Displaying items by tag: NGOs

Major humanitarian crises in the past decade have prompted unprecedented amounts of private donations: the tsunami that caused widespread devastation across the Indian Ocean in December 2004 saw US$3.9 billion raised in private aid; the response to the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti generated at least US$1.2 billion in contributions from the general public; US$450 million was channelled in response to the 2010 floods in Pakistan; and at least US$578 million went to Japan following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. While global private support to specific large-scale emergencies is relatively easy to gauge, it remains unclear how much private…

Strengthening Policy and Practice: meeting the challenges of working in complex environments is designed to draw on the experience and practice of participants, working in development, humanitarian aid or peacebuilding to influence internal policies and programmatic approaches. The course will identify how organisations can strive to balance their organisational mandate with the demands of working in complex and rapidly changing political contexts. Course aims The course will enable participants to contribute to developing constructive organisational and programmatic policies that will guide practical responses in the development, humanitarian and peacebuilding fields. It will draw on the experience of participants and tutors…

The Dadaab refugee complex in north-east Kenya was established in 1991. Originally designed to accommodate 90,000 refugees, the camps now hold over five times their intended capacity, making Dadaab the third-largest population centre in Kenya after Nairobi and Mombasa. The region is remote and harsh, with temperatures of up to 48 degrees Celsius in the dry season and extreme flooding in the rainy season. The main Dadaab complex consists of the ‘older’ Dagahaley, Hagadera and Ifo refugee camps, with three further sites, Ifo East and Ifo West (combined they are known as Ifo 2) and Kambioos. These sites are being…

UN integration arrangements are the strategies and structures developed to facilitate greater coherence and coordination among UN agencies, funds and programmes, with the aim of maximising the collective impact of the UN’s response. The benefits and risks of UN integration for humanitarian space have been intensely debated for many years. Most humanitarian actors accept the need for greater coherence within the UN system, at least at a strategic level. However, many NGOs object to greater structural arrangements because they claim that this would result in the subjugation of humanitarian priorities to the UN’s political objectives. UN humanitarian actors have expressed…

Humanitarian organisations in the Horn of Africa are increasingly using cash and voucher transfers, particularly in areas of insecurity where access problems have led to a rethink of traditional ways of delivering aid. An estimated four million people in the region are now receiving assistance via cash or voucher programmes from a wide range of national and international NGOs, UN agencies and other humanitarian actors. The sheer scale of the response and the number of agencies involved has brought coordination to the forefront of the discussion around cash transfer programming in the region. While technical coordination groups in the region…

Global ageing is a great achievement of our times. Rates of ageing in developing countries are increasing three times faster than in Western Europe. But in disaster settings the very organisations set up to deliver to those most in need sadly often end up marginalising older people and people with disabilities. I was part of this community during my time in the Red Cross and when working with Save the Children. We need to stop putting communities in boxes and not addressing their holistic needs; this seems very hard to do. Many older people in disaster settings work hard to…

International jury selects only global NGO with singular focus on improving the lives of the world’s older people The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation presents the annual award, the world’s largest humanitarian prize, to an organisation that is doing extraordinary work to alleviate human suffering. The foundation made the announcement today on International Women’s Day in recognition of the invisible role of older women in maintaining the welfare of families, communities and food production across the developing world. Read more: Help Age wins Hilton Humanitarian Prize on International Women's Day

The environments in which humanitarian and development organisations work are continually changing and there is a growing demand for security training on specific issues. We are aware of the differing demand, with some security and programme management professionals looking to pick and choose topics, while others want an opportunity to refresh their knowledge. In order to meet this need, RedR will be hosting a range of one day sessions on key security issues across one week. Each component will reflect the latest thinking from within the sector and reflect the global challenges that we face in ensuring a safe environment…

La mayor parte de la ayuda humanitaria internacional se proporciona en especie, ya sea en forma de alimentos, semillas, herramientas, medicamentos, materiales para construcción de viviendas o bienes domésticos entre otros. Al mismo tiempo, no obstante, ha surgido una significativa y creciente tendencia a ofrecer efectivo o cupones como alternativas o complementos a dicha ayuda en especie. A medida que se adquiere experiencia en el uso de transferencias de efectivo, se hace también más evidente que éste puede jugar un papel importante en la ayuda tras emergencias en una amplia variedad de sectores. Puede facilitar el acceso a alimentos, ayudar…

La grande majorité de l’aide humanitaire internationale est fournie en nature, sous forme de denrées alimentaires, de semences, d’outils, de médicaments, de matériaux servant à la construction d’abris et d’équipements ménagers. Nous pouvons toutefois constater une expérience significative et croissante dans la distribution d’argent en espèces ou de coupons, en tant qu’alternatives ou compléments à l’aide en nature. Alors que l’on acquière davantage d’expérience dans l’utilisation des transferts monétaires, il semble de plus en plus évident que l’argent peut jouer un rôle dans de nombreux secteurs dans le cadre de l’aide apportée aux populations en situations d’urgence. Il peut permettre…