Error message

Notice: Undefined offset: 1 in drupal_settings_initialize() (line 802 of /backup/agenda/public_html/includes/bootstrap.inc).

Self Report 2018

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.

Expand All

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

    Joint Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, as a member of the ACT Alliance, commits to substantially increase the proportion of its humanitarian investment that goes to cash transfer programming. It will share learning across the ACT Alliance network on best practice in cash approaches, and increase capacity-building on cash for local and national members.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Partners: ACT Alliance

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe commits to invest in systems and institutional learning for programs to absorb the increased use of Cash Transfer Programming while upholding quality. It will also build stronger capacity to promote Cash Transfer Programming not only at the operational level, but to include it in the strategic dialogue with local and national authorities, donors, partner networks and the humanitarian system as a whole.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Cash-based programming

    Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) has successfully installed a Global Cash-Advisor at HQ in the second half of the year, and a Regional Cash-advisor in Amman. It has conducted two trainings for local partner organizations on Cash Transfer Programming (CTP) in East-Africa from Kenya, South Sudan and Madagascar and in the MENA Region (mainly for Syria partners) in 2017. The focus of these trainings was put to improve on modalities, needs- and market assessments, response analysis and monitoring.

    Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has started a series of capacity development trainings for HQ project staff. It has also been actively involved in a newly founded German Cash Coordination Group, which brings together German based NGOs and donors and is chaired by the German MoFA. Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has started implementation of the actions identified by the CaLP Organisational Capacity Assessment Tool in order to better institutionalize CTP in DKH and partners.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • Through multi-stakeholder processes or initiatives (e.g. IASC, Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, etc).
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    The DKH CTP Advisor reports against the CaLP OCAT action points aiming to institutionalize cash. DKH is also documenting relevant trainings in order to be able to share findings and lessons learned. Further more, it has developed a CTP database, that provides information on project activities and relevant data.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    • Human resources/capacity
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Many partners have little previous CTP experience. Often the first experience requires them to implement CTP in highly volatile and insecure contexts which can be very challenging. We need to continue to build this experience. Also the "economy-of-scale" focus puts small actors, which are close to beneficiaries, under considerable challenges.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    The CTP trainings launched in 2017 will continue throughout 2018, focusing mainly on staff from partner organizations from Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Tchad,  Niger and CAR and DKH regional staff. It is envisaged to increase HR capacity in other regions in 2018. DKH will also aim to develop its CTP Guidelines and tools to further support our partners. It will capture CTP specific quantitative measurements systematically in the internal project management database.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    DKH believes that it is necessary to further strengthen system wide capacity of a cash-oriented response analysis in order to better determine feasibility and appropriateness of a CTP interventions.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe is an active member of the newly founded German Cash Coordination Group which brings together German based NGOs and donors and is chaired by the German MoFA. This platform serves to bring together various relevant topics.

    Keywords

    Cash, Local action

  • 4B
    Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, as a member of the ACT Alliance, commits to participate in raising awareness for the importance of disaster risk reduction at grassroots level, including in hard-to-reach locations, by providing examples of good practices in order to better influence local leadership and educating community members.




    • Advocacy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, as a member of the ACT Alliance, commits to increase the proportion of its humanitarian investment that goes to community emergency preparedness, risk reduction and resilience.
    • Financial
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) aimed to strengthen the emergency preparedness and response planning of its local partners (12 partners in 12 countries). It was also actively supporting the implementation of community-based preparedness and risk mitigation measures by its local partners (with 12 partners in 9 different countries).

    Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe was an active member of a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Working Group at the German level and at the European level (VOICE), which discussed relevant issues and approaches, as much as engaged in advocacy efforts on effective and community-lead DRR.

    Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, together with Caritas international have published a lessons learned/best practices booklet on strengthening resilience in rural communities. 

