August 14, 2012

With over 220 million people being affected by disasters every year, we would like to take the opportunity of World Humanitarian Day 2012 to share the importance of maxisimising aid efforts for the benefit of vulnerable people worldwide.

Despite humanitarian needs being on the rise, the findings of DARA’s Humanitarian Response Index over the last five years indicate that the international community continues to inadequately anticipate, prevent, prepare for and respond to more frequent and more complex humanitarian crisis.

Given this scenario, which is compounded by the world financial crisis, it is important to understand how aid money is being spent, and learn how we can make aid efforts have greater benefits for people affected by crises. DARA contributes to greater learning and accountability within the humanitarian system as a whole by:

• educating politicians, policy-makers and the public on the need for more effective, transparent and accountable aid that meets the needs, priorities and aspirations of people affected by crisis
• helping aid organizations understand the implications of global trends and challenges so we can prevent and minimize the effects of future disasters and conflicts
• raising awareness of the consequences of climate change for the worlds’ most vulnerable people
• developing tools to help governments and communities understand risks and what to do to build resilience to decrease vulnerability to crises

Our ultimate goal is to transform the humanitarian system from a response-based to an anticipatory model, so that it is more accountable to affected people and helps build resilience and capacity to prevent future crises. For DARA this means aid that:

• Is independent from non-humanitarian objectives
• Is provided without discrimination, based on needs
• Respects the culture, priorities and aspirations of affected people
• Applies recognized principles of good practice and quality standards

Please visit http://www.whd-iwashere.org/ to find out how you can support World Humanitarian Day 2012 and the millions of people vulnerable to conflicts, disasters and climate change.

You can also support DARA here