The document discusses the challenges facing humanitarian efforts in Africa, including millions of people displaced or starving due to conflicts, governance issues, and diseases of poverty. It argues that transformational change is needed, including paradigm shifts in how international aid is coordinated. The Africa Humanitarian Action (AHA) organization is presented as a pan-African NGO working since 1994 to provide humanitarian assistance and empower communities in 18 African countries. AHA's goal is to strengthen its ability to implement effective disaster prevention, response, and build local capacity. The organization works to diversify assistance, include humanitarian values, identify complementary programs, and improve management systems to better serve communities.

1. Transformational Change:
Strengthening African Capacity
for Enhanced and Sustainable
Humanitarian Action
Case Study
costy@costantinos.net
http://www.africahumanitarian.org
Mercy Medical Relief Society Doing it Better:
Transforming Humanitarian Efforts International
Humanitarian Conference 2011
Kuwalalumpur Nov 26-29

2. The State Of
Human Despair In Africa
• an estimated 22 million people
remaining forcibly displaced;
• 13 million are starving in the Horn of
Africa;
• mal governance and Conflicts
• Diseases of poverty
• African organizations suffer from
insufficient funding to up-grade
competences and structures to a
competitive level to deal with this
challenge

3. Paradigm shifts necessary for
transformational change
• What is the overall rationality or significance
of the great traffic of international projects of
in fragile states, the proliferating activities
that seem to show little regard for economy of
co-ordination?
• How far and in what ways do various
international agencies, programmes,
mechanisms, forms of knowledge and
technical assistance feed on one another in
helping set the boundaries of CD reform in
fragile states?

4. Africa Humanitarian Action
African in spirit, concept and
composition, AHA is a pan-African
non-governmental organization
(NGO) providing effective
humanitarian assistance to alleviate
human suffering building on the
strength of African people to solve
African problems.

5. Background
• Founded in 1994 in response to the
Rwandan genocide;
• Supported nine million people in 16
African countries to regain their
health, dignity and well-being
• Currently AHA works in 18 African
countries
• Values: AHA seeks to empower
African people

6. Goal: ensure that vulnerable African
communities face minimal risk of
disasters and receive the necessary
humanitarian assistance when they occur
Objectives: strengthen AHA’s programme
delivery capability so it can
implement effective disaster
prevention, mitigation and response
work throughout Africa;
Outputs: enhanced structures, offices and
trained staff in place to deliver more
extensive programmes to reach more
people at risk from and affected by
disasters

7. AHA Outcomes
• Diversified and scaled up assistance are provided;
• Humanitarian values included in all
programmes;
• Complementary programme areas are identified;
• Associations/offices are harmonized ;
• Successful health promotion are solidified;
• Mainstreaming gender, specially focusing on
SGBV;
• Application of knowledge and learning level;
• Improved management information;
• Improved operational systems and procedures;
• Enhanced long-term financial sustainability;
• Improved results and impact measurements
established and practiced

8. Operations
• Corporate Planning, Operations & Impact M&E
• Capacity Development
• Code of Practice for a mutual accountability
contribute to on going efforts of the CD partnership
towards commitment to the use of standard practices
• serve as a guiding document for improving the
partnership by setting out institutional modalities
aimed at enhancing pluralistic processes and foster
a genuine to a locally driven approach
• enable societies & polities to be aware of acts of
public offence
• build systems of knowledge management (KM) for
CD

9. Conclusion
AHA endeavors and works to
• foster institutions which currently do not
exist;
• reorienting institutions which have been
diverted to non-humanitarian c ends; and
• building in-country capacity for democratic
governance on the basis of African demand
and with a minimum of outside expertise

10. http://www.africahumanitarian.org