ALNAP | Forums

Evaluating the Haiti Response

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:06:30 GMT

Posted on 14 July at 14:06 by Josh Harris (ALNAP).

Six months have now passed since the devastating earthquake struck Haiti and many ALNAP members launched massive relief and recovery operations.

The Haiti Learning and Accountability portal contains details of several ongoing evaluations and learning projects, as well as other key resources. The Portal is now also available in French.

Since the joint ALNAP/ OECD-DAC EvalNet/ UNEG meeting in London, the Haiti Evaluation Taskforce has convened its first teleconference and the minutes of this meeting are now available.

It is our hope that these complementary initiatives will contribute to more informed, coordinated efforts to assessing and improving performance in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti Earthquake.

With that in mind, I am launching this forum area, which will link directly to the Haiti portal, as a place for anyone involved in these efforts to share their thoughts, comments, concerns, best practice or any other information that could be useful for others working in Haiti.

Prevention and Response to GBV in conflict-related emergencies

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:30:26 GMT

Posted on 1 July at 15:30 by Suzanne WILLIAMS (Goukamma Consulting).

Is it possible, is it effective, to work on changing attitudes and beliefs as part of humanitarian action in the midst of conflict, and/or post-conflict?

Do you have good practice exampes of innovative work on awareness-raising, or attitudinal change, in humanitarian interventions in relation to gender-based violence in particular? Anywhere in the world. Or, if not, then in relation to other sectors/issues - health, hygience, WATSAN, shelter etc. I'm conducting research on whether work on attitudinal change about gender-based violence is possible/effective in humanitarian relief - in camps or settlements or host communities. The focus is on the building of a sense of personal and individual responsibility and empowerment to prevent GBV, and is based on a model developed in South Asia. Responses of all kinds welcome!

Barriers to humanitarian volunteerism in middle income countries

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 09:50:12 GMT

Posted on 1 July at 09:50 by HUSYAIRI HARUNARASHID (UKM Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA).

Earlier this year, the National University of Malaysia (UKM) with the cooperation of MERCY Malaysia (a humanitarian NGO) has been working to establish a working framework to allow its health personnel working in the university hospital to safely volunteer with MERCY Malaysia's humanitarian work abroad whilst maintaining the appropriate liability cover and security.

What we have found in our initial analysis several significant barriers to volunteerism in what can be defined as a principally middle-income country. I just wonder if others in similar circumstances can share their experiences here in this forum.

Innovations in shelter - the transitional approach

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 10:37:33 GMT

Posted on 15 June at 10:37 by Tom Corsellis (Shelter Centre).

Last week ALNAP and the Shelter Centre published an Innovations Case Study on Transitional Shelter, which explored the process through which transitional shelter has developed as an innovative way to provide shelter solutions after emergencies and through recovery and reconstruction. At its heart, the transitional shelter approach acknowledges that reconstruction usually takes between two and five years, but that a tent will usually last for only one year at best. A wider and more flexible range of response options are vitally important.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in Haiti, where hundreds of thousands of people are still living in inadequate conditions under tents and tarps, with the rainy season well underway. Once again, transitional shelter has been agreed by the government and the Shelter Cluster as the most appropriate method of accommodating most of the displaced while reconstruction is completed. Although programmes are well underway, the Shelter Cluster recently estimated that 30,000 to 40,000 households are still in need of a transitional shelter.

Shelter Centre in co-operation with IOM and DFID, has is now completing technical guidelines on transitional shelter, informed by Haiti and from earlier responses since the approach was introduced in 2005 after the South Asian tsunami. A broad working group for the project was formed at the last sector forum, the Shelter Meeting, and now includes CHF, GOAL, Habitat for Humanity, MSF-Belgium, NRC, Oxfam GB, ProAct, UN-Habitat, UNHCR, UN/OCHA, the WASH Cluster and WVI.

