When the International and Humanitarian community is focused on the best possible response to Cyclone Haiyan in the Philippines, it is essential to step back and take into account lessons learnt from previous humanitarian responses. Answering in an efficient way to humanitarian disaster requires defining simple but essential principles which will guarantee the quality of humanitarian response, when humanitarian staffs are overwhelmed by the disaster itself and the emergency of the situation. Save the Children’s Humanitarian Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) Working Group produced a short synthesis of the consolidated lessons identified in several recent key Save the Children and external reports from previous responses that are likely to apply to the response to Cyclone Haiyan. A coordinated and coherent action of all humanitarian actors, international and local ones, is a guaranty for the quality and efficiency of the response. If we all bear in mind the 11 principles below, we will not only answer in a quicker way but in a more lasting and inclusive way, helping local communities to initiate their country’s recovery.
