ALNAP Global Study on Beneficiary Consultation and Participation

This study examines humanitarian practice in Afghanistan, focusing on the humanitarian response following the two earthquakes that hit Nahrin, Baghlan Province, in March 2002.

The Case of Afghanistan - Executive Summary

Part 1

INTRODUCTION
The Global Study on Consultation with and Participation by Beneficiaries and Affected Populations in the Process of Planning, Managing, Monitoring and Evaluating Humanitarian Action encompasses six country case studies. The country case studies, their related monographs and an extensive literature review, provide the basis for two further Global Study outputs: a Practitioner Handbook and an Overview Book.

The March 2002 earthquakes in Nahrin, Baghlan Province, provide the focus for the Afghanistan study, making it the first of the case studies to look at participation in the context of a rapid-onset natural disaster.

The fieldwork took place in August 2002, in parallel with a Quality Project mission1 undertaken by an extended Groupe URD team. This allowed the Nahrin findings to be interpreted in the light of broader observation of consultation and participation in other regions of Afghanistan, highlighting in particular issues relating to sectoral interventions (food security, nutrition, health, shelter). A follow-up mission took place in January 2003.

The general hypothesis being explored by the Global Study is that the active consultation and participation of crisis-affected populations in measures to assist them is both feasible and beneficial. The study aims to identify current practice on participation and consultation, the associated benefits and risks, and to understand factors that constrain or facilitate the practice of participation.

In the Afghan case study, participation in humanitarian action is understood to be the active involvement of beneficiaries and affected populations in the various phases of the project cycle. Consultation is considered to be one type of participation.

Part 2

CONTEXT
Afghanistan has seen diverse humanitarian interventions over the past years, but never on the scale that followed September 11. The fall of the Taliban, and the process of political stabilisation that ensued, mobilised a great number of international and local humanitarian actors, fostering (to some extent) a climate of competition between agencies for visibility and funds. This was reflected in the speed and scale of the response to the earthquakes in Nahrin.

Nahrin, an area already affected by years of war and drought, was struck by two earthquakes in late March 2002. Within 24 hours, and over the following two weeks, emergency clinics, tents, food distributions, etc, were set up by a variety of humanitarian actors to respond to the needs of the affected population. At the time of the study (four months later), only a handful of aid agencies remained. Housing reconstruction was both their main priority and the local population's.

Of particular interest, are the shuras (community assemblies), a traditional process of consultation and participation that is inherent to social organisation in Afghanistan. However, 20 years of war and humanitarian crises (drought, earthquakes, etc) has led to widespread destitution and massive population displacements, affecting the social fabric of the country.

 

Part 3

FINDINGS
Informants (community members, Afghan and international aid workers, and government representatives) were asked what their understanding of participation and consultation was, as well as what types of participatory approaches had been put in place as part of the aid programmes. The two most common answers, and most common types of participation observed by the team, were the consultation of beneficiaries and beneficiary contributions in labour or materials.

Some Afghan aid workers and Afghan NGOs placed greater emphasis on the need to `help people become more organised in order to participate in decisions that affect their lives and in the reconstruction of the country'. Approaches looking to build the capacity of local communities and beneficiaries to implement their own initiatives were, nevertheless, rare among international programmes. One of the few examples seen in Afghanistan was that of the Community Forums, created by Habitat in 1995.

The study also revealed that community members and beneficiaries have little understanding of how the international aid system works, so that it is difficult for them to engage proactively with it. At the same time, it is common for international aid agencies to remain unaware of local initiatives or local potential for collaborative action. When affected populations are consulted or involved, there is rarely the opportunity to take part in decision making. As for participation in acute emergencies such as the Nahrin earthquakes, many informants (both international and Afghan aid workers) considered that the need to respond quickly and the severity of the impact on the local populations, made it difficult to engage in consultation and/or participation. In fact, no examples of participation and consultation during the immediate earthquake response were identified.

Part 3 also reviews the nature of participation in relation to the various stages of the project cycle, with an analysis of the benefits and constraints of each. In line with the Nahrin study, findings from the parallel Quality Project mission also illustrate how enhanced participation and consultation can improve the relevance and quality of aid operations in all sectors of intervention. Examples are provided for the nutrition, health, food security and shelter sectors. The research carried out in Nahrin was enriched by insights provided by other programmes throughout Afghanistan.

 

Part 4

CONCLUSION
The findings highlight a number of benefits associated with participation and consultation of affected populations, which include ensuring actions are more responsive, appropriate and effective in addressing affected people's priority needs. Strong collaboration and relationships of mutual trust can facilitate access to various population groups and increase the safety of aid workers. Building local capacity and devolving responsibility also allows the implementation of activities where access is restricted or the NGO absent. The genuine involvement of local populations in humanitarian action not only enhances sustainability but also empowers people to build on interventions in the future. Equally importantly, the participation and consultation of populations _ which even in its most minimal form, that of keeping affected populations informed, is not always done _ demonstrates respect and accountability towards recipients of aid.

Nevertheless, participation may entail risks for the affected population and may not always be feasible, so that it is important to be aware of the factors that constrain it. Contextual factors include access difficulties (due to security, geography, social characteristics); the nature and impact of the crisis; and, the number of aid actors present. Social/cultural factors including local power structures and decision-making processes (which can often exclude the most vulnerable sections of the population); previous exposure to aid (which can bias attitudes towards assistance); the capacity to participate (for example, availability of time and labour); and, gender segregation. Aid agency-related factors include mandates (for example, emergency versus development); institutional culture (which often determines the type of human resources required); staff turnover; duration and existing presence of a project in a region; and, nature of relations with the affected populations.

Some of the study's findings suggest or support the idea that participation and consultation of affected populations in acute emergencies is not always possible due to time restrictions and the impact of the crisis on the population. However, in most emergencies, aid agencies do not arrive until a few days after the disaster, while the local population organises itself in the immediate aftermath to assist those most affected. This was the case in Nahrin where people immediately mobilised to check on neighbouring villages, as well as to help rescue people trapped under the rubble and bury the dead. However, given the political and humanitarian context the humanitarian response was rapid and left little space in which local initiatives could develop. It is often the case that aid agencies arrive with `ready-made' interventions that are applied with very little consultation and participation and ignore local initiatives.

This section raises questions about whether aid agencies can work towards recognising local initiatives, even in acute emergencies, so as to support or complement them by filling the gaps that local initiatives are unable to cover.

 

Part 5

RECOMMENDATIONS
In Afghanistan, the political and humanitarian situation over the past 20 years has been such that provision of aid has been mainly relief programming, delivered as top-down, blueprint operations, with little participation and consultation of affected populations. Afghanistan is now on the road to political stability. This is engendering a common desire and will among humanitarian actors (Afghan communities, local aid agencies, government institutions, and international aid agencies) to work together towards the reconstruction of the country.

Recommendations highlight actions that those engaged in humanitarian action (including donors) should consider when seeking to adopt, or develop, more participatory approaches in Afghanistan.

Share and bookmark