As the ALNAP Case Study outlined, the process of developing the transitional shelter approach was open and collaborative, and in this spirit we would be interested to hear from ALNAP Members who are either grappling with the challenges of providing shelter in Haiti, or who have experiences from elsewhere that may be relevant. What has worked and what could we be doing differently?

Tom Corsellis

Media and disasters

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 10:58:01 GMT

Posted on 8 June at 10:58 by Elisa Esposito (University of Sussex).

Hi everyone,
I am a master students at Sussex University and I am currently writing my dissertation on how the media has changed the response to natural disasters. I would love to share opinions with all of you and I am looking for more information on the topic so if you have articles, files or your suggestion on th subject will be great.
Bye now
Elisa

Rebuilding a disaster zone

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 16:55:51 GMT

Posted on 20 April at 16:55 by Josh Harris (ALNAP).

ALNAP research and advice informed much of this article published in the Independent newspaper in the UK, 19th April. The ALNAP secretariat are in contact with the journalist and we welcome any comments to feedback.

Extract:

"The rebuilding of Port-au-Prince won't start for years, yet there's already hope it will herald a brighter future for the Caribbean capital. What, asks Rob Sharp, can we learn from the architectural reinvention of other ruined cities?...

...What are the lessons for a developing country such as Haiti? "Despite taking place in developed societies, these historical examples all show high-level vision," says Ben Ramalingam, a post-disaster reconstruction expert and head of research and development at Alnap, a network of major international humanitarian agencies.

"All of this is relevant in Haiti, where there are efforts being made to demonstrate strong leadership, especially on the part of the aid agencies. But it needs to happen in the context of the existing political contract between the government and its citizens. It's unfortunate that in Haiti there is a lack of trust between the citizens and the leaders which pre-existed the disaster..."

Full article:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/architecture/new-and-improved-rebuilding-a-disaster-zone-1948094.html

IRP Building a Roster of Experts for Haiti Recovery

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:46:40 GMT

Posted on 9 February at 12:46 by Liz Maly (International Recovery Platform).

The International Recovery Platform (IRP) www.recoveryplatform.org, is working to compile a list of experts with recovery experience who are willing to advise our partner organizations on post-earthquake recovery in Haiti.

Background
In line with its mission to identify gaps and constraints currently experienced in the context of disaster recovery and to serve as catalyst for the development of tools, resources, and capacity for resilient recovery, IRP has initiated the development of a Roster of Experts for Haiti Recovery. The main of objective of the roster is to easily tap expertise needed for immediate and long-term recovery in Haiti. The list will be made available to Haitian government and IRP Steering Committee. To facilitate its development, IRP is circulating a form to be completed by concerned organizations or experts.

Role of Experts
Expertise on sector-specific recovery, particularly in shelter, infrastructure (utilities, telecom, roads and bridges, buildings, schools and hospitals, water and sanitation), health, psycho social, environment, livelihoods, and building code enforcement and implementation are highly needed in Haiti recovery efforts. Experts may be expected to assist in those areas by providing technical inputs and guidance.

There are two ways to immediately facilitate experts' assistance.

. Experts could be deployed in Haiti (or Washington DC) for about two weeks and work with Haitian government and international organizations
. Experts could be call on to provide assistance through virtual means, including internet workspace discussions, email, video conference, and teleconference

All experts in the roster will comprise the Technical Expert Group for Haiti Recovery, which will be in operations for about two years.

Qualifications
Experts are expected to communicate in English. Likewise, experts are expected to express long term commitment as members of a Technical Expert Group for Haiti and/or other recovery efforts.

Expression of Interest
Interested organizations and individuals may contact IRP for more details.
email: info@recoveryplatform.org).

Thanks very much!
Liz
IRP

The State of the Humanitarian System report is now available

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:57:46 GMT

Posted on 1 February at 14:57 by John Mitchell (ALNAP).

The ALNAP State of the Humanitarian System report is the most comprehensive effort to date to assess the performance and the progress of the International Humanitarian System.

