New DARA Research on Humanitarian Aid from Donor Governments Finds Limited Progress; Systemic Issues Persist in Providing Effective Aid – Lives Lost That Could Have Been Saved
Humanitarian Response Index Identifies Persistent Systemic Issues: Lack of Prevention-Oriented Strategies; Insufficient Accountability; Slow Progress in De-Politicization of Aid
On January 12, 2010, a massive earthquake devastated much of Port-au-Prince and Haiti. The earthquake struck one of the poorest countries in the world, highly vulnerable to natural disasters, and with a long legacy of poor governance and weak institutions. Unlike previous disasters, such as four back-to-back hurricanes in 2008, the international community responded quickly and generously to the earthquake. Governmental and private donors offered US$4 billion of aid to Haiti, promising to build back better.
“Sudan continues to be a university for learning, in terms of humanitarian issues.”
Humanitarian Voices interview with Nils Kastberg. Mr. Kastberg discusses the humanitarian priorities in Sudan, coordination issues, and the implications of the two states for the humanitarian community.
Mr. Kastberg is the former UNICEF Representative in Sudan (2009 to 2011).
The Republic of South Sudan was born on 9 July 2011 in a context of instability due to increased fighting between the Sudanese Army and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North rebels in the border region of South Kordofan.
Somalia has had one of the longest humanitarian crises in the world, with over two decades of conflict and insecurity. It is a highly politicised, complex crisis that brings together extreme vulnerability, a weak and fragile state, complex internal and regional power struggles and the dynamics of the War on Terror.
There are nearly 1.5 million Somali IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) and almost 800,000 refugees, mainly in camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.
UNICEF has contracted two DARA consultants to carry out an evaluation of its capacity development initiatives on emergency preparedness and response (EPR) and Conflict/Disaster Risk Reduction (C/DRR) in the education sector, and its impact on institutionalisation efforts in 24 countries in the West and Central Africa region (WCAR).
This is the report of the Real Time Evaluation of the International Humanitarian Community’s response to the 2010 Floods in Pakistan. The evaluation was commissioned by the Inter‐Agency Standing Committee (IASC), funded by OCHA and undertaken by a team of four evaluators between January and March 2011. The team visited Pakistan two times.
By Matthew McKinnon, Head of Climate Vulnerability Initiative, DARA International. DARA played a key role in assisting the Government of Bangladesh to host the Climate Vulnerable Forum in November 2011. The Forum’s Outcome Notes are available online; the Forum – a gathering of those developing countries most vulnerable to climate change – was also supported by CDKN.
Amid the debate on proposals for substantial cuts to the State Department’s foreign aid budget on the basis that it has been a poor investment without the expected results, it is crucial that legislators in Congress are fully aware of the vital role the US plays as the largest humanitarian donor. The failure of the “Super committee” to reach an agreement makes this even more urgent.
The report indicates that donors should more generously support disaster preparedness and early recovery, as well as help Pakistani NGOs access funds and play a bigger role in crisis response.
The team interviewed humanitarian organizations and donor agencies, and collected 121 questionnaires on donor performance (including 96 OECD/DAC donors).
An HRI team visited the crisis and found that the priority in Chad should now be to cover all humanitarian needs and take the appropriate steps to assure the transition to development.
The team interviewed humanitarian organizations and donor agencies, and collected 145 questionnaires on donor performance (including 83 OECD/DAC donors).
DARA publishes the report of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Evaluation of the Humanitarian Response in South Central Somalia 2005-2010.
The evaluation has been described as one of the most comprehensive evaluations of aid in Somalia by Mark Bowden, Humanitarian Coordinator, and is DARA’s largest system-wide evaluation to date. The evaluation was undertaken by a team of seven evaluators between March and November 2011, and it was commissioned by the IASC and was funded by four bilateral donors: Danida, DFID, SDC and SIDA.
Abu Dhabi, 14 December 2011: The UAE Office for the Coordination of Foreign Aid (OCFA) hosted a one-day workshop today in Abu Dhabi for the UAE’s humanitarian donor community on the principles and practices of evaluating humanitarian programs. The workshop was chaired by the UAE Red Crescent Authority and held in partnership with DARA, an independent organisation committed to improving the quality and effectiveness of aid for vulnerable populations suffering from conflict, disasters and climate change.
“We urge donors to link policy reviews to practice and renew their commitment to the Good Humanitarian Donorship Principles.”
Almost one month away from the Humanitarian Response Index 2011 presentation, Philip Tamminga talks about initial findings on gender, politicisation and humanitarian reform.
Philip Tamminga is Head of DARA’s Humanitarian Response Index.
• Ministers and representatives of countries highly vulnerable to climate change met in Durban at COP17 amid a lack of concrete outcomes in international climate talks
The harmful effects of climate change are already leading to large-scale loss of life, livelihood and damage to ecosystems around the world. While these effects are ultimately suffered by all, in the immediate they are disproportionately damaging for developing countries and proportionally most severe in vulnerable countries.
“There is a link between climate vulnerability and poverty.”
Michael Zammit Cutajar discusses the impacts of climate change on both developing and developed countries, and how to address these impacts despite public skepticism. He also provides insight on how we can bridge the gap between scientists and humanitarian policy makers to better anticipate and respond to the increasing damage caused by climate change.
Mr. Cutajar is the former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
