Measuring Commitment to Best Practice
HRI
NEWS
Kofi Annan Launches 2007 Humanitarian Response Index
Donors’ efforts are still not sufficient to meet humanitarian needs
Nordic countries, followed closely by the European Comisión, are the leading humanitarian donors in DARA’s 2007 Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), launched today in London by former UN Secretary-General Kofi A. Annan, together with Silvia Hidalgo, Director of DARA and Augusto López-Claros, Project Director.
As affirmed by Kofi Annan, the current President of the Global Humanitarian Forum, “the Humanitarian Response Index will serve as a crucial tool to help ensure that no disaster is ignored, and that every dollar spent helps those most in need.”
Sweden is the best ranking country in the Humanitarian Response Index (HRI), and serves as a real example of an effective humanitarian response which saves lives, alleviates suffering and maintains human dignity. This ability is mainly due to Sweden’s willingness to attend to humanitarian needs wherever they arise. The highest ranking donors in the HRI are capable of cooperating efficiently with other humanitarian actors, facilitating and supporting international coordination efforts and providing financial support to other organisations.
The HRI ranks the 23 donors of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - Development Assistance Committee (DAC) based on their commitment to the Principles and Good Practice of Humanitarian Donorship (GHD), considered the international standard in the field of humanitarian action. This Index, created by DARA International, an organisation dedicated to evaluation based in Madrid, is the first of its kind worldwide.
As pointed out by the Project Director, Augusto López-Claros, “many [donors] have adopted humanitarian policies that are firmly based on the Stockholm Principles, the challenge lies in operationalising these principles in practice.”
According to Silvia Hidalgo, Director of DARA, “This Index tries to give a voice to the millions of people affected by crises that are the recipients and intended clients of aid but have little say in what they are to receive, if they are fortunate enough to receive aid at all. Now, more than ever, it is essential for donors to improve the efficiency of their humanitarian actions… We very much hope that, over time, it will be seen as an important contribution to this debate.”