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Piloting Accountability Systems for Humanitarian Aid in Somalia
Enhancing horizontal and downward accountability in the context of remote management through the use of open source applications/software.
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Summary
Enhancing horizontal and downward accountability in the context of remote management through the use of open source applications/software.
WHAT IS THE HUMANITARIAN NEED?
Improving accountability in the context of remote management
Enabling meaningful beneficiary participation
Strengthen the demand-side of local level governance and community-based organisations
WHAT IS THE INNOVATIVE SOLUTION?
Utilising a suite of technologies – mobile telephony, internet, on-line communities and social media, geo-mapping – to foster beneficiary participation in development and humanitarian interventions, by encouraging beneficiaries to “express their demands, aspirations, engaging in the process of formulation of humanitarian interventions, planning, monitoring and evaluation”. Added Value: enhancing the efficiency of third party monitoring, used in the context of remote management, by adding peer monitoring and beneficiary monitoring.
WHAT ARE THE EXPECTED OUTCOMES?
Wider availably of data and information about humanitarian interventions in remote managed contexts
Encourage a culture of accountability and transparency
Appreciation and Criticism: SMS from Beneficiaries help DRC maintain Accountability and Transparency
28 Feb 2013
Over the course of three months the SMS feedback team has received over 21 SMS messages from towns and cities all over Northern and Southern Somalia including Mogadishu, Galka’ayo, Ainabo, Salahley and Sheikh. More often than not, these are messages of appreciation or simple inquiries into the day to day work that DRC does throughout the region.
Galkayo is the latest area in which the Danish Refugee Council has rolled out its SMS Feedback project. The SMS Feedback System was developed with funding from the HIF and launched in 2011. It provides humanitarian aid recepients in isolated areas of Somalia with information on aid accountability – in other words what to expect from the DRCl and how to make sure their voices are heard.
The DRC team set off early on the 17th June on a 7-hour roadtrip from Hargeisa to Ainabo district, covering 472km distance and arrived in Ainabo at 4:20pm.
The Community-Driven Recovery and Development (CDRD) has projects in Ainabo, including: construction of community centre, rehabilitating water tanks and supporting agricultural activities.
The very first Humanitarian “Customer Calling Center”
25 Jun 2012
This is a cross post from Diary of a Crisis Mapper.
Anahi Ayala Iacucci of Diary of a Crisis Mapper, met with Fatuma Abdulahi, Communications Officer with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) Accountability project in Somalia. Here is Anahi’s thoughts on the project:
SMS feedback from DRC aid beneficiaries in Somalia
12 Jun 2012
Use your mobile phone to tell us if you have received aid as promised and let us know if something is missing. This is the message in Danish Refugee Council’s innovation project in Somalia where thousands of people rely on humanitarian aid.
During stall visits, we noticed that some beneficiaries have used the grants to fix their stalls and improve their working environment. Others have used to it to buy more stock and fill their small stands.
Some of DRC’s biggest operations are based in Mogadishu involving beneficiaries who have lost their livelihood and became Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Mogadishu due to the droughts in 2011.
The third phase roll out of the Beneficiary SMS Feedback system took place on 25thMarch, 2012, in Salahley district. Here is a summary of what happened.
How a village peacefully voted out a dysfunctional all-male committee
21 Mar 2012
Project beneficiaries, a group of women at a community market in Shimbiraale, a village just outside Qardho, had an interesting local governance issue they shared with us. Their project is part of the Community-Driven Recovery and Development (CDRD) and the market was already built and functioning.
The second phase roll-out of the Beneficiary SMS Feedback system took place on 24th January, 2012, in Odweyne district. Here is a summary of what happened.
The first phase of the pilotwill be implemented primarily through the Community-Driven Recovery and Development Project (CDRD). Partners for the SMS feedback testing were selected from CDRD projects in ElefwaynDistrict, Sanaag region, Somaliland.
Using mobile communication devices and access to internet based platforms, this project will introduce simple and transparent tools for feedback and beneficiary participation in the Community-Driven Recovery and Development (CDRD) projects.
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