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42-545: HAP International merged with People In Aid on 9 June 2015 to form the CHS Alliance and no longer exists. HAP International, along with other quality and accountability initiatives, has been pivotal in defining the concept of "humanitarian accountability", which has been much debated by the international humanitarian community. The definition of "accountability" in a general sense is the responsible use of power, while "accountability in humanitarian situations" ensures that

84-488: A formal third party independent system against the benchmarks and requirements of the HAP Standard. The certification audit process included: HAP certification allowed agencies to demonstrate their achievements in accountability and quality management in a process developed and recognised by humanitarian peers. It was a voluntary commitment of the centrality of beneficiaries to an organisation's humanitarian work. At

126-563: A gamble with life or death if the organisation has underestimated the amount of food needed to go around. The Humanitarian Accountability Report, an annual report published by HAP International, reviewed the progress made towards strengthening accountability norms and practices in the humanitarian sector. The report also provided detailed findings of the annual "Perceptions of Accountability in Humanitarian Action" survey. The annual Secretariat Report, published by HAP International,

168-705: A number of inter-agency initiatives to improve accountability, quality and performance in humanitarian responses. The four most widely known initiatives are ALNAP (Active Learning Network for Accountability and performance in Humanitarian Action), People In Aid , Sphere Project and HAP International. A move towards greater coherence started in 2006 with the creation of the Quality and Accountability Initiatives Complementarities Group , which included ALNAP, Coordination Sud, Emergency Capacity Building (ECB) Project, Groupe URD, HAP International, People In Aid, and

210-584: A report examining the issues related to lodging complaints by beneficiaries of humanitarian aid. HAP's certification scheme aimed to provide assurance that certified agencies were managing the quality of their humanitarian actions in accordance with the HAP Standard. In practical terms, a HAP certification meant providing external auditors with access to the organisation's mission statement, accounts and control systems, allowing greater transparency in operations and overall accountability. To achieve HAP certification an organisation had to be examined and tested through

252-494: A service by going to another provider, unlike consumers in competitive retail markets. Lack of voice Disaster survivors usually lack access to formal procedures for participation in decisions about assistance. Traditional governance structures are likely to be extremely strained by the disaster or conflict, if they have survived at all, and (until recently) relief agencies did not include participation and complaints systems in their programmes. Donor-survivor disconnect Moreover,

294-527: A systematic way, programme quality, impact and outcomes would also be enhanced. The essential tools for driving this virtual circle were the application of a programme quality management system (designed in accordance with the HAP Standard), reinforced through shared learning and independent auditing. To these ends HAP International offered a range of training workshops and audit services (members can be officially certified by HAP). All stakeholders, including

336-579: Is faced with accusations of SEA. Though some of the allegations of SEA in the Central African Republic (CAR) date before the UN intervention, the wide perception of the populace is that the UN forces are to blame. A research article on "sexual exploitation and abuse by intervention forces in CAR" concludes that the UN has its hands tied and has not been able to effectively enforce investigations by

378-568: The United Nations (UN), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other international organizations. A summary of the main findings of the report may be found in an article written by one of the original authors. The report was based on a field mission by the team, which conducted interviews and focus groups with approximately 1,500 individuals (children and adults) in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone: The researchers found that not only

420-488: The Aid Industry. Hear Their Cries has led the development of a new DNA technique using Genetic Genealogy to track the abusive fathers of children procreated by sex abuse. MacLeod has been a leading voice in international media in speaking out about aid worker abuse. Two 2008 studies have pointed out that disaster survivors who have been sexually exploited (or abused) by aid workers often do not complain. Save

462-992: The BSO Learning Programme workshops." Since its inception, BSO has been helping organisations apply principles of good complaint-and-response systems to cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by staff. BSO helps NGOs achieve greater accountability by: An independent evaluation by the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children concluded that the "BSO learning program has proven a valuable tool for humanitarian agencies in strengthening their capacity to receive and investigate allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse of beneficiaries by staff....(and) BSO learning program materials are effective and well received". Perceived weaknesses in UN and NGO failed attempts to stop abuse led Andrew MacLeod , Ed Flaherty, Abbe Jolles and Peter Gallo to found Hear Their Cries , an award-winning organisation set up to tackle child abuse in

