1. Collective Accountability to Affected People: Moving beyond listening
Senior Transformative Agenda Implementation Team
Webinar series
Wednesday 8th March 2017
Collective Accountability to Affected People:
Moving beyond listening
STAIT - Supporting humanitarian leaders in the field to deliver aid better.
Created by the Emergency Directors` Group in 2013

2. Collective Accountability to Affected People: Moving beyond listening
Welcome to the webinar!
Collective Accountability to Affected People:
Moving beyond listening
To join:
Make sure you are connected to the audio. Click on the box with the headphones icon for “Call Using Computer”. If you don’t immediately see the Audio Connection box in front of you, go to the Quick Start tab and find it there.
If your computer audio is not working during the event, you can also listen by phone instead Dial or find the global call-in number for your location at: Access code/session number :
In case you are unable to connect to the event, a non-interactive live stream is available as a back-up at All webinar recordings are available on the website:
STAIT - Supporting humanitarian leaders in the field to deliver aid better.
Created by the Emergency Directors` Group in 2013

3. Speakers Charlotte Lancaster IDP Information Centre Iraq
Dr. Mamadou Diallo
Deputy SRSG and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator
DR Congo
Ingrid MacDonald
STAIT Director
Webinar facilitator
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

4. A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

5. As a Humanitarian Coordinator, what concrete steps have you taken with members of your HCT, to put in place a collective approach to AAP across the DRC response?
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

6. Clear direction agreed in the HCT
Define how we want to do the humanitarian response: effective and accountable response based on humanitarian principles and standards
HCT agreed that collective accountability is a critical priority.
How to do it
The Core Humanitarian Standards is a frame of reference
Nine commitments to improve quality and effectiveness
Dr. Mamadou Diallo
Deputy SRSG and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator
DR Congo
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

7. COLLECTIVE AAP APPROACH IN DRC: WHAT?
Dr. Mamadou Diallo
Humanitarian Coordinator, DRC
COLLECTIVE AAP APPROACH IN DRC: WHAT?
As our frame of reference, we decided to adopt the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS).  The CHS sets out nine commitments that organizations and individuals involved in humanitarian response can use to improve the quality and effectiveness of the assistance they provide. This also facilitates greater accountability to communities and people affected by the crisis to hold humanitarian organizations to account against their commitments.
The CHS places communities and people affected by crisis at the center of humanitarian action and promotes respect for their fundamental human rights. As a core standard, the CHS describes the essential elements of principled, accountable and high-quality humanitarian action that humanitarian organizations may use to align their own internal procedures for measuring performance. However, its framework and associated indicators can also be used as a basis to assess collective performance.
COLLECTIVE AAP APPROACH IN DRC: HOW?
Agreeing on priorities: Based on an opinion poll and a set of strategic discussions at the HCT and the national Intercluster, the HCT decided to prioritize three of the CHS’s nine commitments for immediate attention:
Commitment 2. Communities and people affected by the crisis have access to the humanitarian assistance they need at the right time.
Commitment 4. Communities and people affected by crisis know their rights and entitlements have access to information and participate in decisions that affect them.
Commitment 5. Communities and people affected by crisis have access to safe and responsive mechanisms to handle complaints.
Internalising the norm: Since the DRC is a large country, the emphasis in 2016 was put on sensitising humanitarian organisations, disseminating guidance, and clarifying roles and responsibilities. Concrete actions in 2016 included:
Translation into Swahili of the CHS manual and dissemination;
Publicising the free 1-hour online CHS training;
Training of Trainers on CHS in Goma, and establishment of a community of practice;
HCT-level meeting and Intercluster workshop with CHS Alliance in Kinshasa;
Integration of the CHS into the Humanitarian Fund’s manual.
Establishing responsibilities:
The HCT played an instrumental role in creating momentum and providing strategic guidance, and will oversee the continued implementation of activities.
National cluster coordinators, the Intercluster and OCHA have an essential role to play in norm-setting, monitoring and driving the agenda.
The CHS Alliance provided vital support in disseminating the norm and training people in DRC.
Action-oriented approach:
AAP needs to be action-oriented. It’s about the responsiveness of humanitarian assistance and its capacity to reflect actual needs and preferences. Ensuring a good contextual analysis in the areas of operation is key.
This is why a number of initiatives have been taken or are underway to assess the adaptiveness of the response:
In the context of the HNO process, considerable attention has been paid to analysing the needs and preferences of crisis-affected people, particularly in relation to forced displacement. A secondary literature review of surveys has helped us understand how they take decisions about displacement, and start adjusting our assistance programming accordingly. Among the learning points, it is clear we need to collect more information that can help more IDPs find durable solutions, in concert with authorities and development actors.
We are also about to conduct a 10-year evaluation of the humanitarian response, to see how it has adapted over time to needs, and what we can learn more broadly about assistance in protracted emergencies.
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

