Towards greater collective accountability in Niger
Towards greater collective accountability in Niger
The Sphere Project, 10 Dec 2015
URL: http://www.sphereproject.org/blog/collective-accountability-in-niger/?utm_source=Sphere+News&utm_campaign=9800196ed8-2015_12_December_EN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_95ea677797-9800196ed8-79525053
(*) By Aninia Nadig
The contribution of humanitarian standards as a common language to improve collective accountability was emphasised at a workshop attended by key humanitarian actors in Niamey in mid-November.
Collective accountability at humanitarian country team level emerged as an important factor that could be improved in the Niger Operational Peer Review carried out by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Senior Transformative Agenda Implementation Team (STAIT) in March 2015.
Committed to providing direct support on accountability to field operations, the IASC Task Team on Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) conducted a mission to Niamey (Niger) from 17-19 November.
As part of the three-day mission, the IASC Task team on AAP and PSEA facilitated a one-day workshop for clusters coordinators and facilitators as well as government counterparts and local NGOs. Some 20 participants discussed priorities for the application of collective accountability in practice.
A member of the Sphere Project staff and a representative of the Senegal-based African Office for Development and Cooperation (OFADEC) contributed distinctive perspectives to the accountability discussion at the workshop.
Sphere highlighted the role of humanitarian standards as a common language to improve collective accountability, while OFADEC shared concrete examples of collective accountability in practice.
After reviewing best practice at individual and collective levels, workshop participants reflected on opportunities to further meaningfully take into account the views of affected communities in a variety of operating contexts in Niger.
Those contexts range from the situation of refugee and internally displaced populations along the border with Nigeria to nomadic refugees in the north-western border region with Mali all of which have in common the general situation of widespread food insecurity.
Workshop participants emphasised the importance for the Humanitarian Country Team and Clusters to improve the sharing of appropriate information to all stakeholders, in particular to affected communities, as well as the need to be held to account by those communities regarding humanitarian strategy and programme implementation.
In order to improve the overall collective accountability of the humanitarian sector in the country, workshop participants proposed the systematic application of a series of actions such as joint complaints mechanisms or collective information and report sharing.
After being briefed on the workshop findings, Fode Ndiaye, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Niger, recommended the creation of a working group to develop a work plan based on the proposed actions. Such a plan should cover the resources required and the potential support needed from the IASC Task team on AAP and PSEA. The work plan will be presented to the Humanitarian Country Team for approval and acted upon in 2016.
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which involves key UN and non-UN humanitarian partners, is the primary mechanism for inter-agency coordination of humanitarian assistance. IASC leadership has established the Senior Transformative Agenda Implementation Team to support the rolling-out of its Transformative Agenda at field level.
IASC's Transformative Agenda is a series of actions that aim to transform the way in which the humanitarian community responds to a crisis. It focuses on improving the timeliness and effectiveness of the collective response through better leadership and coordination structures and greater accountability to the people affected by disaster or crisis.
(*) Aninia Nadig is responsible for Advocacy and Networking Management at the Sphere Project office.
The contribution of humanitarian standards as a common language to improve collective accountability was emphasised at a workshop attended by key humanitarian actors in Niamey in mid-November.
Collective accountability at humanitarian country team level emerged as an important factor that could be improved in the Niger Operational Peer Review carried out by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Senior Transformative Agenda Implementation Team (STAIT) in March 2015.
Committed to providing direct support on accountability to field operations, the IASC Task Team on Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) and Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) conducted a mission to Niamey (Niger) from 17-19 November.
As part of the three-day mission, the IASC Task team on AAP and PSEA facilitated a one-day workshop for clusters coordinators and facilitators as well as government counterparts and local NGOs. Some 20 participants discussed priorities for the application of collective accountability in practice.
A member of the Sphere Project staff and a representative of the Senegal-based African Office for Development and Cooperation (OFADEC) contributed distinctive perspectives to the accountability discussion at the workshop.
Sphere highlighted the role of humanitarian standards as a common language to improve collective accountability, while OFADEC shared concrete examples of collective accountability in practice.
After reviewing best practice at individual and collective levels, workshop participants reflected on opportunities to further meaningfully take into account the views of affected communities in a variety of operating contexts in Niger.
Those contexts range from the situation of refugee and internally displaced populations along the border with Nigeria to nomadic refugees in the north-western border region with Mali all of which have in common the general situation of widespread food insecurity.
Workshop participants emphasised the importance for the Humanitarian Country Team and Clusters to improve the sharing of appropriate information to all stakeholders, in particular to affected communities, as well as the need to be held to account by those communities regarding humanitarian strategy and programme implementation.
In order to improve the overall collective accountability of the humanitarian sector in the country, workshop participants proposed the systematic application of a series of actions such as joint complaints mechanisms or collective information and report sharing.
After being briefed on the workshop findings, Fode Ndiaye, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Niger, recommended the creation of a working group to develop a work plan based on the proposed actions. Such a plan should cover the resources required and the potential support needed from the IASC Task team on AAP and PSEA. The work plan will be presented to the Humanitarian Country Team for approval and acted upon in 2016.
The Inter-Agency Standing Committee, which involves key UN and non-UN humanitarian partners, is the primary mechanism for inter-agency coordination of humanitarian assistance. IASC leadership has established the Senior Transformative Agenda Implementation Team to support the rolling-out of its Transformative Agenda at field level.
IASC's Transformative Agenda is a series of actions that aim to transform the way in which the humanitarian community responds to a crisis. It focuses on improving the timeliness and effectiveness of the collective response through better leadership and coordination structures and greater accountability to the people affected by disaster or crisis.
(*) Aninia Nadig is responsible for Advocacy and Networking Management at the Sphere Project office.