Menu ENN Search

Guidance on accountability to affected populations

The Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) is committed to integrating its commitments on accountability to affected populations (AAP) in the Nutrition in Emergency (NiE) response. As a part of the GNC 2014-2016 strategy, an initiative was taken to operationalise the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) five Commitments on Accountability to Affected People (CAAP)1 (leadership/governance; transparency; feedback and complaints; participation; design, monitoring and evaluation) endorsed in December 2011.

The IASC Principals (heads of all IASC member agencies or their representatives) agreed “to incorporate the CAAP into policies and operational guidelines of their organisations and to promote these with operational partners, within the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) and amongst cluster members” with a draft Operational Framework on AAP and associated tools that were designed and piloted in 2012. Despite global efforts in the ensuing years, it has been found that, even though there are “increasing numbers of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) demonstrating considerable success in building an organisational ‘culture of accountability’ and the commitments endorsed by the IASC Principals in 2011, AAP is still not sufficiently prioritised at the senior, inter-agency, or cluster levels”. The IASC’s key objective for 2014-2016 was to “create a system-wide culture of accountability”; thus the development of the AAP framework and associated tools constitute concrete action on behalf of the GNC and its partners to contribute to the achievement of this aim.

The GNC AAP framework and tools are founded on the IASC CAAP and the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), currently the two key sets of guiding commitments on quality programming and accountability in the humanitarian sector. The CHS was launched in December 2014, superseding the Humanitarian Accountability Project (HAP) 2010 Standard in Quality and Accountability and the People In Aid Code. Depending on their governing bodies, global nutrition actors may be accountable for reporting against the IASC CAAP, the CHS, and/or against their agency’s accountability framework, which may for some time still follow the structure of the HAP 2010 Standard. The GNC operational framework on accountability explores how it may be possible to work with these core commitments simultaneously to create common ground among actors, regardless of their agencies’ obligations. It does not generate new commitments but attempts to provide a shared platform that highlights the nutrition context and the priorities identified by nutrition actors, allowing all agencies to meet their particular commitments while working together.

The GNC guidance on AAP is available at links here and here.

Read more...

More like this

FEX: Accountability to affected populations: Somalia Nutrition Cluster experiences

By Samson Desie and Meftuh Omer Ismail View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici Samson Desie is a nutrition specialist currently working as...

FEX: Core Humanitarian Standard on Quality and Accountability

In humanitarian disaster or conflict situations, it is critical that aid workers deliver their best quality work. Yet in a sector characterised by high turnover, rapid...

FEX: Who’s Listening? Accountability to affected people in the Haiyan Response

Summary of case study report1 Report front cover image Thanks to Margie Buchanan-Smith and Sarah Routley, researchers and co-authors of the original report, for sharing this...

FEX: Nutrition Cluster Advocacy Strategic Framework and Toolkit

The Nutrition Cluster Advocacy Strategic Framework (2016-2019) and Advocacy Toolkit is now available. The Strategic Framework aims to provide high level overall strategic...

FEX: Editorial

View this article as a pdf Since its inception over ten years ago, the Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC) has progressed from its early focus on the development of technical tools...

FEX: Global Nutrition Cluster Rapid Response Team

By Ayadil Saparbekov View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici Ayadil Saparbekov has been in a position of the Deputy Global Nutrition Cluster...

FEX: From Kigali to Istanbul the long way round – personal reflections on 20-years of humanitarian accountability

By Andy Featherstone Andy Featherstone is an independent consultant with over 20-years of experience in strategic and operational management of international programme, policy...

Resource: Global action plan on child wasting - Accelerating progress in preventing and managing child wasting and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals

Introduction In 2015, the world committed to eliminating all forms of malnutrition by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To do so, the SDGs incorporated...

FEX: 2022 Global Nutrition Report

View this article as a pdf This is a summary of the following report: Global Nutrition Report (2022) 2022 Global Nutrition Report: The state of global nutrition....

FEX: Grand Bargain: Reform or business as usual?

Views Summary of comments* and review** Location: Global What we know: Inadequate resources are a severe and increasing constraint on humanitarian action in the face of...

FEX: Changes to Nutrition Cluster governance and partnership to reflect learning and operational realities in Somalia

By Samson Desie Samson Desie is Nutrition Specialist working in the sector for more than a decade and currently working as Nutrition Cluster Coordinator, with UNICEF...

en-net: Consultant(s) needed: Review of GNC Handbook

Save the Children and UNICEF are seeking qualified professionals to undertake the revision of the Global Nutrition Cluster Handbook. The current Nutrition Cluster Handbook...

FEX: Update of the Nutrition in Emergencies Coordination Handbook: A product of the Nutrition Cluster

By Vivienne Forsythe, Jacqueline Frize and Nicki Connell Vivienne Forsythe and Jacqueline Frize are independent public health and nutrition consultants, each with over 20...

FEX: Strengthening nutrition humanitarian action: Supporting humanitarian cluster/sector coordination transition

By Peter Hailey and Brenda Akwanyi Peter Hailey is founding Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Change (CHC), a humanitarian think tank based in East Africa. He has over...

FEX: Global Technical Assistance Mechanism for Nutrition (GTAM): The story so far

View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici By Isabelle Modigell and Tanya Khara Isabelle Modigell is the Project Manager for Global Technical...

FEX: Coordinating the response to the Syria Crisis: the southern Turkey cross border experience

This views piece was developed by the ENN based on eight key informant interviews with donors, UN agencies and INGOs carried out during an ENN visit to southern Turkey in early...

FEX: Regional humanitarian challenges in the Sahel

News Summary of research* Location: The Sahel What we know: The Sahel is currently in complex crisis fuelled by conflict, climate change and weak governance. What this...

FEX: Transitioning nutrition programming from humanitarian aid to health system strengthening in Kenya

View this article as a pdf Lisez cet article en français ici By Peter Hailey, Brenda Akwanyi, Emiliana Mbelenga and Tamsin Walters Peter Hailey is the Director of the...

IYCF-E Resources

NEW: Visit the IYCF-E HUB established in May 2021 for a global, comprehensive and interactive repository of essential IYCF-E resources! For a list of key IYCF-E resources and...

FEX: Summary of Global Nutrition Cluster meeting

By the Global Nutrition Cluster Coordination Team The Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC), under the umbrella of the Interagency Standing Committee (IASC), is committed to...

Close

Reference this page

Guidance on accountability to affected populations. Field Exchange 56, December 2017. p37. www.ennonline.net/fex/56/accountabilityaffectedpop

(ENN_5826)

Close

Download to a citation manager

The below files can be imported into your preferred reference management tool, most tools will allow you to manually import the RIS file. Endnote may required a specific filter file to be used.