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Self Report 2017

The self-report on WHS Commitments below is organized according to the 24 transformations of the Agenda for Humanity. It is based on commitments pledged at the time of report submission. Click on the 'Expand' symbol to expand each section and read the reporting inputs by transformation.

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2D
Take concrete steps to improve compliance and accountability

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • ActionAid endorses the Call to Action on Protection from GBV in emergencies in 2016, and commits to integrate women-led community based protection mechanisms as part of its core humanitarian response programming by 2020.
  • Policy
  • Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    ActionAid's commitments were informed by two things. First, the evidence from ActionAid’s humanitarian signature programming to 1) promote women’s leadership; 2) shift power to local actors; 3) ensure accountability to disaster affected communities. Secondly, ActionAid’s WHS objectives to definitively bring to the fore the centrality of women in emergencies - their rights and needs, women responsive services and protection; their role as responders; representation at all levels of decision-making; and resourcing for all of the above. ActionAid believes that the delivery of these commitments will realize monumental contributions to system change.

  • Achievements at a glance

    ActionAid’s response to Hurricane Matthew in Haiti had a strong protection focus implemented by ActionAid and partners where
    • Over 510 women leaders from local communities were trained to raise awareness and support referrals systems in their communities.
    • Protection volunteer groups were formed in the temporary shelters to share messages and support women immediately after the hurricane
    • The safe spaces that were created for women as hubs for women’s rights and protection work provided (and will continue to provide) refuge in at least 4 communes.

    In Greece, by co-chairing the Sexual Gender Based Violence sub-working group on Lesvos island, ActionAid has been part of the efforts to address gaps in SGBV response. These efforts include finalizing the referral pathways, drafting the Standard Operation Procedures (SOP’s), and conducting SGBV training sessions.

    In Attica, ActionAid contributed to the SGBV work on examining the nexus between cash assistance and protection.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Firstly, a WHS baseline survey has been shared with over 20 ActionAid country offices that have been involved in responding to a humanitarian emergency since 2015. The survey is intended to benchmark where we presently stand on the different commitments, guide us in designing our interventions and provide a basis to review our progress over the next 3 years. Secondly, we are using our commitments as key areas of focus in the design of new emergency response interventions e.g. the Horn of Africa Drought emergency. Thirdly, the redesign of our internal emergency reporting framework will track and capture our progress.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    ActionAid will complete and send the conveying commitment letter for the Call to Action on Protection from GBV. Within ActionAid we will design a programme of action that will popularize the commitments and agree on how we might best ensure that in our humanitarian actions we are integrating women-led community based protection mechanisms as part of our core humanitarian response programming. Presently ActionAid is participating in the meetings and discussion of the Call to Action to protect women and girls GBV in emergencies.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Cash ☑ Gender ☑ IDPs ☑ Refugees

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3D - Empower and protect women and girls ☑ 4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

3D
Empower and protect women and girls

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • ActionAid commits by 2020 to ensure the meaningful participation of women in all formal and informal decision making processes, ensuring that women make up at least 50% of rights-holders engaged in community decision making and consultation processes that ActionAid leads.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • ActionAid commits to ensure all of its humanitarian programming is gender responsive by 2020.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • ActionAid commits to ensure at least 50% of its implementing partners in humanitarian action are women-led or women's organisations by 2020.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • ActionAid commits to ensure at least 50% of leadership positions in humanitarian contexts are held by women by 2020, and that at least 50% of staff at all levels are women by 2020.
  • Operational
  • Leave No One Behind
  • ActionAid commits to increase funding and capacity development to local and national women's groups as equal partners in our humanitarian action.
  • Financial
  • Leave No One Behind

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    ActionAid's commitments were informed by two things. First, the evidence from ActionAid’s humanitarian signature programming to 1) promote women’s leadership; 2) shift power to local actors; 3) ensure accountability to disaster affected communities. Secondly, ActionAid’s WHS objectives to definitively bring to the fore the centrality of women in emergencies - their rights and needs, women responsive services and protection; their role as responders; representation at all levels of decision-making; and resourcing for all of the above. ActionAid believes that the delivery of these commitments will realise monumental contributions to system change.

