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Self Report 2019

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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  • 3G
    Address other groups or minorities in crisis settings

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • HelpAge International commits to endorse the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action.
    • Policy
    • Leave No One Behind
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    The Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action has been the core document underpinning the development of the Age and Disability Capacity Programme (ADCAP), a sector-wide inclusion and humanitarian programme, led by HelpAge with consortia partners. 

    ADCAP came to an end after three years in 2018, leaving a legacy of successfully strengthened capacity of over 4,500 humanitarian agencies in over 100 countries to deliver age and disability inclusive emergency responses and to ensure older people and people with disabilities are able to access assistance and participate in the decision-making processes that affect them.

    ADCAP published the Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for older people and people with disabilities in February 2018. The standards recognise the importance of including those most at risk and help humanitarian actors to uphold principles and commitments related to inclusion. They contain key actions, guidance, tools, resources, and case studies. During 2018, the Humanitarian Inclusion Standards for Older People and People with disabilities were accepted as a member of the Sphere Humanitarian Standards Partnership.

    During 2018, HelpAge finalised and began the roll out of a new Humanitarian Response Model that focuses on protection and inclusion. As part of this approach, Rapid Needs assessments are conducted in the early onset of disasters. These assessments include the Washington Group Questions and there is a strong emphasis on gender, age and disability with the analysis of findings to better inform project design and implementation. In line with this approach, HelpAge has changed the composition of its Humanitarian team to include a Global Inclusion Manager. 

    HelpAge International played a significant role in the Global Disability Summit, including jointly leading on a spotlight event on Humanitarian Policy to Practice. HelpAge signed up the Charter for Change and a number of additional commitments.

    In 2018, HelpAge published Missing Millions: How Older People with Disabilities are Excluded from Humanitarian Response with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

    B. Please select if your report relates to any initiatives launched at World Humanitarian summit
    • Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action
    2. 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
    • Gender and/or vulnerable group inclusion
    • Institutional/Internal constraints
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    The exclusion of older people with disabilities from wider disability and inclusion work in an ongoing risk and resources to roll out training on inclusion standards is limited. However HelpAge's Rapid Needs Assessments are providing useful in providing an evidence base for advocacy. 

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

    Humanitarians must continue to strengthen platforms for engagement of older people with disabilities and increase participation of persons with disabilities across the sector to ensure that inclusion includes people of all ages. The international community needs to collectively engage further with donors, regional platforms and institutions to ensure the systematic adoption of the Charter and the Humanitarian Inclusion Standards.

    Keywords

    Disability, Protection, Quality and accountability standards

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

    Individual Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility
    • HelpAge International commits to establishing a common approach to providing information to affected people and collecting, aggregating and analysing feedback from communities to influence decision-making processes at strategic and operational levels.
    • Operational
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    • HelpAge International commits to adopt the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and International Aid Transparency Initiative Standard, with clear benchmarks for achieving these through the CHS Alliance self-assessment tool.


    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • HelpAge International commits to make sustained funding conditional on the systematic collection of feedback from affected people on the quality and utility of humanitarian programmes.
    • Financial
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need

    Core Commitments (3)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to reinforce national and local leadership and capacities in managing disaster and climate-related risks through strengthened preparedness and predictable response and recovery arrangements.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to increase investment in building community resilience as a critical first line of response, with the full and effective participation of women.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    • Commit to ensure regional and global humanitarian assistance for natural disasters complements national and local efforts.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    People-centered approaches (feedback mechanisms, community engagement, etc)

    In 2018, HelpAge launched and began roll out of a new humanitarian way of working which adopts a person-centred and rights-based approach that is underpinned by protection and inclusion. A critical part of this new approach is the use of Rapid Needs Assessments of Older People (RNA-OP). The aim of the RNA-OP is to gather data in real time to understand the situation facing older people, facilitating stronger emergency programming design, evidence-backed advocacy messaging and donor communication, while placing those affected at the centre of our work, in line with the Core Humanitarian Standards.

    HelpAge's new approach has a strong focus on outreach teams to complement services delivered at a fixed location in order to provide assistance tailored to individuals.  