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    DRR is an essential part of Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe's institutional strategy for 2016-2020, and hence DKH is able to assess the progress through the framework monitoring and evaluation process.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    • Joined-up humanitarian-development analysis, planning, funding and/or response
    • Strengthening national/local systems
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Funding modalities and humanitarian-development collaboration gaps prevent advanced preparedness and early actions, for example prior to forecasted periods of drought. There are gaps in accountability at the local level in national disaster management authority systems.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    DKH wants to increase its emphasis on local partner institutional emergency preparedness and response planning, and local level preparedness, response and recovery (with build back better) capacity in regions, where it sees trends and forecasts point to an increasing intensive risk.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    The endorsees and signatories of the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) need to adhere to their commitments, specifically in relation to localizing DRR and disaster management. They need to better acknowledge and support the development of existing local and national response capacities.

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    The mobilization of civil society and faith-based structures to take on local level responsibilities for emergency preparedness and response and to address governmental disaster management structure capacity gaps, including a focus on vulnerability inclusion, contributed to the advancement of this transformation. 

    Keywords

    Community resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction, Local action, People-centred approach

  • 4C
    Deliver collective outcomes: transcend humanitarian-development divides

    Joint Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe commits to improve inter-organizational coordination with its sister organization, Brot fur die Welt, to facilitate the direct continuation of programs and relevant financing for its local partners to better link emergency relief with activities that aim to reduce risk and vulnerability and increase resilience in the mid- and long term perspective as a cornerstone of its joint Strategic Plan 2016-2020.
    • Partnership
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Partners: Brot für die Welt

    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Joined-up humanitarian-development analysis and planning towards collective outcomes

    Some humanitarian crises in 2017 underlined the need to better communicate and share information on activities and experience between Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) and Bread-for-the-World (BfdW), be it in programming or advocacy. Important examples have been the situation in East-Africa, the Syria crisis and the refugee crisis in the Middle East and Africa. A number of joint DKH/BfdW Country Strategy papers are on the way in Kongo, Kenya, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Eastern Europe, Pacific Region, South Asia and possibly Somalia. DKH improved programming and was able to strengthen capacity of local partners in both fields, development and humanitarian assistance and protection.

    The ongoing refugee situation is a big challenge to the nexus debate, given the high politization of the issue in many European countries. Bringing together the development and humanitarian perspective on refugees/migration in a specific task-group, DKH was able to sharpen advocacy and program approaches on refugee issues in order to better contribute to protection.     

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    DKH has two units tasked to monitor programs (Department Results-management and Process-ensurance) and the implementation of strategic, institutional change (Department for Strategic Management). DKH also evaluated its joint Nepal Response during the reporting period. 

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Adherence to standards and/or humanitarian principles
    • Funding amounts
    • IHL and IHRL compliance and accountability
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    The struggle on coherent funding at a donor level, in particular in protracted crisis still exists. 

    The current refugee situation is an important challenge to a sensible and necessary humanitarian-development debate, as it shows striking examples of the politization of aid.      

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    DKH intends to finalize the joint resilience policy for Bread-for-the-world and Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, which will set the frame for relevant strategies for the different departments. DKH also aims to increase the amount of relevant country and regional strategies that take into consideration the strength and capacity of both organizations. It hopes that a joint coordination between the organizations in regards to Syria crisis will allow for a coherent response strategy and planning in a particularly challenging environment.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Discussion on the humanitarian-development divide has lead to an understanding about the complementarity of the action - and not to an understanding of everybody does everything. As humanitarian actors, we need to maintain a strong community focus on humanitarian assistance and protection, in particular in the current political environment, where governments/donors are keen to frame humanitarian and development engagement under the goal to prevent a further influx of refugees.   

