Ground Truth: completing the cycle of accountability in humanitarian operations

Humanitarian agencies recognize the importance of listening to beneficiaries but have made little progress in acting on what they hear. This is the challenge that the Ground Truth program is designed to address: completing the cycle of accountability in humanitarian programs by bridging the gap between listening and taking action. It will accomplish this by introducing two innovative tools that complement the work of other groups working on quality and accountability in the humanitarian space and enhance the effectiveness of humanitarian operations by improving the way programs are planned and implemented.

The first tool is a light-touch approach to gathering beneficiary feedback that yields data that is accurate and comparable, and can be translated into program design and performance management with relative ease. The second is a published index that will track and compare the performance of different aid agencies, based on the perceptions of  ‘beneficiaries’.

Please click here to read more about the context and potential impact of Ground Truth

Please click here to view the Ground Truth concept note.

Ground Truth is a program of Keystone Accountability. It is led by Nicholas van Praag, whose career has spanned humanitarian and development work at the UN and The World Bank. He works closely on the program with Keystone Accountability’s founder and Chief Executive, David Bonbright.  They cooperate closely with other groups in the accountability space.

David and Nick recently blogged about improving accountability and performance in humanitarian aid, and suggested a couple of innovations that would make a big difference to the sector. Please click here to read the post.

For further information on Ground Truth, please contact either David Bonbright or Nick van Praag.