The Humanitarian Response Index 2011: Addressing the gender challenge

In 2011, DARA analysed the efficiency of 70% global humanitarian funding provided by 23 OECD - DAC donor governments in the following crises: Chad, Kenya, Somalia, occupied Palestinian territories, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, Sudan, Colombia and Haiti. Interviews were carried out with more than 400 representatives from 250 organizations. Our research has shown that gender continues to be a challenge. Women and girls that live in areas of armed conflict and disaster suffer the worst consequences of crises due to their heightened level of vulnerability and exposure to risk. HRI teams will research best practices in the way that donors address gender, and other issues, offering practical recommendations to improve the support provided.

Unfortunately, our findings for the 2011 edition of the Humanitarian Response Index confirm that the issues raised in previous editions largely persist. The ability of the humanitarian sector to deliver assistance has improved over time, but progress in consolidating good donor practices and reforming the sector has been limited. Based on the experience and findings of five years of HRI research, our conclusion is that most donors have not significantly altered their approaches in order to apply good practices, and the pace of reform efforts is too slow for the humanitarian sector to be able to adequately meet current needs, much less prepare for, anticipate, mitigate and respond to a trend of increasingly complex crises in the coming decade. - See more at: http://daraint.org/humanitarian-response-index/humanitarian-response-ind...