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504-714: The Children explains the lack of complaints thus: On 25 June 2008 the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International (HAP) released a report on sexual exploitation and abuse, "To complain or not to complain: still the question." This report includes details for three countries in which consultations were held. It concludes: Sexual exploitation and abuse is a predictable result of a failure of accountability to beneficiaries of humanitarian aid. The single most important reason for this 'humanitarian accountability deficit'

546-710: The Joint Evaluation of the International Response to the Genocide in Rwanda. The HAP Standard is a practical and measurable tool that represents a broad consensus of what matters most in humanitarian action. The Standard helps organisations design, implement, assess, improve and recognise accountable programmes. Being accountable to crisis-affected communities helps organisations to develop quality programmes that meet those people's needs, and reduces

588-544: The Sphere Project. Over the years, the group grew with Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC), Listening Project, and Disasters Emergency Committee joining. Moreover, the three organisations HAP International, People In Aid and the Sphere Project started the Joint Standards Initiative (JSI) . The JSI was a collaboration building on the strengths of each initiative. In mid-2011,

630-817: The Standard: Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) by humanitarian staff is the most egregious result when organisations fail to be accountable to beneficiaries of humanitarian aid . In an emergency where victims have lost everything, women and girls are particularly vulnerable. The Building Safer Organisations project , which aims to develop the capacity of NGOs "to receive and investigate allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse brought by persons of concern—including refugees, displaced persons and local host populations" relocated from ICVA to HAP in 2007, and its lessons and materials were subsequently integrated into HAP's "Building Safer Organisations – Investigation Learning Programme" training. In June 2008 HAP published

672-666: The TCCs since this a responsibility of the Troop/Police Contributing Countries (T/PCCs). Given the fact that the UN always faces a challenge of raising troops for PKOs it does not want to lose this ability further by blacklisting TCCs who fail to complete such investigations and punish the offenders. The system wide measures put in place in support of the "Zero tolerance policy" have not been effective. The study recommends that there should be effort to make sure that each country takes direct responsibility for

714-670: The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), which in October 2002 issued a report concluding that it found "no widespread abuse by aid workers". In an interview with CNN in May 2002, High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers stated, "We hardly find concrete evidence. It's very scarce". Save the Children UK (a partner in the original study) responded, "Nothing that the UN has found makes us think that we were wrong". In July 2002,

756-470: The UN agencies engaged in humanitarian response committed themselves to setting up internal structures to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse of beneficiaries. A step towards protection from sexual exploitation was taken by the UN with its publication of the Secretary-General's Bulletin, Special measures for protection from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. The purpose of the bulletin

798-448: The UN's Interagency Standing Committee (IASC) adopted a plan of action which stated that sexual exploitation and abuse by humanitarian workers constitute acts of gross misconduct and are, therefore, grounds for termination of employment. The plan explicitly prohibited the "Exchange of money, employment, goods, or services for sex, including sexual favours or other forms of humiliating, degrading or exploitative behaviour". The major NGHAs and

840-443: The achievements being made across the sector and commended all humanitarian agencies for the vital role they play in saving lives and assisting the world’s most vulnerable. The minister added, however, "I also want to challenge anyone who thinks the task of reform is complete. It isn’t. Yes – we have come a long way. But we have much further to go." He went on to say that there were, in his view, five "key elements essential for improving

882-603: The creation of the CHS Alliance in 2015. People In Aid Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 222799608 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:55:48 GMT Sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian response Sexual exploitation and abuse in humanitarian response first came to public attention with

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924-644: The crimes perpetuated by their contingents and failure to complete investigations and conclude such cases should be enforced by strict penalties including banning from participation in Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs). Over 50 women accused staff of multiple humanitarian agencies, including the World Health Organization , of sexual abuse in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The allegations were investigated by

