Taking the initiative - Exploring quality and accountability in the humanitarian sector: an introduction to eight initiatives

 During the past decade, international NGOs have initiated a number of inter-agency projects on quality and/or accountability in humanitarian action. Representatives of the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action (ALNAP), Humanitarian Accountability Partnership (HAP), People In Aid and the Sphere Project have met on a regular basis since 2000 in order to discuss common issues and harmonise activities where possible.
Since 2006 these four have been joined by Coordination SUD, Groupe URD, the Emergency Capacity Building Project and CDA Collaborative Learning Projects. The Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE) published a set of Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies in 2004. It is hoped that the group will continue to expand in the future.
Most of these initiatives have developed their own training materials. However, there remains a dearth of materials that introduce the initiatives in an integrated manner, describing how they differ from one another, how they can be used together, and/or how they overlap. This has contributed, particularly at field level, to some confusion about when, how and what to use, and the perception of duplication.
As part of its commitment to collaborate with other initiatives, and to respond in practical terms to demands for coherence and synergy, the Sphere Project wanted to develop materials that could be used in Sphere training workshops to demonstrate how to use the products and tools of the different initiatives to enhance humanitarian assistance. Such materials might also be used in training programmes run by other initiatives or as an introduction to the range of quality and accountability initiatives for humanitarian response.