| Session Title: Raising the Bar: What Role for Accreditation and Certification in Improving the Quality and Accountability (Q&A) of International Non-government Organization (INGO) Humanitarian Work? |
| Think Tank Session 742 to be held in Edgar Allen Poe Room on Saturday, November 10, 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM |
| Sponsored by the Disaster and Emergency Management Evaluation TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Guy Sharrock, Catholic Relief Services, gsharroc@crs.org |
| Pauline Wilson, CARE USA, pauline_wilson@wvi.org |
| Discussant(s): |
| Jock Baker, CARE International, baker@careinternational.org |
| Daryl Martyris, Save the Children USA, dmartyris@dc.savechildren.org |
| Malaika Wright, CARE International, mwright@care.org |
| Abstract: While many humanitarian sector standards emphasize the importance of accountability to beneficiaries, INGOs tend to focus on donor accountability. Recent efforts of Q&A networks have been striving to ensure standards keep aid recipients at the heart of disaster response interventions. Despite this, beneficiaries consistently cite dissatisfaction with the quality of humanitarian aid. There are now pressing demands for the international relief community to establish an accreditation system to improve the quality of their humanitarian response. There are advantages and disadvantages to this. Nonetheless participants at a recent conference noted that, "the trend towards certification [in other sectors] means that it will be impossible to prevent it in the humanitarian sector." Many speak of INGOs needing to act collectively to develop and control a regulatory process before it is imposed upon them. Teasing out the accreditation issues and challenges that await the humanitarian community is the focus of the Think Tank. |