    Keywords

    Displacement, Humanitarian-development nexus, Migrants

  • 5A
    Invest in local capacities

    Joint Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe commits to support its local partners, who are planning and implementing the projects and programs, in setting up measures and activities through a push to include relevant indicators and analysis, as reflected in its Strategic Plan for 2016-2020. It is committed to remain vocal in its advocacy towards donors, so that they contribute with relevant funding schemes.
    • Advocacy
    • Invest in Humanity

    Partners: Brot für die Welt

    • In line with its strategic plan for 2016-2020, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe commits to provide more funding directly to local actors, and to pair relevant efforts with a focus on building their organizational capacity and preparedness; and to strongly advocate with donors in Germany and Europe to increase the funds available to local actors for this purpose.
    • Financial
    • Invest in Humanity

    Partners: ACT Alliance

    Individual Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • As a member of the ACT Alliance, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe commits to significantly increase the proportion of humanitarian funding that goes directly to local and national members and their partners for humanitarian response and emergency preparedness, and we will seek to transparently report on this amount; to support initiatives that provide easier and better access to resources for local and national members, particularly where they are first and frontline responders; to continue to demonstrate, learn from, identify and share best practice in local-national-international partnerships, in line with the ACT Principles of Partnership, that are inherent in the ACT Alliance's vision and working practices. It will also seek to foster the ACT Alliance approach to encourage partnerships directly between local and national members through national and regional ACT Forums, working in complementarity and equality.
    • Financial
    • Invest in Humanity
    • Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe commits to invest in its private donor relationships in order to increase un-earmarked financing. This will give it more possibilities to hand down flexibility to local partners, particularly in fragile contexts, so that programs can be better adjusted to changing environments and that it can effectively support them in enhancing their capacities.
    • Financial
    • Invest in Humanity

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to empower national and local humanitarian action by increasing the share of financing accessible to local and national humanitarian actors and supporting the enhancement of their national delivery systems, capacities and preparedness planning.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Direct funding to national/local actors

    In 2017, Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe directed 62% of its overall funds directly to national and local actors. This marks an additional increase to the 59% that had been transferred in 2016.

    Addressing blockages/challenges to direct investments at the national/local level

    Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has participated in a working group between German humanitarian agencies and the German MoFA that aimed to produce key points and self-commitments on how to strengthen the role of local actors, including an improvement and change of approach on providing funding for overhead costs and capacity strengthening. (Document at the stage of a final draft at the end of the reporting period).

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • Through multi-stakeholder processes or initiatives (e.g. IASC, Grand Bargain, Charter for Change, etc).
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Funding is tracked through DKH's financial systems, which still poses some challenges on identifying easily and rapidly in particular the capacity development activities when they are part of other project activities.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Data and analysis
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Multi-stakeholder coordination
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    The multi-stakeholder coordination on localization in Germany successfully produced the mentioned key points. However, unlike other countries, joint efforts and initiatives have so far not been concretized among German humanitarian actors.

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    DKH is currently undergoing a change management process in order to be better suited to the challenges of tomorrow. Localization is one of the topics, that it is thinking to enhance in terms of resources in line with institutional strategy and focus. Engagement with ACT Alliance and C4C will continue. DKH will continue to strife to make information on particular funding on localization and capacity-development easier accessible.

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Further clarity and ongoing debate on different concepts of strengthening local actors is needed. We need to deal together with questions on risk and risk transfer, identifying complementarity, better streamlining of capacity building, and on the integration of local partners in our advocacy. It would help to de-politizing the debate and include a better discussion on how and where the diversity of actors helps to provide effective and principled humanitarian protection and assistance. 

    6. List any good practice or examples of innovation undertaken individually or in cooperation with others to advance this transformation.

    • Development of key points on localization for implementation by German Humanitarian stakeholders (Document at a final draft stage at the end of the reporting period).
    • DKH has also prepared a lessons learned and best practices booklet on Building resilience in rural communities in Guatemala (as attached to this report).
       

    Keywords

    Local action

  • 5B
    Invest according to risk

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to invest in risk management, preparedness and crisis prevention capacity to build the resilience of vulnerable and affected people.
    • Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    DKH has invested in strengthening emergency preparedness and response planning of its local partners in 12 countries with 12 partner organizations. It has also committed funds to support the implementation of community-based preparedness and risk mitigation measures by 12 local partners in 9 different countries. 

