Plenary Summary: Steinberg Reminds Crowd To Include “Forgotten Communities” When Responding To Crises
InterAction’s Forum 2011 kicked off this morning with keynote speeches from Valerie Amos, the UN Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator, and Donald Steinberg, USAID Deputy Administrator, on the shifting development and relief landscape.
Amos and Steinberg cited new donor countries, new technologies, and insistent calls for accountability and transparency by U.S. government and large donors as main factors in the shift.
Amos remarked that in fragile climates NGOs “increasingly find themselves at the front lines of change and they are examining how to best affect change.” During her remarks, she also posed a number of questions for the community:
· Is the scale of our programs adequate?
· Can we do the work faster?
· How do we work with fragile states and non-state groups?
· How do we make sure that aid reaches those it’s intended for in these climates?
· How do we know that the money was well spent?
In closing, Amos called for organizations to share their success stories to create better partnerships and practices and to focus on scaling-up fruitful programs to the benefit of all in this climate of diminished political support tight federal budgets.
Steinberg reminded the audience to integrate communities traditionally forgotten in crises— gender, LGBT, and the disabled—by quoting his wife, saying there should be “nothing about them, without them.”
A distinguished panel continued the discussion. It included Ashoka CEO Bill Drayton; Brookings Senior Fellow and Global Economy and Development Deputy Director Homi Kharas; Save the Children President and CEO-elect Carolyn Miles; Habitat for Humanity International President and CEO Jonathan Reckford; and USAID’s Paul Weisenfeld.
All speakers called for partnerships and alliances between NGOs, local organizations, donors and communities for greater accountability and better results. Homi Kharas from Brookings called for the community to see itself as an ecosystem, increasingly interdependent, and nurturing of each other.
By Tawana Jacobs, associate director of public relations at InterAction
