The first edition of the TI Handbook was published in 2010. The substantial increase in the last few years of different challenges in and new ways of delivering humanitarian aid has resulted in this updated 2014 electronic version of the Handbook. It includes a revised list of references and links, as well as the inclusion of relevant new tools, that look at: Communication with Disaster Affected Communities; Reputation Management; Remote Management; Cash as an Alternative; Construction and Reconstruction; and Information and Communication Technology.
Addressing corruption is an integral element in humanitarian accountability, quality assurance and good management. This handbook is a comprehensive menu of good practice tools that can help managers and staff in all humanitarian agencies identify, prevent or remedy corruption risks when they are encountered in humanitarian responses.
To capture the development and changes within the sector this handbook has been updated to assure that it is still relevant – new actors and new systems bring new risks. Since the 2004 Asian tsunami the world has seen major disasters like the earthquake in Haiti, earthquakes and floods in Pakistan, hurricanes in the USA, drought in the Horn of Africa, the tsunami in Japan and the typhoon in the Philippines. The gap in policies for preventing corruption in emergencies is still noticeable and humanitarian agencies are continuously facing diversion of aid resources from long term disasters like Somalia, Afghanistan, the DRC and Syria.
The update seeks to maintain the original goal and purpose for the Handbook, seeking all opportunities to contribute to current project’s training and advocacy goals: (i) increase utilisation of tools; and (ii) raise awareness of corruption risks. Since demand for the updated Handbook and practical guidance will increase with the delivery of trainings, the focus was to: (i) update the reference materials, (ii) improve and expand tools, and (iii) prepare new tools.
The Handbook has three sections. The first covers general policies and procedures that will create an organisational context that promotes transparency, integrity and accountability, and is strongly resistant to corruption. The next section addresses specific corruption risks faced by practitioners of the various support functions that underpin every humanitarian programme, such as supply chain management and finance. The final section looks at the risks of corruption most likely to be faced at the different stages of programme implementation, from needs assessment through to post-distribution M&E.