    HelpAge promotes the meaningful participation of older men and women in all programming, including by working with existing Older People Associations (OPAs), camp committees or other structures to encourage meaningful inclusion and representation of older people. Establishing OPAs was an important element of our response following the tsumani in Indonesia. 

    2. 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 amounts
    • Gender and/or vulnerable group inclusion
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Similarly to last year, humanitarian need in 2018 far exceeded humanitarian funding meaning HelpAge had to be strategic in how and where we worked. HelpAge is strategically investing in preparedness, its global network, and advocacy in its humanitarian approach to overcome funding challenges and impact positively on the lives of older people.

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

    It is vital to continue to work with donors, NGOs and other agencies to ensure they are including older people in people-centered humanitarian responses and that older people do not remain invisible in local and national structures and systems. This includes cluster engagement at local and global level, and working with the HelpAge Global Network. 

    Keywords

    Local action, People-centred approach, Protection, Strengthening local systems

  • 4B
    Anticipate, do not wait, for crises

    Core Commitments (2)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks through the coherent implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as other relevant strategies and programs of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    • Commit to improve the understanding, anticipation and preparedness for disaster and climate-related risks by investing in data, analysis and early warning, and developing evidence-based decision-making processes that result in early action.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    Disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management (including resilience)

    During 2018 HelpAge International recruited a disaster risk reduction lead for the organisation. HelpAge and its network continues to work across our global and country level advocacy and preparedness work to reduce disaster risk. In Pakistan, HelpAge provided technical assistance to consortium partners on inclusion on disaster risk reduction and on emergency response during 2018. A project in Bangladesh and Nepal focused on addressing the needs of older people in community-based DRR and management reaching 6,363 older people in Bangladesh and over 7,000 community members in Nepal. In Costa Rica, HelpAge's network member AGECO has chosen to focus on DRR and Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG) in its SDG focussed advocacy. During 2018, AGECO actively engaged with relevant national stakeholders on inclusive disaster risk management, leading to agreement on a direct work agreement with the National Emergency Commission to ensure older people are involved in disaster risk management which is in the process of being signed. 

    HelpAge strengthened its relationship with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and participated in the establishment of a stakeholder coordination mechanism to ensure voice for older people in follow up to the Sendai Framework. During 2018, HelpAge International participated in planning for the Global Platform which will be taking place in May 2019. HelpAge's network member in the Philippines, COSE, was invited to join the Stakeholder Summit Task team. 

    Preparedness

    Preparedness is a core focus of HelpAge's new humanitarian approach which was completed in 2018.

    During 2018, HelpAge implemented a capacity building and preparedness project in Haiti, Dominica, and Puerto Rico. Twenty-two local organisations received training in humanitarian capacity self-assessment and aspects of humanitarian response including preparedness and complaints and feedback mechanisms. In Haiti, 13 organisations were to set up a local-led network to support and train each other.

    HelpAge continued to host the ALERT programme until the end of the project timeline in March 2018. ALERT has developed an information management system that improves disaster preparedness and has helped humanitarian agencies and governments to respond with greater speed, efficiency and effectiveness before and immediately after a disaster strikes. At the end of the project cycle, ALERT had 800 users and growing. It continues to be used and valued by a wide range of agencies.

    2. 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
    • Gender and/or vulnerable group inclusion
    • Human resources/capacity
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Data on older people is either not collected or fully analysed or utilised which leads to significant gaps in information for early warning and DRR programmes, policy and planing and leads to exclusion of older people from global processes.

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

    Preparedness relies on collective action and we will continue to engage with other national, local and international NGOs and government disaster management agencies to build evidence based preparedness plans and activities. HelpAge's work to support the implementation of the Sendai Framework relies on our continued engagement with UNDRR, UNDP and other agencies, to ensure older people are not excluded from these key global commitments.