  • Achievements at a glance

    In July ActionAid Bangladesh’s response to floods was implemented entirely through a women-led emergency response, where 27 women leaders lead the response and ActionAid Bangladesh and its local partner provided technical and facilitation support as needed. In the event of another disaster in the same area, the women leaders will be able to roll-out a response without direction from ActionAid Bangladesh. After Hurricane Matthew, ActionAid Haiti’s women-led community committees were established very early in the response. These comprised of community representatives and members of local partners, requiring 60% women. Post WHS, a key success of joint policy work by ActionAid Haiti and UNFPA, UNOCHA & UNWOMEN was the creation of a gender objective in the Haiti Hurricane Matthew Flash Appeal. Very few appeals, if any, have had a standalone gender objective. Between May and August, ActionAid India responded to the severe drought in India. Women’s leadership was ensured at all stages.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Firstly, a WHS baseline survey has been shared with over 20 ActionAid country offices that have been involved in responding to a humanitarian emergency since 2015. The survey is intended to benchmark where we presently stand on the different commitments, guide us in designing our interventions and provide a basis to review our progress over the next 3 years. Secondly, we are using our commitments as key areas of focus in the design of new emergency response interventions e.g. the Horn of Africa Drought emergency. Thirdly, the redesign of our internal emergency reporting framework will track and capture our progress.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Due to externally prevailing factors sometimes programming does not always achieve the intended result. For example, in phase 1 of our programme interventions in Greece, the programme reached more men than women. At that point the main pillar of our programme was the provision of information to women refugees in the women friendly spaces, as well as to male refugees in camps. This was corrected in the second phase of programming.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    In addition to emergency response interventions, ActionAid has secured funding for two projects to be implemented throughout 2017. The projects focus on the development and implementation of an Action Plan to realise our existing WHS commitments and Grand Bargain (GB) work streams. One project focuses more on influencing the external context so that the GB is gender sensitive in its implementation. The other project has a piloting component allowing ActionAid countries to test elements of the GB before we roll out across the Federation. Evidence we generate will feed into our policy work.

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Empower and protect women and girls', what would it be

    The protection of women, the recognition and funding to advance the agency and voice of women, the prioritization and funding of women's participation and representation in decision making, are all central to not only empowering women and girls but also advancing the agenda for humanity in all humanitarian contexts.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Gender ☑ People-centred approach ☑ Refugees

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems ☑ 4B - Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

4A
Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • ActionAid will ensure in each response that its staff will be accompanied by front-line responders and local organisations when attending collective coordination platforms. ActionAid will also advocate for the inclusion of front-line responders and local organisations to ensure they have a seat at the table in collective response coordination processes.
  • Partnership
  • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    ActionAid's commitments were informed by two things. First, the evidence from ActionAid’s humanitarian signature programming to 1) promote women’s leadership; 2) shift power to local actors; 3) ensure accountability to disaster affected communities. Secondly, ActionAid’s WHS objectives to definitively bring to the fore the centrality of women in emergencies - their rights and needs, women responsive services and protection; their role as responders; representation at all levels of decision-making; and resourcing for all of the above. ActionAid believes that the delivery of these commitments will realize monumental contributions to system change.

  • Achievements at a glance

    ActionAid Haiti had trained 30 women emergency response leaders 2 months before the hurricane. After the disaster, alongside 4 local partner organisations, the women leaders were at the fore of all response interventions.

    ActionAid India's drought response was also in partnership with local CSOs.

    55 local and national NGOs from Kenya, DRC, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Bangladesh are taking part in the Shifting the Power Consortium project led by ActionAid International - planned and implemented organisational capacity building activities that cover a comprehensive range of humanitarian competency areas. This has resulted in more robust organisational policies and procedures, improved humanitarian programming knowledge and skills, and recognition by government disaster agencies and other humanitarian actors. The capacity building activities have seen increased access to funding and improved delivery of assistance in the ongoing drought response in Ethiopia and Kenya, flooding in Pakistan, and conflict displacements in North Kivu, DRC.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Firstly, a WHS baseline survey has been shared with over 20 ActionAid country offices that have been involved in responding to a humanitarian emergency since 2015. The survey is intended to benchmark where we presently stand on the different commitments, guide us in designing our interventions and provide a basis to review our progress over the next 3 years. Secondly, we are using our commitments as key areas of focus in the design of new emergency response interventions e.g. the Horn of Africa Drought emergency. Thirdly, the redesign of our internal emergency reporting framework will track and capture our progress.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Access to funding specifically rapid response funds are still quite difficult to access for local organisations in Ethiopia, DRC, and Kenya. Donor requirements such as a foreign currency account to access HRH funds in Ethiopia and competing with large INGOs for limited funds remain big challenges for local organisations to access emergency funds. Also, working through a single local partner can cause delays when capacities are overstretched due to the scale of the disaster. In response to this, ActionAid realized that partner diversification could mitigate in overstretching any one partner.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    ActionAid has secured funding for two projects to be implemented throughout 2017. The projects focus on the development and implementation of an Action Plan to realize our existing WHS commitments and decided Grand Bargain (GB) work streams. One project focuses more on influencing the external context so that the GB is gender sensitive in its implementation. The other project has a piloting component allowing ActionAid countries to test elements of the GB before we roll out across the Federation. Heightened consultation with and influencing of donors at country and global levels to support improved fund access to local organisations.

