From poverty to power - Oxfam-Québec

5 THE INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM HUMANITARIAN RELIEFand Performance in Humanitarian Action) brings together evaluationand learning across the sector; and the Sphere Project promulgatestechnical and good practice standards, through a humanitarian charter,a website, and a comprehensive manual for humanitarian workers onthe ground. 189 Finally, the Code of Conduct for the International RedCross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief seeks tomaintain high standards of behaviour, along with independence,effectiveness, and impact. 190As discussed in Part 4, all these initiatives are characterised byvarying degrees of self- and peer review, transparency, and publicreporting, but stop short of anything more binding, such as disqualificationor legal liability in cases of negligence or abuse. The preface tothe NGO Code of Conduct states, ‘It is a voluntary code, enforced bythe will of those accepting it to maintain the standards laid down in it.’NGOs have thus far been unable to agree on any of the variousproposed models of certification or accreditation, let alone issues oflegal liability and disqualification. There are numerous reasonsbehind this, one being that national governments of affected countriesought, arguably, to be the ones making informed choices, rather thanbeing told who it is that (largely) Northern actors see fit to license.The humanitarian ‘community’ (some would call it an industry)has for the time being opted to pursue a centralised model of coordinationand propagation of good practice. As in the case of theincreasingly complex and ungovernable international aid system, thesystem could be treated more like a market than the global equivalentof a state welfare body. Because new NGOs, new donor governments,and private sector businesses are constantly joining in, reporting andtransparency may be more effective than trying to co-ordinate theactivities of hundreds of different organisations. As one authorremarks: ‘Less time spent waiting for the new organogram fromGeneva, or campaigning for the right resolution to be passed in NewYork could leave more time for shaping an innovative solution onthe ground.’ 191To ‘empower the consumer’ in such a market would be even harderthan in the case of development aid, since people who have beenstruck by a disaster are unlikely to shop around for the best provider.The real consumer in such circumstances is likely to be the national391