Voices from ALNAP's first 25 years | Madara Hettiarachchi: “An ALNAP lessons paper or synthesis can be exactly what you need: timely, to the point and easily accessible”

Madara Hettiarachchi, Director of Programmes & Accountability at the Disasters Emergency Committee DEC), on how she views ALNAP and how it can benefit the sector. Read more testimonials from our 'Voices from ALNAP's first 25 years' blog series.

I think of [ALNAP] as a trusted and well-respected critical friend that sits alongside us and prompts us to draw on the accumulated wisdom we have as a sector. 

Learning is a thread that runs through all of DEC’s work. Before launching our Ukraine appeal early in 2022, reviewing lessons from previous appeals - particularly those that had involved conflict and refugees - was a critical consideration. ALNAP is a core source of these lesson-learning resources. I think of it as a trusted and well-respected critical friend that sits alongside us and prompts us to draw on the accumulated wisdom we have as a sector. 

ALNAP’s value for donors is one thing, but its thought leadership is particularly invaluable for frontline practitioners. Sometimes when you’re in the thick of it you don’t have the headspace to reflect, or search through mounds of evidence to pull out the most relevant pieces of information. This is where an ALNAP lessons paper or synthesis can be exactly what you need: timely, to the point and easily accessible.

The Kosovo crisis happened more than 20 years ago, and for many it has passed out of institutional memory. ALNAP's unique and careful curation of humanitarian learning means you don’t need to have been working in Kosovo 20 years ago to learn and apply its lessons today.

One ALNAP report that stands out for me is From Kosovo to Ukraine: lessons from the humanitarian response to conflict and displacement in Europe. When I first saw it I immediately sent it to everyone I knew. And when the Ukraine crisis began, with its echoes of the Kosovo crisis, I quickly brought in ALNAP to speak to humanitarian directors in the DEC coalition about the lessons from Kosovo, as well as learnings from other comparable contexts including Syria. The Kosovo crisis happened more than 20 years ago, and for many it has passed out of institutional memory. ALNAP's unique and careful curation of humanitarian learning means you don’t need to have been working in Kosovo 20 years ago to learn and apply its lessons today.