2013 humanitarian accountability report

To celebrate the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) 10th anniversary, this 2013 report reviews progress made over the past decade, and presents innovations the sector has adopted to make itself more accountable to populations affected by crises. HAP Benchmark 4, Participation, looks critically at developments around quality and accountability in the humanitarian and development sector. Its analysis finds that participation also supports and provides natural links between emergency programming and disaster risk reduction, and helps link relief, rehabilitation and development; Unsurprisingly, there is almost unanimous opinion within the community of practice that the participation of disaster-affected communities in humanitarian programming brings significant benefits. There is a great deal of momentum, at least in rhetoric, towards more participatory programming in humanitarian aid. Since its first edition, the Sphere Handbook has moved towards being more specific about participation by including it as a core principle.