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Gender ☑ IDPs ☑ People-centred approach

  • Specific initiatives

    ☑Grand Bargain

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑3D - Empower and protect women and girls ☑ 4B - Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

5A
Invest in local capacities

Individual Commitment

  • Commitment
  • Commitment Type
  • Core Responsibility
  • ActionAid commits to provide increased support by way of direct funding and capacity building to national and local NGOs by 2020. This support will empower and allow them to play a central role in the programming and delivering of principled and coordinated humanitarian assistance.
  • Financial
  • Invest in Humanity

  • What led your organization to make the commitment?

    ActionAid's commitments were informed by two things. First, the evidence from ActionAid’s humanitarian signature programming to 1) promote women’s leadership; 2) shift power to local actors; 3) ensure accountability to disaster affected communities. Secondly, ActionAid’s WHS objectives to definitively bring to the fore the centrality of women in emergencies - their rights and needs, women responsive services and protection; their role as responders; representation at all levels of decision-making; and resourcing for all of the above. ActionAid believes that the delivery of these commitments will realize monumental contributions to system change.

  • Achievements at a glance

    Shifting the Power Consortium project implemented in Kenya, DRC, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Bangladesh led by ActionAid International promoted the representation, collaboration, coordination and partnership of local organisations with government, UN, and INGO humanitarian platforms and networks. In Bangladesh, 10 local organisations participated in training sessions to become part of the Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) district level resource pool. In Pakistan, partnership has been made with the National Humanitarian Network which is a key platform for engagement of local organisations. In Kenya, the project is actively participating in the drafting of a County Disaster Management Policy in 6 counties and in DRC and Ethiopia partnership has been forged with national humanitarian platforms that have seats in the HCT. In addition, after Hurricane Matthews, ActionAid Haiti influenced the Shelter Cluster to hold trainings through Jeremie Technical College, a partner of ActionAid Haiti.

  • How is your organization assessing progress

    Firstly, a WHS baseline survey has been shared with over 20 ActionAid country offices that have been involved in responding to a humanitarian emergency since 2015. The survey is intended to benchmark where we presently stand on the different commitments, guide us in designing our interventions and provide a basis to review our progress over the next 3 years. Secondly, we are using our commitments as key areas of focus in the design of new emergency response interventions e.g. the Horn of Africa Drought emergency. Thirdly, the redesign of our internal emergency reporting framework will track and capture our progress.

  • Challenges faced in implementation

    Local organisations are still excluded in some coordination mechanisms e.g. UN clusters in Ethiopia and the Joint Needs Assessment in Bangladesh or they are given very limited representation e.g. HCTs. Many coordination meetings are also held only in the capital.

  • Next step to advance implementation in 2017

    Promote the response work and continue advocacy of local partners in the current drought emergency in Kenya and Ethiopia. Form a local/national NGO humanitarian network (Bangladesh) and continue partnership with established local humanitarian networks to advocate for local organisations’ voice and representation (Pakistan, Ethiopia, DRC).

  • If you had one message for the annual report on what is most needed to advance the transformation 'Invest in local capacities', what would it be

    Recognize and respond to the voice, leadership and capacity of local organisations to lead effective and accountable humanitarian intervention

  • Cross cutting issues

    ☑Accountability to affected people

  • Other related Agenda for Humanity transformations

    ☑4A - Reinforce, do not replace, national and local systems ☑ 4C - Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides