Accountability to Affected Populations in Disaster Risk Financing

This paper explores the new opportunities and challenges for ensuring accountability to affected populations related to disaster risk financing. It draws on Start Network experience in Pakistan, Senegal, Madagascar and Kenya to discuss possible issues and challenges that DRF programming can present for accountability, and steps which can be taken to address these.

Disaster Risk Financing Systems offer exciting possibilities to scale early action. Tying together a model to predict the likelihood of future crises, with early action plans and prepositioned financing, presents an opportunity for timely action that mitigates the humanitarian impact of disasters. The pre-arranged nature of DRF systems, in which decisions are made in advance of crises, opens the possibility for more accountability to at risk populations. 

Specifically the paper explores:

  • What are the defining features of Disaster Risk Financing, and what opportunities and challenges do they present for AAP?
  • What steps should NGOs take to reflect AAP in DRF Systems, and what are some of the practical considerations in realising these?

Key entry points for AAP were considered in answering these questions, including the main compo-nents of a DRF System. More emphasis is given in this paper to the entry points up to point of implementation, recognising that these are unique to DRF systems compared to more traditional humanitarian action.

The Core Humanitarian Standard (CHS) provided the initial framework for AAP, with focus given to the CHS com-mitments that are more pertinent to DRF. Focus was given to operational rather than organisational aspects of the standard. The findings are based on a review of documents (both publicly available reports and internal Start Network documents), and conversations with 20 individuals working for START and for International and Local NGOs.

The thinking presented here is a starting point for prompting discussion and practice, rather than providing ‘the answer’. Most Start Network supported DRF systems are in the early stages (with the exception of ARC Replica in Senegal), and few of those interviewed had extensive experience with DRF. As such, findings do not draw on learning from what has been tried and tested, and examples of ‘how’ AAP could practically be achieved are limited.