CARE International

Humanitarian Accountability Framework

(HAF)

March 2010

CARE’s Humanitarian MandateArticulates CARE’s commitment to the humanitarian imperative in line with

its vision, mission and program principles.

Goal• Responding to humanitarian emergencies is an essential part of

CARE’s work to fight poverty and injustice (…). CARE helps people cope with crises through disaster risk reduction, emergency relief, preparedness and post-crisis recovery.

Objectives• The primary objective of humanitarian response is to meet immediate

needs of affected populations in the poorest communities in the world. Recognizing that people have the fundamental right to life with dignity, CARE also strives to address the underlying causes of people’s vulnerability

• CARE is a major force in humanitarian response and has a responsibility as a leader in the sector to demonstrate the highest standards of effectiveness and quality.

Rationale ….(1) Proliferation of manuals, procedures,

standards and principles - what is mandatory and what is just guidance?

(2) Good standards (e.g. Sphere), but not applied consistently;

(3) No adverse consequences for poor quality at beneficiary level as long as donors are kept happy.

(4) Complex internal structures

HAF objectives

• Help ensure that these issues remain visible throughout CARE

• Help provide clarity for senior managers who need to know what CARE’s commitments mean for them and their teams

• Help CARE staff, particularly those working with disaster-affected communities, put accountability into practice throughout their work

• Help CARE staff at all levels fulfil our commitments to our primary stakeholders.

CARE’s Humanitarian Accountability Framework (HAF)

Using our power responsibly

* Accountability is both a means for CARE to improve the relevance, quality and impact of our work, and an end in itself, as our stakeholders – especially beneficiaries – have a right to hold CARE to account.

* Humanitarian accountability is an appropriate shift of the balance of power back towards disaster affected people.

Foundations of HAFDraws on existing internal and interagency standards and codes for humanitarian quality

and accountability that CARE has committed to. This includes:

• CARE International’s Program Framework• CARE International’s Humanitarian Mandate• The Code of Conduct for International Red Cross and

Red Crescent movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief (RCRC Code of Conduct)

• The Sphere Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards for Disaster Relief

• The Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) Standards

• The Good Enough Guide: Impact Measurement and Accountability in Emergencies and

• The People in Aid Code of Conduct.

Good Enough (GE) Approach

• The HAF will be used as a basis for judging the quality and accountability at each phase of a response using a ‘good enough’ approach.

• GE approach acknowledges that in an emergency response, adopting a quick and simple approach to impact measurement and accountability may be the only practical possibility.

• GE does not mean second best, but rather it means recognizing and acknowledging limitations in terms of capacity and time, prioritizing appropriately, taking steps to anticipate and fill gaps and, as the situation changes, review and revise accordingly. 

3 Components of the Humanitarian Accountability Framework

Humanitarian Benchmarks

Response targets (Performance Metrics)

Compliance System

CARE’s Humanitarian Accountability Framework

Indicators for Benchmarks

Indicators link to key internal and external:

– Standards (e.g. Sphere, CARE Project Standards)

– Humanitarian Principles (e.g. HAP, CARE Programming Principles)

– Codes of Conduct

Performance Metrics Indicators

1. Timeliness of Response

2. Quality & Accountability

3. Competence in Core Sectors

4. Emergency Revenue Trends - Funding

5. Emergency Revenue Trends - Capacity

Leadership Benchmark (as an example…)

- a clear statement of humanitarian accountability that is publicly available and easily understood by key stakeholders;

- senior leaders take all reasonable steps to ensure that adequate mechanisms are in place to comply with CARE’s Humanitarian Accountability Framework.

Compliance

Compliance vs. feedback !

Level 1 (Internal): Periodic self-audit reviews, internal peer review and external evaluations

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Level 2 (External):

Option 1: Interagency Peer Reviews looking at compliance of accountability framework.

Option 2: External Certification (e.g HAP2007, ISO 9000). External audit after a “baseline” self-assessment against standards.

Requirements of Quality and Accountability• Sufficient human resources • Setting standards and commitment• Induction and capacity-building • Communication resources for information

provision • Stakeholder feedback and complaints systems

and taking responsibility of our work• Learning and reflection i.e. AARs, external

evaluations, etc. • Emergency Preparedness Planning (EPP)

Discussion