Adaptative Management: Lessons from practitioners, Stephanie Buell, Megan Campbell, Jamie Pett, Working Paper 595, ODI, 2020.
Constituent engagement and adaptive management are both important tools for implementing responsive and effective development programmes. This paper explores five key elements for ensuring that constituent engagement and adaptive management are effectively linked within a programme: strong internal systems and external channels; skilled staff that value engagement and adaptation; decision-maker champions; clear points for reflection and action; and a meaningful role for constituents.
QUALITY AND STANDARDS
To what extent has the mulitiplication of quality initiatives since the 1990s led to the over-standardisation of the aid sector? How can we ensure that the notions of quality and accountability do not only concern donor compliance? How can we give meaning back to quality and accountability, and ensure that the focus is affected people and local actors?
« La restructuration sans fin du monde humanitaire : une recherche inadaptée de la performance ? » Perrine Laissus-Benoist, Alternatives Humanitaires N°9, 2018
With the professionnalisation of the humanitarian sector, the regular calls for its reorganisation have often taken the form of reformatting based on neoliberal ideology. According to the author, the objective of increased performance is not in keeping with the complexity of humanitarian action and is detrimental to the people concerned.
A new Solferino moment for humanitarians, Hugo Slim, Humanitarian Law & Policy, 2022
This year marks the 160th anniversary of the publication of Henri Dunant’s classic text, ‘A Memory of Solferino’, in 1862. Dunant’s powerful book inspired the founding of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and the First Geneva Convention of 1864. In this post, Hugo Slim, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, reflects on changes in warfare and humanitarian aid since Dunant’s legacy and makes three calls to action of his own.
https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2022/02/10/new-solferino-moment-humanitarians/
« Standards – Amis ou ennemis de l’agilité » ?, Michael Carrier, Humanitaires en mouvement N°20, Groupe URD, 2019
There is more and more talk of ‘agility’ (or ‘adaptive management’) with regard to meeting people’s needs in increasingly complex and volatile contexts. This notion raises questions about the added value of humanitarian and development standards: do existing standards help, or on the contrary, limit our ability to ‘be agile’ and adapt operations when needs, contexts or resources change?
https://www.urd.org/fr/revue_humanitaires/standards-amis-ou-ennemis-de-lagilite/
ONG et management fondé sur la qualité. Terre des hommes ou terre des normes ?, Justine Rosselet, Itinéraires, Études du développement n°19, Institut Universitaire d’Études du Développement, 2003
This study focuses on the adoption of quality standards by NGOs. It begins by analyzing the history of ISO standards and the assumptions behind them. It then shows what it means for an NGO to implement a quality management standard. Finally, the study asks two main questions: Does the management system of ISO standards ensure quality? Is this management model exportable?
https://studylibfr.com/doc/1857688/ong-et-management-fond%C3%A9-sur-la-qualit%C3%A9–terre-des-hommes
QUALITY, HUMANITARIAN PRINCIPLES AND EQUITY
To what extent do humanitarian principles still provide relevant guidance for aid organisations? What are their limits and in what situations can they be called into question? To what extent can other emerging notions like equity help to overcome the limits of these principles? What is the relationship between humanitarian principles, equity and quality, and to what extent can these notions mutually reinforce each other?
Taking action, not sides: the benefits of humanitarian neutrality in war, Fiona Terry, Humanitarian Law & Policy, 2022.
Fiona Terry, head of the ICRC’s Centre for Operational Research and Experience (CORE) explains her conversion from a neutrality sceptic to a genuine believer in the purpose and utility of retaining a neutral stance in war, based on first-hand experience.
https://blogs.icrc.org/law-and-policy/2022/06/21/taking-action-not-sides-humanitarian-neutrality/
Principled humanitarian programming in Yemen: A “Prisoner’s Dilemma”?, Marzia Montemurro, Karin Wendt, HERE-Geneva, 2021
This report has aimed to develop an understanding of the challenges and decisions related to negotiations, access, and coordination that organisations pursue to uphold principled humanitarian action in Yemen. The research has hinged on two main tasks: 1) capturing how ECHO partner organisations in Yemen approach the humanitarian principles conceptually and practically; and 2) identifying the challenges/obstacles and enablers ECHO humanitarian partners face in providing principled humanitarian programming, and assessing to what extent it is possible to infer linkages between these challenges/obstacles, and a) their approach to the humanitarian principles; b) their access, presence, and perceived acceptance in Yemen; and c) the interface between their individual organisation’s approach and a coordinated one within the wider humanitarian architecture.
Humanitarian resistance: Its ethical and operational importance, Hugo Slim, Network Paper 87, HPN, ODI, 2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the return of military dictatorship in Myanmar have reminded the world of the importance of humanitarian resistance. In both countries, civilian rescue and relief is being organised by resistance groups that are struggling for victory and humanity in equal measure, and so simultaneously taking sides for human life and human freedom. They are not neutral but they are humanitarian. In many situations, resistance humanitarians are reaching people faster and better than orthodox humanitarians from neutral international agencies. This paper makes the case for humanitarian resistance as an essential, ethical and legal form of organised humanitarianism.
https://odihpn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Humanitarian-resistance_NP_web.pdf
Solidarity, Not Neutrality, Will Characterize Western Aid to Ukraine, Hugo Slim, Ethics & International Affairs, 2022
In this article, Hugo Slim explains how the war in Ukraine is likely to see a significant change in humanitarianism itself, and how many humanitarian organizations, and the governments funding them, will step away from the principle of humanitarian neutrality, which has so dominated western humanitarian aid in the wars of the last 30 years. Instead, many humanitarians will opt for political solidarity with Ukrainians and recognize humanitarian aid as an important part of Ukrainian resistance
Vale The Humanitarian Principles: New principles for a New Environment, Matthew Clarke, Brett W. Parris, Working Paper 001, Centre for Humanitarian Leadership, 2019
For more than 150 years, the international community’s assistance to those affected by various humanitarian events has been guided by four clear and succinct principles: humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence. Whilst important and necessary at the time of their inception, the maturing of the humanitarian sector, along with the increasing complexity and intensity of humanitarian events, requires a reconsideration of their relevancy and usefulness. This paper argues that these four principles are no longer fit-for-purpose to guide and shape the international community’s humanitarian actions. The authors argue instead that four new principles would better direct humanitarian action in the current environment: equity, solidarity, compassion and diversity. The article discusses the deepening complexity of modern humanitarian emergencies and resulting declining suitability of each of the four original principles, before considering the four new suggested principles.
https://ojs.deakin.edu.au/index.php/thl/article/view/1032/1021
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p. 72-79.