Humanitarian Accountability: From Perception to Practice

Abstract

Initially viewed as a trust substitution exercise, accountability has grown from being considered a way of proving you did what you said you would do, to also being a process for involving and responding to the populations being served. Accountability is of unique importance in the humanitarian sector, which works in difficult settings with vulnerable populations. In order to better understand current accountability thinking and practice within the humanitarian sector, this project undertook several complimentary explorations. The 2014-2016 Ebola response in West Africa, and OFDA’s part in it, was used as a frame to focus discussion and allow for deeper analysis. A literature review explored the conceptualization of humanitarian accountability and its evolution. A series of qualitative interviews with aid providers, academics, actors working on accountability, individuals involved in the Ebola response, and OFDA staff, elucidated current accountability thinking and practice. The OFDA Ebola response was also evaluated and a case study developed analyzing OFDA’s accountability policy and practice, in general and during the Ebola response. The early chaos of the West Africa Ebola response demonstrated that accountability is not yet deeply enough ingrained to be rote practice. Assessments of the response after the fact attribute the early difficulty in containing transmission in large part to the failure to include the community in the response. It was a watershed moment, graphically demonstrating the dangers of failing to incorporate accountability to affected populations. While OFDA’s accountability practice is generally favorably viewed, in the Ebola response and overall, it is following on the back edge of accountability progress. Currently its accountability practice is largely focused at the US government and public; it is still working on incorporating practice of accountability to affected populations. OFDA has the potential to be an important leader in accountability practice, particularly as the important role of donors in moving accountability practice forward is increasingly realized. It’s size, scope, direct and indirect influence, and intellectual leadership position it to be an accountability leader, helping to address the key factors enabling the operationalization of accountability to affected populations: flexibility; support; power; and tools.