8. How AAP has been implemented in DRC
Opinion poll and a set of discussions at the HCT established a common commitment and ownership
Clarify roles and responsibilities of clusters and agencies
HCT momentum and clear strategic direction
CHS provided training, translated and disseminated manuals on core standards. Everyone understood the rules of the game!
Inter-Cluster engaged (non-HCT) operational actors and secured their ownership
Dr. Mamadou Diallo
Deputy SRSG and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator
DR Congo
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

9. How has a collective approach to AAP by the HCT made a difference in the DRC?
How has it helped to guide the strategic direction of the response?
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

10. Dedicated resources identified and utilised
A CHS Advisor worked with communities to understand their experience and perceptions
Different initiatives have been harmonized under a set of “norms and standards” for AAP
UNICEF, WFP, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, UNDP, and other agencies and NGOs bring their knowledge of community feedback under a single organizational logic
Dr. Mamadou Diallo
Deputy SRSG and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator
DR Congo
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

11. The Iraq Call Centre
What concrete steps have been taken by senior leadership to set up and maintain the call centre in Iraq?
Photo credit: OCHA
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

12. 1. Collaboration and establishment
Inter-agency commitment and agreement
Inter-agency needs assessment
Pooling of resources (in-kind and financial)
Agreement/buy-in by all, with help of ICCG
Project Board – key partners including HC
HCT endorsement / Operational Peer Review
First step towards comprehensive collective AAP
Learning and Challenges
Preparedness and mapping
Consolidation of donor reporting and financial requirements
Charlotte Lancaster
Iraq IDP Information Centre
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

13. A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

14. 2. Ongoing support Humanitarian Coordinator (HC)
Consistent support & promotion; part of project board
Humanitarian Country Team (HCT)
HRP prioritisation of AAP; attention at HCT meetings
Inter Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG)
Regular data analysis presentations
NGOs
Engagement – bilateral and through NCCI
Prioritisation of support within agencies
High level interest and promotion
Learning and Challenges
Harmonisation of data collection processes to aid assessments
Ensuring buy-in and awareness raising at early stages
Charlotte Lancaster
Iraq IDP Information Centre
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

15. A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

16. A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

17. Working with the HCT, the clusters to make a difference in Iraq
What are the key learnings and next steps for 2017?
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

18. Working with Partners to make a difference
Supporting established accountability mechanisms
One toll free number – exposure/availability for all in need
Connects callers with partner information and anonymous feedback mechanism
Operational-level information packages shared with partners
Documents issues & service gaps
Real-time referral of vulnerable cases
Regular evidence-based reporting and analysis helps ensure cross-sectoral needs are prioritised & leadership can make informed decisions
Charlotte Lancaster
Iraq IDP Information Centre
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.

19. Learnings and next steps 2017:
Strengthening follow-up
Review quality of service provided to affected populations
Analyse caller perceptions of accessibility and relevance of services to which call centre refers callers
Strengthen work with partners on documenting positive influence of call centre on humanitarian programme cycle
Integrating and standardising approaches to needs assessments
Triangulating different levels of assessment
Charlotte Lancaster
Iraq IDP Information Centre
A Collective Approach to Accountability to Affected People?
Moving beyond listening, together.