Measuring Commitment to Best Practice
HRI
NEWS
Putting the Humanitarian Response to the Test
HRI: DARA’s contribution to the improvement of humanitarian action
In 2006, the number of refugees in the world rose to 33 million, according to data from ACNUR. For the first time in five years, the number of people forced to abandon their homes augmented considerably. The increase of 14% compared to the previous year, was due to the crisis in Iraq, as well as the use of more detailed and precise statistical data. The challenges and demands that this situation represents are as extensive as they are diversified. The significance of this situation requires a coordinated, responsible and transparent response from the international community.
In recent years, the growing number of humanitarian crises caused by natural hazards or armed conflicts has resulted in the gradual reform of the international humanitarian system and a notable increase of its funding. Currently, the amount designated to these ends is the greatest in history. This context requires new mechanisms and operations that ensure these resources reach their recipients in the least amount of time possible and meet their real needs. When the Principles of Good Humanitarian Donorship were approved in 2003, multiple doors were opened; the initiative represented a turning point from which to improve the implementation, transparency, coordination and impact of the donors’ actions.
DARA wished to take advantage of the opportunity that arose at that time to contribute to the improvement of humanitarian aid. Therefore, DARA created the Humanitarian Response Index (HRI); a unique tool in its field that offers specific information for the donors from which the strengths and weaknesses of the actions can be analyzed. The international experience accumulated in the different humanitarian interventions – like participating in the Tsunami Evaluation Coalition – and a multidisciplinary specialised staff, guarantee DARA’s capacity to complete a project of this importance.
The HRI ranks the donors based of their degree of compliance to the Principles of Good Humanitarian Donorship. By means of an innovative methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative data, the HRI presents a snapshot of the reality of humanitarian aid with key data to improve the efficiency, transparency and responsibility of the donors’ actions. With an annual publication, the Index intends, as a minimum, to improve the beneficiaries’ quality of life and will allow for annual follow-up on the evolution of the humanitarian actions.
The most important component of this study comes from the more than 1,000 questionnaires completed in regions that have suffered or are suffering some type of humanitarian crisis. During several months, a team of experts from DARA visited eight countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East and Asia in order to collect information directly from the source, the main actors of humanitarian action. In this way, individuals were interviewed in the field representing more than 250 implementing organizations were – NGOs, the United Nations system, and Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The diversity of the assessed crises and individuals interviewed provides a detailed and meticulous analytical content from the perspective of those that implement projects of this sort on a daily basis. They are the ones that evaluate the 23 donors degree of commitment to the Principles of Good Humanitarian Donorship. Furthermore, DARA spoke with the donors and the headquarters of implementing organizations in order to obtain precise information about their operations. The quantitative data in the study come from sources like the DAC, ECHO and OCHA.
DARA’s final objective is none other than contributing to the effective compliance of the objectives of humanitarian action: saving lives, relieving suffering, maintaining human dignity and reinforcing the response capacity of countries affected by this type of crisis. It may not be possible to immediately eliminate wars and natural hazards that affect the planet, but it is certainly possible to contribute to more effective and transparent humanitarian action that improves the circumstances of the 33 million people that are forced to abandon their homes.