For the first time the size, shape, resources and overall performance of the international humanitarian system has been assessed and synthesised into a single study. The pilot State of the Humanitarian System report provides those within and outside the sector the opportunity to examine how well the system has performed in the past few years, and highlights key areas for improvement going forward.

ALNAP Full Members will receive a number of hard copies of the report later this week. ALNAP Observer Members wishing to receive a hard copy should contact c.hadkiss@alnap.org

The report is available to download here and will be formally launched in the UK at the British Academy, London on 9th February 2010. For further information about the report or to register your attendance at the launch, please contact j.harris@alnap.org

We welcome comments and discussion of the State of the Humanitarian System report in this forum.

Haiti earthquake response: useful information resources

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:19:09 GMT

Posted on 13 January at 12:19 by Josh Harris (ALNAP).

Our thoughts today are with the people of Haiti, as they deal with the catastrophic effects of last night's earthquake.

For organisations and their staff working in Haiti or preparing to deploy there, the ALNAP Lessons Paper 'Responding to earthquakes 2008: Learning from earthquake relief and recovery operations' may prove of use. This paper aims to provide a distillation of the learning from 29 different earthquake responses taking place over thirty years of humanitarian responses. The main intended audiences are operational decision-makers and relief programme managers working in the response to such sudden-onset natural disasters. Download the paper here

As the worst affected area of Haiti appears to be the heavily populated capital city, Port-au-Prince, the ALNAP Lessons Paper 'Responding to urban disasters: Learning from previous relief and recovery operations' may also be of use. Download the paper here.

If ALNAP members have any additional resources relevant to this emergency, which they would like to share, please post them in this forum.

25th ALNAP Meeting- Innovations in International Humanitarian Action

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:57:34 GMT

Posted on 26 November at 17:57 by Josh Harris (ALNAP).

Over 140 ALNAP Full and Observer Members came together in London last week for a meeting to consider 'Innovations in International Humanitarian Action' (see background paper here)

ALNAP was delighted to welcome Minouche Shafik, Permanent Secretary, DFID, to open the meeting as she announced £3 million investment in humanitarian innovation to find new ways of delivering assistance to those affected by conflict and natural disasters.

Building on ALNAP's research on innovations in international humanitarian response, John Mitchell, Director of ALNAP presented an overview of the humanitarian system and considered both what an innovation lens brings to our understanding and what innovation looks like in practice.

Lynda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice at London Business School brought a corporate perspective about the value and challenge of innovation. Gratton's Hot Spot Movement is a research and development community that examines why some organisations are more innovative than others and how they can foster an environment open to innovation. She presented a number of challenges to the humanitarian sector in becoming more innovative, which focused on working with the idea generators of tomorrow (The Generation Y, under 27s), and those outside the formal humanitarian system.

The 25th ALNAP meeting also featured an Innovations Fair showcasing 23 real life examples of existing innovations and innovative ideas that have changed the way in which humanitarian action is delivered. Amongst the most promising innovations identified by participants were:

- Ushahidi, an African initiative that collects information via the web, e-mail, SMS and Twitter to map and share what is happening during a crisis. The technology emerged during the post-election violence in Kenya as a way of mapping human rights abuses

- The Cash Learning Partnership - a cross-agency forum which aims to improve the quality of cash transfer programming across the humanitarian sector and key stakeholders through capacity building, research as well as development and communication of good practice.

- Valid Nutrition (VN) - a new form of humanitarian business that is run as a fully fledged commercial food company. As a registered charity, VN combines best practice from industry with a legal structure that puts humanitarian ethics and principles at the forefront of its business activities. All profits generated from trading are reinvested in the business without any return to shareholders.

In the coming weeks this forum will be raising some of the key issues and questions that emerged from the 25th ALNAP meeting. For now, we are keen to hear more reflections and ideas from participants in the meeting or by those that were not able to attend.