Update on the Joint Standards’ Initiative deployment to the Horn of Africa

Horn of Africa crisis: Food security situation (November-December 2011). Source: UNCS, FEWS NET, FSNAU, FAO, OCHA.

The Joint Standards’ Initiative is an expression of the will to achieve greater coherence between the Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP) International, the Sphere Project and People In Aid. It builds on previous experiences of collaboration in Haiti, Myanmar and Pakistan.

With the overall goal of promoting the implementation of standards in humanitarian response, the Horn of Africa deployment supported the ongoing quality and accountability activities of agencies and networks in the region.

After three months of work, the deployment has succeeded in raising awareness of humanitarian standards among operational agencies. It also promoted activities aimed at improving the quality of the emergency response.

The Joint Standards’ Initiative deployment focused on supporting existing expertise in the region through collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Inter-Agency Working Group (IAWG) and the Emergency Capacity-Building Project (ECB).

Among other activities, the deployment team participated in the work of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Real Time Evaluation steering committee, facilitated three interagency participatory impact assessments in the Turkana and Mwingi Districts in Eastern Kenya, responded to requests for training and awareness-building on humanitarian standards and took part in cluster meetings run by the Water and Environmental Sanitation Coordination Committee (WESCOORD).

As humanitarian agencies begin to consolidate their activities, moving from immediate emergency response to recovery and prevention, the Joint Standards’ Initiative will now take stock and review lessons from what it has done so far, developing strategies and guidance for future deployments, including potential opportunities for further work on humanitarian standards in the Horn.

The Joint Standards’ Initiative deployment team in Nairobi was staffed by Gregory Gleed, Teresa Kamara, Maria Kiani and Paul O’Hagan. Funding was provided by DanChurchAid and World Vision International. The team was hosted by the FAO Regional Office in Nairobi and the in-country Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Network (run by OCHA and the Kenya Red Cross) in Turkana.

For further information on the Joint Standards’ Initiative deployment to the Horn of Africa or the ongoing strategic discussion about greater coherence between HAP, the Sphere Project and People In Aid please contact:

Angela Raven-Roberts
Executive Director, HAP International

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