PURPOSE OF THE EVENT:The accountability agenda in the humanitarian sector is gaining momentum, with a renewed focus on listening to the voices of people at the heart of crises and responding to their needs. From the launch of the Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS), in 2014, to the Grand Bargain, in 2016,humanitarian leaders and organizations have acknowledged the need to be accountable to the people we serve. Ever since, humanitarian actors have developed enough tools to guide these commitments and ensure that communities are at the center of decision making in humanitarian action. At local level, there have been increasing efforts to implement more predictable and systematic accountability systems that enable community-led responses. Despitesignificant progress has been achieved on the past years, much work still needs to be done. As highlighted in theGrand Bargain review, in 2022, Accountability to Affected Populations (AAP) largely remains “on aid providers’ terms” and prioritizes what agencies think people need, not what they say they need.

In light of this debate, the paneldiscussionwill focus on how humanitarianpooled fundsfor small and medium-scale crises, such asIFRCDisaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF)and theGlobalStart Fund,can leverage the system to strengthen meaningful participationand accountability of affected communities and local actors. The main goal of thissessionis to provide a platform for identifying and sharing best practices and strategies, andpractical stepsfor enhancing accountabilitysystemswithin humanitarian pooled funds.The panel will discuss and recommend possible ways to ‘incentivise’ and support ways in which communities feeds into how humanitarian operations are designed, implemented and improved.

COMPOSITION OF THE PANEL

· Red Cross Representative (Malawi)

· Global Start Fund representative

· Ground Truth Solutions – Meg Sattler

· IFRC DREF -Eszter MATYEKA

· FCDO Representative (TBC)

· Moderator: IFRC

BACKGROUND:

AAP approaches, including community feedback mechanisms[1]are central to making the response more humane, dignified, relevant and effective. While Community Engagement and Accountability activities are already systematically integrated in DREF-funded Operations and other pooled funded, ensuring that people’s voices and insights are sustainably and routinely informing programming and secure predictable, multi-year, flexible funding across the humanitarian programme cycle remains a challenge forhumanitarian organizationsand particularly in small and medium size emergencies. In line with its 2021-2025 Strategic Ambition of “Enabling Ownership and Trust” towards its users, the DREFis about to launchan internal feedback mechanism to listen to its stakeholders (theRed Cross and Red Crescentnetwork receiving DREF funding) and foster transparency, responsiveness, and ultimately improve aid delivery. The significant changes on DREF’s modalities and ceilings in 2022, coupled with an increase on total allocated and number of supported operations, make it urgent fortheIFRC understand the Fund’s relevanceand effectiveness, including through affected people feedback,and adapt the tool for increasingly complex needs.

Thisdiscussion will beis a key opportunity toshare and learn ways in which pooled funds can enhance and strengthen the use offeedbacksystems for effective humanitarian programming.