Chapter Four - HAP International

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17. Save the Children UK • Monitoring for accountability standards will be incorporated into partners’ monitoring systems as well wherever possible. 4. Addressing Complaints (Principle 6) Have a framework of complaints handing mechanism, incorporated into preparedness trainings and SOPs: • Draft a frame for a complaints handling mechanism to be localised by country programmes and projects as appropriate. • Preparedness and training schemes will include exercises to emphasise complaints handling systems • Internal review in the targeted region, as well • Output Tracker is the emergencies M&E tool we used in 2008 (DRC, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Myanmar, etc.) which has proven to be quite effective. This is a simple tool that helps us track programme progress against previous reporting period, against targets and baseline. • We have created a multi-sector initial rapid assessment (MS-IRA) tool, which requires application of participation mechanisms in the phase of initial rapid assessment. • We have started requesting our emergency programmes to encourage more child-led reviews. We have developed samples of “step-by-step” guidance to enable child-participatory evaluations of humanitarian response. Lessons learned: Including accountability in the agency-wide discussions around programme quality helps staff see it in integrity with all the other existing initiatives across the agency. We have benefited greatly having Effective Programmes team taking proactive role, including different parts of agency in work around accountability initiatives that raised the discussion on accountability beyond M&E teams. Achievements: • We have a framework for handling complaints, as well as existing experience in Myanmar where feedback from beneficiaries is informing strategic decisions and is used to monitor programme on impact level. Myanmar has provided SC with several tested tools for handling complaints and building local level capacity for complaints procedures. • Our preparedness trainings include sessions on complaints/feedback and information sharing, as The 2008 Humanitarian Accountability Report accountability components coming from experience. • Produce guidance on child-participatory evaluations and reviews for humanitarian action. • Test a few approaches to integrate childparticipatory M&E with general programme framework. • Start discussions on standardized M&E approach in emergencies across the Alliance. • Conduct several case studies in handling complaints and build organisational knowledge on the existing experience. • Develop tools for child-focused complaints procedures. • Promote feedback mechanisms in the 2009 programmes. 111 136
THE 2008 HUMANITARIAN ACCOUNTABILITY REPORT 17. Save the Children UK as project evaluations will look at the effectiveness of the complaints handling mechanisms well as practical capacities on how to structure a feedback-based system, and how to resource it. Challenges: Maintaining complaints handling mechanisms in fast-changing environments is quite difficult, without prior preparedness work. In Myanmar, we tested a few feedback mechanisms that failed because, by the time the mechanism was established, it became irrelevant. Lessons learned: From the Myanmar experience we have learned that complaints procedures are difficult to set up in the first and initial phases of an emergency response. They require a stable environment and time to assure quality. We found that early response is a more relevant phase to put in place formal official feedback mechanisms, while informal methods of integrating feedback into daily work are key to ensure relevance of the response at early phases. Case Study Example: Good practice in humanitarian accountability and quality management – Summary version A case study from Bangladesh (to be made available on the <strong>HAP</strong> website) provides a detailed description of steps and procedures that the Bangladesh programme teams put in place to ensure beneficiary participation in all phases of the programme. The programme developed the capacity of the community to engage, simultaneously putting in place systems that enable programme staff benefit from the feedback of beneficiaries in making the programme more accountable to their needs. The case study is a good example of innovation, and includes a few valuable lessons that were learned from this experience. 18. Sungi Development Foundation, Pakistan Introductory comments: As a rights-based organisation, Sungi endeavours to make itself accountable to partner communities as well as donors and all those who support its programmes. Sungi acknowledges the fact that accountability is a key element for a humanitarian and development partnership, and the relationship between Sungi and partner community is such that they both share due responsibility and are accountable to each other. This had been integrated in Sungi’s approach, which is based on the principles of participation and empowerment. Involvement of men and women in participatory planning and implementation processes is ensured and communities are empowered. 112 137
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Chapter Four - HAP International

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