The IRC hosted the Client Responsive Humanitarian Action Learning Exchange, bringing together a diverse range of participants in sharing experiences and ideas on how to best deliver humanitarian programming that is more responsive to the needs and perspectives of clients. Participants and speakers at the learning exchange included IRC staff from field programmes and technical and operational support departments, peer implementing agencies, research and policy- focused organisations, and major donors.

The learning exchange took place ahead of the World Humanitarian Summit, at a time when the efforts of the humanitarian community are focused on engaging the people targeted through humanitarian aid for assistance. The IRC structured the event around the two pillars of its Client Responsiveness Framework. Day 1 focused on effectively capturing client feedback, and Day 2 explored enabling and incentivising humanitarian stakeholders to more systematically include client perspectives in program decision-making processes.

The discussions during the learning exchange are reflected here as key highlights and next steps. The broader intention is that these discussions set the stage for further debate and engagement, both within the IRC and amongst the wider humanitarian community invested in positively transforming existing power dynamics between humanitarian actors and their clients to deliver more responsive, accountable, and effective programming. 

Available documents & links