Time to listen: hearing people on the receiving end of international aid, 15 Jan 2013, London

Humanitarian actors have long been concerned to ensure that the voices of affected populations are heard, and there has been a recent increase in initiatives designed to increase communication with, and accountability to, the recipients of international humanitarian assistance. Perhaps the most comprehensive attempt to date to understand the opinions and perspectives of disaster-affected populations has been undertaken by ALNAP Member CDA Collaborative Learning Projects. Between 2005 and 2009, CDA’s Listening Project held thousands of conversations with aid recipients, government and civil society representatives and aid workers in 20 aid receiving countries. The core themes that emerged from these conversations have now been collected in CDA’s new book Time to Listen: Hearing People on the Receiving End of International Aid.

The authors of the book will outline the main issues identified by the 6,000 people with whom they spoke: what works in humanitarian assistance, and what needs to change. The presentation will be followed by an open discussion.

If you wish to attend this event please email alnap@alnap.org leaving your name, job title and organisation. You can also watch the event live and can register via the ODI website.

Speaker:
Dayna Brown – Director Listening Program, CDA

Discussant:
Sean Lowrie – Director, the Consortium of British Humanitarian Agencies
Wendy Fenton – HPN Coordinator

Chair:
John Mitchell – Director, ALNAP