The Sphere Project HAP International People In Aid ALNAP

Horn of Africa Learning and Accountability Portal

Humanitarian action in drought-related emergencies

This ALNAP Lessons Paper identifies seventeen key lessons for humanitarian agencies responding to droughts, on topics such as: early warning, targeting, working with government, food aid, water interventions and nutrition.

It builds on the 2007 ALNAP/ProVention paper Slow-onset Disasters: Drought and food and livelihoods insecurity and a review of over 100 evaluative documents produced by humanitarian agencies in the period 2007-2011. This paper is especially for people working in relief and recovery operations in drought-affected areas: those who have to decide if, when and how to intervene, and is also a resource for people conducting advocacy work and designing or conducting evaluations.

Download the lessons paper in:

FRENCH | SPANISH | ARABIC | ENGLISH

About the Portal

This site provides a platform for agencies responding to the crisis in the Horn of Africa to share information on evaluation and learning activities relevant to the crisis. It provides access:

  • to guidance for programme design and implementation;
  • to evaluation reports and learning documents related to past crises;
  • to plans for activities related to evaluation and learning around the 2010-12 response; and
  • to completed evaluation reports and learning documents from the current response.

The site aims to improve the quality of response in the Horn of Africa by encouraging complementarity amongst agencies - particularly around evaluations and accountability activities - and by supporting agencies in their attempts to conduct programming and advocacy work in accordance with current and emerging best practice, based on learning from activities past and present.

For more information on humanitarian standards, and the work of the joint HAP International / The Sphere Project / People In Aid mission to The Horn of Africa, please visit JointStandards.org.