    DKH has invested resources and human capacity into drafting a resilience policy for the organization, which is meant to be finalized at the end of 2018.

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    Investment in DRR is an essential part of DKH's institutional strategy for 2016-2020, and hence it is able to assess the progress through the framework monitoring and evaluation process.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Funding modalities (earmarking, priorities, yearly agreements, risk aversion measures)
    • Joined-up humanitarian-development analysis, planning, funding and/or response
    • Strengthening national/local systems
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Funding modalities and humanitarian development collaboration gaps prevent advanced preparedness and early actions, for example prior to forecasted periods of drought, which became highly evident in the area around the Horn of Africa. There are also important gaps in accountability at the local level in national disaster management authority systems.  

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    DKH is currently aiming to improve its financial systems, in order to be better able to present clear quantitative data on DRR. DKH will also continue to advocate on the key demands mainly donors to facilitate funding streams for advanced preparedness and early action, that are accessible for a larger and more diverse group of humanitarian actors, as much as to highlight the importance of funding for community based approaches.  

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    Donors need to react faster on emerging disasters in order to allow for funding streams for advanced preparedness and early action. Governments in hazard-prone areas need to improve on the accountability of the local level in national disaster management authority systems.

    Keywords

    Community resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction

  • 5E
    Diversify the resource base and increase cost-efficiency

    Joint Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe, as a member of the ACT Alliance, commits to amplify its advocacy work with relevant donors and recognizing the potential outcomes of the Grand Bargain, it is committed to streamline and harmonize relevant instruments and approaches in order not to ask more from local and national partners in terms of reporting requirements that what donors ask from it.
    • Advocacy
    • Invest in Humanity

    Partners: ACT Alliance

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to increase substantially and diversify global support and share of resources for humanitarian assistance aimed to address the differentiated needs of populations affected by humanitarian crises in fragile situations and complex emergencies, including increasing cash-based programming in situations where relevant.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to promote and increase predictable, multi-year, unearmarked, collaborative and flexible humanitarian funding toward greater efficiency, effectiveness, transparency and accountability of humanitarian action for affected people.
    • Invest in Humanity
    1. Highlight the concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2017 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures.

    Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe has been piloting the common donor narrative reporting framework developed under the Grand Bargain Workstream on simplified reporting in Myanmar (1 project/1 local partner), Iraq (2/1) and Somalia (1/2). DKH has also participated in an initial evaluation of the tool in December 2017. Under the framework of the ACT Alliance, DKH has initiated a motion to adapt ACT Alliance Appeal Reporting formats to the common framework (under process).

    2. A. How are you measuring progress toward achieving your commitments? Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Through existing, internal systems or frameworks for monitoring, reporting and/or evaluation.
    • By reporting to, or using reports prepared for, UN principal organs, UN governing boards, or other international bodies
    B. How are you assessing whether progress on commitments is leading toward change in the direction of the transformation?

    As part of the joint evaluation done by the GB work stream.

    3. A. Please select no more than 3 key challenges faced in implementing the commitments related to this transformation. Only the categories selected by the organisation will be seen below.
    • Buy-in
    • Human resources/capacity
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    For the moment, it is just a new tool, which needs again a learning/training process. 

    4. Highlight actions planned for 2018 to advance implementation of your commitments in order to achieve this transformation.

    Participate in further evaluations on the tool (planned in Myanmar and potentially Iraq (tbc)). Continue process to facilitate requirements between ACT Alliance and the relevant partners within the internal humanitarian policy and practice working group. 

    5. What steps or actions are needed to make collective progress to achieve this transformation?

    At this stage it is difficult to say. For the moment, it is just a new tool, which needs again a learning process. Important would be that more donors join in order to really bring about real facilitation. 

Attachments

  • WHS Commitments Attachments
    Transformation - 4B, 5A, 5B | Community resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction, People-centred approach