966-509: The family. The full report was published 16 years after it was written by the UK parliament as part of its inquiry into sexual exploitation and abuse in the aid sector on 31 July 2018. The report entitled "Sexual violence and exploitation: the experience of refugee children in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone" cites the names of implicated aid agencies and peacekeeping battalions and can be found at

1008-409: The following link: https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/international- development/2002-Report-of-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-Save%20the%20Children.pdf Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) continues to undermine UN operations thereby affecting the efficacy of these interventions. The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic, (MINUSCA),

1050-411: The following reasons: Acute needs People who have survived conflict or a natural disaster often have acute needs. Frequently, they have been displaced from their homes and lack their usual economic, social or psychological support systems. Lack of choice, lack of competition Normally, recipients of humanitarian aid cannot 'choose' between relief providers. So they cannot signal they are unhappy with

1092-528: The international humanitarian response", including greater accountability. He argued, "Agencies urgently need to put in place standardised monitoring arrangements. And where accountability mechanisms already exist – such as the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International – we must use them more systematically." The unique nature of humanitarian work makes accountability particularly important for

1134-467: The objective of "strengthening and enhancing the protection and care of women and children in situations of humanitarian crisis and conflict..." In 2008 there were signs that sexual exploitation and abuse of beneficiaries not only continued, but was under-reported. In January 2010, the ECHA/ECPS task force developed a website devoted to protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) by personnel of

1176-885: The outset as a pilot project by the umbrella organization, the International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA), the project initially developed training materials. Using these materials, the BSO project carried out participatory workshops for NGO and UN staff. As of June 2006, a total of 137 NGO staff took part in management or investigation workshops. In April 2007 BSO was moved to Humanitarian Accountability Partnership International , where it has been merged with HAP's complaints unit. By April 2008, BSO had held "16 Investigation workshops; seven Investigations Follow-up workshops; seven Management workshops as well as four Training of Trainers workshops and 1 Complaints Mechanisms workshop. 522 humanitarian agency staff has participated in

1218-1932: The past, HAP had been supported by the following: 2003 : AusAID (Australia), DANIDA (Denmark), Ford Foundation (US), Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SIDA (Sweden) 2004 : AusAID (Australia), DANIDA (Denmark), Ford Foundation (US), Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SIDA (Sweden) 2005 : AusAID (Australia), DANIDA (Denmark), Ford Foundation (US), Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SIDA (Sweden) 2006 : ACIFID (Australia), AusAID (Australia), CARE International, DANIDA (Denmark), Ford Foundation (US), Irish Aid, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oxfam UK, SDC (Switzerland), SIDA (Sweden), World Vision 2007 : AusAID (Australia), BPRM (US), DFID (UK), DANIDA (Denmark), Ford Foundation (US), Irish Aid, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oak Foundation (Switzerland), OFDA (US), SIDA (Sweden) 2008 : BPRM (US), DFID (UK), DANIDA (Denmark), Ford Foundation (US), Irish Aid, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oak Foundation (Switzerland), SIDA (Sweden) 2009 : BPRM (US), DFID (UK), DANIDA (Denmark), ECHO (EU), Ford Foundation (US), Irish Aid, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, SIDA (Sweden) 2010 : BPRM (US), DFID (UK), DANIDA (Denmark), ECHO (EU), Irish Aid, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2011 : BPRM (US), DFID (UK), DANIDA (Denmark), Irish Aid, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oak Foundation (Switzerland) 2012 : AusAID (Australia), BPRM (US), DANIDA (Denmark), Irish Aid, Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oak Foundation (Switzerland), SDC (Switzerland), SIDA (Sweden) The humanitarian community has initiated

1260-559: The people an organisation aims to assist, crisis-affected communities, donors and the humanitarian organisations themselves, made measurable gains as a consequence of the work undertaken by the Partnership. The objectives of HAP International were: HAP International's work was based on the findings of the Humanitarian Accountability Project, a 2001 inter-agency action research initiative, as well as

