Problems of quality in humanitarian action: what exactly are we talking about?

15/10/2014

On 15, 16 and 17 September 2014, at Groupe URD headquarters, the Autumn School on Humanitarian Aid brought together specialists on issues of Quality and Accountability. Much is happening in this area, with two important projects being presented in Copenhagen on 12 December 2014: the Core Humanitarian Standard, which has been developed due to the need for greater coherence between the various standards that exist, and the results of the Certification Project led by the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response. The key points of the Autumn School will be published on Groupe URD’s website in October. The aim of this article is not to give a detailed account of the very rich discussions which took place, but rather to talk about a specific issue which was a common theme throughout the discussions: what is the fundamental nature of the problems of quality in the humanitarian system? And to give Groupe URD’s point of view on these questions. [...]