Accountability to Affected People

What is Accountability to Affected People?

Promoting and strengthening accountability to affected people (AAP) is one of the core functions of a Cluster (see: Toolkit Section 1.2 Core Functions of a CCCM Cluster). 

Accountability and Inclusion involve making sure that affected communities - especially individuals who are most at risk - are at the center of and driving humanitarian action. AAP approaches establish people-centered processes that will help inform the response, or any assistance activity, with community insights, so that programs can be determined considering people’s preferences, priorities, and different needs of different groups. Accountability and participatory approaches are also key to ensuring response actors know and understand the risks associated with assistance delivery so that their work is carried out respecting the “do-no-harm" principle. 

AAP & CCCM Response

Accountability to affected people is at the heart of CCCM programming. The core activities of CCCM response are designed to strengthen accountability to communities – including through enhancing community participation and representation and providing information and listening to people’s feedback – including complaints, suggestions or questions about the response. A central role of site management is to establish an entry point for accountability that enables other agencies to ensure a participatory approaches in their work to promote people-centred action that empowers communities recipients of the response.  

See the Minimum Standards for Camp Management for explanation on the importance of accountability throughout the work of a site management agency.

Read the Camp Management Toolkit Chapter 3 Community Participation, and see notes on accountability throughout.

You can find more information on: 

• The role of CCCM actors in promoting accountability to affected people in Toolkit Section 8.4 Community Participation.  
• Tips for mainstreaming accountability in CCCM programs in the Protection Mainstreaming Tipsheet in Toolkit Section 9.1 Protection mainstreaming.  

In addition, each humanitarian actor, including CCCM actors, should work to strengthen their accountability of their own programming to the affected people and communities they aim to support.  

As a CCCM Cluster coordination team, you should: 

• Work with Cluster members to promote and strengthen accountability in CCCM response. For example, through developing technical resources and guidance to promote initiatives to jointly consult communities and build participation spaces for their constant inputs in the CCCM response 
• Promote the Minimum Standards for Camp Management, including the use of qualitative indicators such as satisfaction or perception indicators to measure whether standards are being reached. 
• Ensure strategic planning exercises (including the HNO and HRP and CCCM Response Strategy planning), monitoring and evaluation activities are informed by community input and participation. 
• Develop relationships with community leaders and community-based organizations that can help you during community consultation exercises in getting perspectives and opinions from different groups of the community 
• Develop tools and resources to provide information and collect feedback that are adequate to the needs of different groups (language, accessibility, culturally adapted). 

As a CCCM Cluster team, you should:  

• Support Cluster partners to strengthen Accountability to Affected People throughout CCCM programming in every phase of the project cycle. 
• Ensure that the work of the Cluster is accountable, considers people's priorities and needs, and promotes participation of the affected people. 
• You can read more on promoting inclusion in Toolkit Section 9.2 Age, Gender & Diversity.  

Cluster Responsibilities

As a Cluster coordination team, you must not only promote accountability to affected people in the CCCM response, but also take actions towards it in the work of the Cluster.  

You should take actions to strengthen accountability throughout the Humanitarian Programme Cycle – in needs assessments, strategic planning, implementation and monitoring, and resource mobilization. And, in preparedness activities and in coordination.  

You can find tips for promoting accountability to affected people in the delivery of the core functions of the Cluster and in the Humanitarian Programme Cycle throughout this Toolkit.  

Assessment & Strategic Planning

To ensure accountability to affected populations, and participation of communities in strategic planning processes, including in the Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO) and Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP), a CCCM Cluster Coordination team can take the following steps: 

1. Conduct a needs assessment: The CCCM Cluster Coordination team should engage with CCCM actors to build their capacities and harmonize efforts in conducting needs assessments to identify priority needs and preferences of affected populations. This information can then be included in the HNO and HRP. In practice this translates in joint community consultations with harmonised methodologies for all CCCM actors that involve different groups, including most-at-risk people, who can provide vital insight that can be used for the HRP & CCCM Response Strategy. See Toolkit Resources below for example AAP-related questions. 
2. Involve affected populations in decision-making: The CCCM Cluster Coordination team should involve affected populations in decision-making processes and strategic planning, including the HNO and HRP. This can be done through community consultations, focus group discussions, and other participatory methods. 
3. Use data and feedback from affected populations: The CCCM Cluster Coordination team should coordinate collection and use data and feedback from affected populations to inform the HNO and HRP. This includes data on the number and location of affected populations, their needs, and any feedback they have provided on the humanitarian response, for example if the assistance previously received is safe, accessible, adequate and timely. 
4. Ensure representation of diverse perspectives: The CCCM Cluster Coordination team should ensure that the perspectives of diverse groups of affected populations are represented in the HNO and HRP. This includes women, children, people with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. Ensuring consultation of most-at-risk groups is especially important. 
5. Monitor and evaluate participation: The CCCM Cluster Coordination team should monitor and evaluate the level of participation of affected populations in the development and implementation of the HNO and HRP. This can help identify gaps in participation and inform improvements for future planning cycles. Participation in the overall monitoring and evaluation of the response is also important to understand if the response is reaching set objectives and if it is making a difference for the people it seeks to support. 

Localization: It is important to ensure participation of civil society organizations and local actors who often have the best knowledge of affected communities, local culture and tradition, and can be instrumental in creating the condition for successful community participation. In this case CCCM actors can support capacity strengthening and coordination, seeking inputs and leadership in the field through local actors, leveraging their knowledge and context understanding. 

For more information: 

• See Toolkit Section 4.1 CCCM Cluster Response Strategy for guidance on facilitating inputs from affected communities to strategic planning processes, including an example from the Somalia CCCM Cluster 
• See Toolkit Section 5. HPC for a checklist on incorporating protection and AAP into the HNO and HRP 

Related Resources