Paper details

Paper authors	Andy Wheatley
In panel on	Participation and Accountability in Humanitarian Disaster Management
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

What role do donors have in promoting accountability to affected people, indeed what right do they have to do so? In an industry where there has been much talk but little action in promoting participation, is there a role for donors to promote and ensure participation – and with what aim ?

The donor is often a useful point of blame for inaction - many humanitarian agencies view donors as too controlling, too inflexible, too remote, too slow, too risk averse, too demanding of the wrong information. This hinders agencies capacity to be responsive and flexible. If only the donor would back off then the nirvana of effective community engagement and participative design and feedback in humanitarian programming could be obtained.

Donors would see it differently. They see an industry that is inflexible, inefficient, overly comfortable with its out of date overlapping sectoral mandates, one that is responsive rather than focusing on preparedness and risk reduction, that makes inflated claims to needs and numbers, and feels no need to ask recipients of aid what they need, and what they think of the usefulness and timeliness of the assistance received.

The paper will investigate what motivates donor involvement in promoting meaningful participation, how aid agencies on the ground can demonstrate meaningful engagement, the blockages and tensions in the donor, aid agency dynamic regarding issues of accountability and participation, and what can be done to use upward accountability to promote downward accountability to affected populations.

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