Each year, the Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) conducts field research in a representative sample of different crises to assess how the GHD principles are being applied in practice. Crises are selected on the basis of the type of crisis- disasters, conflicts, and complex emergencies- geographic and regional distribution, and scale and nature of the international response. For the HRI 2010, DARA has selected the following crises:

Note: Completed missions appear in orange, click on individual countries for more information.

Updates

1 June 2010
Sudan
DARA is back from Sudan were it has analysed donor response to the country's ongoing humanitarian crisis. Sudan has been at war for almost 50 years. A 20 year civil war between the north and the south ended in 2005. Since 2003, fighting in Darfur has caused 300,000 deaths, affected over 4 million people and left around 2.7 million people displaced in what is one of the worst ongoing humanitarian crisis in the world. Key challenges include: access, protection, food security, a precarious financial situation and a reduced state capacity to provide social services.
Dates: 13-28 May 2010
Debriefing date and venue: 27 May 2010, at 14.00, OCHA.
Team: Lucía Fernández, Nahla Haidar (Team leader), Manuel Sánchez-Montero, Albertien Van der Veen (Team leader) and Frank Vollmer.

 

About the HRI field missions

How do we prepare a mission?
Once the crises are selected, DARA contacts all humanitarian organizations (UN agencies, Red Cross and Red Crescent, INGO’s and local organizations) working in the response to request their participation in the data collection. We also contact donor agencies field offices to inform them of the mission and to invite them to participate in the interview process.

What do we do in the field?
Upon arrival in the field, the HRI research teams (between 3 and 6 people, depending on the number of implementing agencies in the field) begin the process of interviewing humanitarian organizations and conducting surveys on how donor countries supported the work of UN agencies, international and local NGOs, Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement in the response to the crisis the previous year. In most cases, HRI teams are able to meet with almost all of the agencies working in the crisis (in some cases, up to 90%), as well as government officials, local authorities, civil society organizations, and donor representatives. Whenever possible, teams also visit the affected areas to see first-hand the response to the crisis and speak to field staff and beneficiaries. This gives teams an overview of the crisis response.

Who do we talk to?
As part of the HRI research process, we interview representatives from humanitarian organizations working in different crises about how donors are supporting the response. In particular we speak to people who have some kind of relationship with donors. Normally this is the head of mission or the person in charge of preparing funding requests or reports to donors. We aim to interview representatives from all of the different humanitarian organizations working in the crisis, such as UN agencies, the Red Cross/Red Crescent, and local and international NGOs. We also interview donor representatives in the country.

What kind of questions do we ask?
During the interviews with the implementing agencies, we use a standard questionnaire combining questions with closed answers (scores) and open answers. The standard interview questions are supplemented with open-ended questions and interviews with other key actors, such as donor representatives. Survey respondents are asked to answer a series questions on how each of their donor supports their work and if they believe donors are applying key concepts of good practices from the GHD. Each question is linked to core concepts contained in the GHD, such as timeliness of funding or donor support to facilitate safe humanitarian access. All responses are confidential in order to ensure answers that are more candid and to protect the often delicate relationship between funders and recipients of aid money.

What do we provide in-country?
When possible, the HRI teams provide in country debriefings at the end of its missions in order to offer humanitarian agencies and donors information on initial findings and to validate with them their relevance and accuracy.

For more information on the HRI and its missions, read our FAQ’s