Chapter Four - HAP International

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The 2008 Humanitarian Accountability Report 12. Medair Introductory comments: Medair continues to hold beneficiary accountability (BA) as a high priority. Building on 2007 initiatives, we have continued to invest effort in 2008 in order to improve our ability to respond to the people we serve. The current workplan, originally written for a 12-month period (April 2007 - March 2008), was extended until December 2008 in order to align with other <strong>HAP</strong> members’ workplan reporting cycles. The present report covers progress during the 2008 calendar year, and a new workplan for the period 2009-2011 is under development. Key goal 2007-2008 Achievements 2008 2009 objectives 1. Institutional Commitment (Principles 1, 2 & 7) Incorporate BA principles into Medair’s corporate quality management system • Continued to promote accountability principles both internally and externally • Regularly included BA in field visits’ terms of reference Undertake ISO field audit (originally planned for 2008) which will have access to all processes in the field, including BA Pilot and document BA methodologies No new actions were planned in 2008 Circulate regular updates around Medair programmes to promote BA best practices Increase understanding of beneficiary accountability BA session not held at Country Directors Workshop but some countries developed in-house presentations Share BA case studies between programmes Remain aware of other relevant initiatives and resources • Promoted the Good Enough Guide, giving copies out to each new field staff during their briefing. • Contact maintained with ECB, People In Aid etc. Distribute Good Enough Guide in electronic format rather than hard copies to all new field staff during HQ briefings and continue involvement with ECB, People In Aid Increase profile of BA in external communications Continued as in 2007, including a section specifically on BA in one quarterly Medair News (July) Further articles on BA in the field 2. Accountability in humanitarian action (Principles 3,4,6 & 7) Country Programmes develop appropriate and relevant beneficiary feedback systems Afghanistan (AFG) Approaches taken to ensuring BA within AFG projects are elaborated in many proposals, vary depending on context and include: • Actively collecting beneficiary feedback through letterboxes/ direct discussions with beneficiaries to improve projects within project period. • Making project information readily accessible to beneficiaries, with kick-off meetings held in each 91 116
THE 2008 HUMANITARIAN ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT 12. Medair 92 project location; exploring ways to highlight project information. • Informing communities about how to submit verbal/ written ideas, recommendations, and complaints, with follow up visits by male and female staff; Beneficiary Feedback & Accountability Monitor, and drop-boxes for anonymous complaint forms. Serious complaints/ those requiring additional feedback are investigated by international programmes manager. These methods encourage beneficiaries to be involved in determining project outcomes according to identified needs/ requirements. Madagascar (MDG) • Beneficiary visits to check the satisfaction of water filters (reported online on 13 February 2009) • Village volunteers (VVs) chosen in each village, as a link between families and staff. Regular meetings with VVs permit regular feedback on satisfaction/ suggestions/ complaints about Medair’s work Sudan Northern States (SDN) • Accountability is included in Country Strategy but not as a specificobjective, as a standard item in some field trip ToRs, as a standard cross-cutting issue in proposals, with BA updates included in donor reports; logframes include participatory indicators; 2nd briefing for IRS includes sessions on Humanitarian Accountability/participatory approaches; NRS trained in BA, including: encouraging beneficiaries to invent solutions to problems/ importance of always explaining & giving an account of Medair’s work/ how to conduct FGDs on BA; interviews conducted by Health & Watsan teams to survey beneficiaries’ views on Medair; Madagascar (MDG) Introduce a Rano Tsara partnership BA system based on public private partnership approach; more than simply a complaints mechanism, it is intended to provide a sign-posting service to beneficiaries, directing them to those responsible for each activity and providing opportunity to share ideas, give feedback and help shape future actions with aim to: • Improve beneficiary understanding regarding who is responsible for what. • Provide mechanisms for improving communication between partners (local authorities, beneficiaries, enterprises, Medair) • Provide mechanisms for ensuring those responsible can be held accountable. 117
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Chapter Four - HAP International

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