Message from the ICVA Secretariat: 27 April 2007

Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) Country Assessments

E-mail Message to ICVA Members

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To: ICVA Members
From: ICVA Secretariat
Date: 27 April 2007
SUBJECT: HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE INDEX (HRI) COUNTRY ASSESSMENTS

Dear ICVA Members,

A Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) is being developed by Development Assistance Research Associates (DARA) in order to provide an assessment of donor performance in relation to the Principles of Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD). In 2003, a group of donors adopted the Principles to provide "both a framework to guide official humanitarian aid and a mechanism for encouraging greater donor accountability." (Information on GHD, including the 23 Principles, is available from the ICVA website at http://www.icva.ch/doc00001378.html ).

The goal of the HRI is to improve the accountability of donors by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of their humanitarian responses and presenting the results in an index of performance. An overview of the project is available from the HRI page on the ICVA website at http://www.icva.ch/doc00002165.html .

The index will start by ranking the 23 member countries of the OECD Development Assistance Committee against their GHD commitments following in-country field assessments, which will include NGO surveys. Assessments will be undertaken between May and June 2007 in the following countries:

• Niger, 4-11 May 2007

• Democratic Republic of Congo, 7-18 May 2007

• Colombia, 15-27 May 2007

• Pakistan, 16-27 May 2007

• Sudan, 21 May - 3 June 2007

• Haiti, 30 May - 8 June 2007

• Timor Leste, 9-19 June 2007

• Lebanon, 21 June - 2 July 2007

The HRI is an initiative of DARA, an independent and non-profit organisation that aims to use research and evaluation to improve the effectiveness of aid http://www.daraint.org . The HRI could provide a positive and practical way forward to help operationalise the GHD principles and improve donor accountability, with the input of NGOs. ICVA is represented on the HRI Peer Review Committee. A pilot study for the HRI was conducted in Mozambique from 15-26 April, focusing on the responses to the February 2007 floods. As part of this study, humanitarian agencies, including NGOs, working in Mozambique should have been surveyed for their views on donor humanitarian responses.

We encourage ICVA members to be part of this process and to inform colleagues in the field that these surveys are taking place. We have made the draft HRI questionnaire available on the ICVA website at http://www.icva.ch/doc00002167.doc in MS Word format to provide you with an idea of the topics that the assessments will cover.

ICVA will also be hosting a meeting between NGOs and DARA to discuss the HRI at the ICVA offices from 9:30-10:30 on Tuesday, 8 May 2007.

For more information about this initiative please feel free to contact the ICVA Secretariat or DARA directly at info@daraint.org.

With best regards,
ICVA Secretariat