1302-487: The people whose choices do influence relief organisations – donor governments and their citizens – are not recipients of humanitarian aid. Therefore, they may not be in a good position to judge whether the aid was appropriate or not. Life and death decisions Finally, in humanitarian situations the consequences of decisions can be particularly severe. For example, a person's decision to queue for food distribution (rather than forage or seek help through private networks) may be

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1344-452: The possibility of mistakes, abuse (including sexual exploitation and abuse by aid workers) and corruption. The 2010 HAP Standard is the result of an extensive review process that involved wide consultation with different stakeholders, including crisis-affected communities, aid workers and donors. HAP's strategic value proposition was that quality, accountability and programme results are inextricably linked. By improving agency accountability in

1386-475: The possibility of mistakes, abuse (including sexual exploitation and abuse) and corruption. The 2010 edition of the HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management is the result of an extensive review process of the 2007 Standard that involved wide consultation with different stakeholders, including crisis-affected communities, aid workers and donors. Over 1,900 people in 56 countries contributed to

1428-515: The power to help in situations of conflict and disaster is exercised responsibly. When implemented, it means that survivors of war or disaster are able to influence decisions about the help they receive and can give feedback and complain if they feel the 'helping power' was not exercised well." On the 7th of October 2008 during a UNHCR Executive Committee meeting, the British Minister for International Development, Gareth Thomas, highlighted

1470-561: The release of a report in February 2002 of a joint assessment mission examining the issue. The joint mission (composed of UNHCR -SCFUK personnel) reported that "refugee children in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone have been subjected to sexual abuse and exploitation, reportedly by employees of national and international NGOs, UNHCR and other UN bodies..." Humanitarian agencies responded almost immediately with measures designed to prevent further abuse, setting up an inter-agency task force with

1512-511: The review process and the preparation of the 2010 edition, bringing to the process authentic experiences from different perspectives. The HAP Standard is a quality assurance tool for humanitarian organisations. By comparing an organisation's processes, policies and products to the Standard's six benchmarks, it is possible to measure how well the organisation assures accountability and quality in its humanitarian work. Organisations that comply with

1554-627: The staff of all organizations working in cooperative arrangements with the UN (i.e. NGHAs ). In addition, the bulletin outlines sanctions and procedures to be followed for preventing sexual exploitation and abuse. In November 2004 a collaborative effort by a number of NGOs set up the Building Safer Organisations project (BSO), to develop the capacity of NGOs "to receive and investigate allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse brought by persons of concern—including refugees, displaced persons and local host populations". Hosted at

1596-502: The three initiatives made a joint commitment to promote convergence of their respective standards. Greater coherence should strengthen aid workers’ ability to put these standards into practice around the world. The ultimate aim was to improve the quality of humanitarian action for affected communities. The JSI process led to the publication of the Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability in 2014 and

1638-537: The time of its merger with People In Aid , HAP International had 100 member organisations. The membership included 79 full members and 21 associate members ranging from organisations with a mandate for emergency relief and development activities to institutional donors. The work of HAP was supported by AusAID (Australia), Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (US), DANIDA (Denmark), Irish Aid , Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs , Oak Foundation (Switzerland), SIDA (Sweden) and SDC (Switzerland). In

1680-522: Was sexual exploitation widespread, it was also perpetrated by aid workers, peacekeepers, and community leaders. Humanitarian workers traded food and relief items for sexual favors. Teachers in schools in the camps exploited children in exchange for passing grades. Medical care and medicines were given in return for sex. Some forty-two agencies and sixty-seven individuals were implicated in this behavior. Parents pressured their children to enter sexually exploitative relationships in order to secure relief items for

1722-470: Was the organisation's self-assessment of progress made against its annual work plan, and included accountability reports by HAP members. HAP International developed the "HAP Standard in Accountability and Quality Management", a tool to help organisations design, implement, assess, improve and recognise accountable programmes. Being accountable to crisis-affected communities helps organisations develop quality programmes that meet those people's needs, and reduces

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1764-449: Was to draw up standards for protecting vulnerable populations (particularly women and children) from sexual exploitation and abuse. It defines sexual exploitation as: Any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from sexual exploitation of another. It prohibits such behavior by all UN staff and by

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