Emergencies Impact Review

ActionAid has recognised for some time
that poor people are more vulnerable to
the impact of natural disasters and
conflicts. As an organisation working
towards the eradication of poverty, we
have to work with poor people to
address the consequences of these
emergencies. We have been supporting
emergencies work with an increasingly
distinct long-term approach. This was
articulated in the Emergency Strategy
approved by the Directors in May 2000,
in which existing approaches became
consistent with the rights-based
approach of the 1999-2003 ActionAid
strategy, Fighting poverty together.
We stress the importance of
strengthening poor peoples’
capacities to cope with the impact of
emergencies. We seek to increase
the capacities of those who are
responsible for emergency
preparedness and response.
ActionAid takes opportunities presented
by emergencies to advance our overall
goal of poverty elimination.
ActionAid has decentralised
management which ensures that
decisions are made as close as
possible to where their consequences
are felt. Central to the spirit of Fighting
poverty together is our accountability to
the poor and marginalised women,
men, boys and girls with whom we
work. ActionAid’s accountability systems
encourages this by promoting greater
participation and transparency in all our
work and empathy with the poor and
marginalised groups with whom we
work. A key tool is the use of review
and reflection processes, which give us
the chance to learn locally from our
experience and how others perceive
our work. Within the organisation, we
have international networks of staff
involved in specific aspects of work.
The networks serve as a mechanism to
share this learning internationally
among peers, without depending on
line management structures.