If you had just lost your home to an earthquake or a tropical cyclone, you would likely be grateful for any support that would give you and your family shelter, food, and broader help until you can get back on your feet. However, for entities offering that kind of assistance, there’s a right way to do things.
For example, in the past there may have been a tendency for aid providers to deliver food packages imported from abroad rather than see what local capacity exists to provide food supplies. Or assuming that your priority would be going back to work, when in fact, all you want is for your children to be able to go back to school so they have a chance to sit their end of year exams coming up.
That’s where accountability to affected people comes in.
What is Accountability to Affected People or Populations (AAP)?
The basic concept of AAP is that people who receive humanitarian assistance should have the right to say what they need, receive information on what is being provided, and have an opportunity to assess and provide feedback about the assistance they receive.
If you’re a company who wants to engage in disaster response, this is similar to what you do as an integral part of your business operations: getting feedback from customers and making sure they are satisfied with the product or service you provide.
In the context of an emergency, however, there is an added layer of complexity: the power dynamics between those providing aid and those receiving it are often unbalanced, so AAP is designed to address that imbalance while facilitating trust and collaboration.
To navigate these challenges, the Connecting Business initiative (CBi), with the support of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, developed a short document to make it easier for private sector entities to understand and act on the principles of AAP.
Examples of how your company or business network could implement AAP
Some of the key elements of AAP are to engage the community and ensure there is a safe mechanism for feedback or complaints. Often, you will find that there exists a local capacity or cultural preferences that can be a part of the solution.
In Indonesia, a month after the Central Sulawesi earthquake in 2018, a monthly bulletin “Community Voices” (“Suara Komunitas”) was published that offered a two-way communication system to facilitate the collection of feedback from the community. This allowed those organizing the humanitarian response, such as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), UNICEF, and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to adapt their programming based on community insights.
As part of the response to Typhoon Rai which struck the Philippines in December 2021, the Philippine Disaster Relief Foundation (PDRF), a CBi Member Network, organized “transect walks” with members of the community, to observe conditions, collect feedback on the assistance provided and produce collaborative action plans together.
A third example comes from Vanuatu, where the Vanuatu Business Resilience Council (VBRC), a CBi Member Network, rolled out a pilot blockchain cash transfer programme in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and Tropical Cyclone Harold in 2020. After the first phase of implementation, VBRC re-engaged with all the vendors to gather feedback and further improve the programme.
"As humanitarian emergencies grow more frequent and more complex, it’s clear no one sector can solve these problems alone. We need local actors, including the local private sector, as a first responder and an integral part of humanitarian response - that's why accountability to affected people is so important; it ensures a people and community-centric approach,” says Shaheen Kassim-Lakha, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
"As humanitarian emergencies grow more frequent and more complex, it’s clear no one sector can solve these problems alone. We need local actors, including the local private sector, as a first responder and an integral part of humanitarian response - that's why accountability to affected people is so important; it ensures a people and community-centric approach,” says Shaheen Kassim-Lakha, Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
Although extreme weather events, earthquakes, conflict, and other types of crises affect people negatively, they aren’t just victims – and if disaster response is done right, it recognizes this to build on their agency and ability to be part of the solution, too.
You can access the guidance note “Putting People First: Accountability to Affected Populations in Private Sector Disaster Management” through the hyperlink in its title or by visiting the CBi Publication Library.
If you have any questions or concerns about AAP, or know of great examples of a business or a private sector network engaging in AAP, please email us at connectingbusiness@un.org.