    Keywords

    Community resilience, Disaster Risk Reduction, Preparedness, Strengthening local systems

  • 5B
    Invest according to risk

    Core Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Core Responsibility
    • Commit to accelerate the reduction of disaster and climate-related risks through the coherent implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, as well as other relevant strategies and programs of action, including the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA) Pathway.
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    During 2018 HelpAge International recruited a disaster risk reduction lead for the organisation. HelpAge and its network continues to work across our global and country level advocacy and preparedness work to reduce disaster risk. In Pakistan, HelpAge provided technical assistance to consortium partners on inclusion on disaster risk reduction and on emergency response during 2018. A project in Bangladesh and Nepal focused on addressing the needs of older people in community-based DRR and management reaching 6,363 older people in Bangladesh and over 7,000 community members in Nepal. In Costa Rica, HelpAge's network member AGECO has chosen to focus on DRR and Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG) in its SDG focussed advocacy. During 2018, AGECO actively engaged with relevant national stakeholders on inclusive disaster risk management, leading to agreement on a direct work agreement with the National Emergency Commission to ensure older people are involved in disaster risk management which is in the process of being signed. 

    HelpAge strengthened its relationship with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and participated in the establishment of a stakeholder coordination mechanism to ensure voice for older people in follow up to the Sendai Framework. During 2018, HelpAge International participated in planning for the Global Platform which will be taking place in May 2019. HelpAge's network member in the Philippines, COSE, was invited to join the Stakeholder Summit Task team. 

    Preparedness is a key focus of HelpAge's humanitarian approach. During 2018, HelpAge implemented a capacity building and preparedness project in Haiti, Dominica, and Puerto Rico. Twenty-two local organisations received training in humanitarian capacity self-assessment and aspects of humanitarian response including preparedness and complaints and feedback mechanisms. In Haiti, 13 organisations were to set up a local-led network to support and train each other. We continued to host the ALERT programme until the end of the project timeline in March 2018 at which time there were 800 users and growing.

    2. 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
    • Gender and/or vulnerable group inclusion
    • Human resources/capacity
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    Data on older people is either not collected or fully analysed or utilised which leads to significant gaps in information for early warning and DRR programmes, policy and planning and leads to exclusion of older people from global processes.

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

    Preparedness relies on collective action and we will continue to engage with other national, local and international NGOs and government disaster management agencies to build evidence based preparedness plans and activities. HelpAge's work to support the implementation of the Sendai Framework relies on our continued engagement with UNIDRR, UNDP and other agencies, to ensure older people are not excluded from these key global commitments.

    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction, Humanitarian-development nexus, Local action, Preparedness

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

    Individual Commitments (1)

    • Commitment
    • Commitment Type
    • Core Responsibility

    • HelpAge International commits to adopt the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and International Aid Transparency Initiative Standard, with clear benchmarks for achieving these through the CHS Alliance self-assessment tool.


    • Policy
    • Change People's Lives: From Delivering Aid to Ending Need Invest in Humanity
    1. A. Highlight concrete actions taken between 1 January – 31 December 2018 to implement the commitments which contribute to achieving this transformation. Be as specific as possible and include any relevant data/figures as well as any good practices and examples of innovation.

    HelpAge International committed to adopting to adopt the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) and International Aid Transparency Initiative Standard (IATI). HelpAge now uses IATI and is compliant with this initiative. During 2018, HelpAge worked towards implementing recommendations made during a review of its 2017 CHS benchmarking which was conducted by KPMG on behalf of the Disaster Management Committee (DEC). 

    HelpAge also updated relevant policies that bring the organistion more in line with Core Humanitarian Standards. This includes the launch of HelpAge's new humanitarian approach and a comprehensive partnerships approach which lead to the updating of its partnerships manual. In the preparation for the development of the partnership manual, HelpAge updated all partner contracts to provide enhanced clarity on our safeguarding expectations as well as our partner assessment tool and began preparations for the self assessment and verification process. 

    2. 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.
    • Human resources/capacity
    • Institutional/Internal constraints
    B. How are these challenges impacting achievement of this transformation?

    In line with HelpAge's commitments to localisation in humanitarian work and broader commitments to working as a network, HelpAge has been moving towards increased decentralisation. This presents challenges in consistency of approach which will be addressed as part of its improvement plan. HelpAge does not have dedicated accountability staff to monitor and complete compliance obligations. 

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

    This commitment is part of a wider Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) process, whereby all DEC members are going through CHS benchmarking / accreditation. It is helpful to progress this alongside other agencies. 

    Keywords

    Disaster Risk Reduction, Quality and accountability standards, Transparency / IATI