SEE RECORDING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSHGeNmPM7g

On December 30, 2025, the All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI), with RedRIndia and Humanitarian Aid International (HAI) convened a virtual roundtable on “Accountability First: Ten Reset Questions Shaping People-Led Humanitarian Action” on Tuesday, 30 December 2025, from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM IST.

The session foregrounded the voices and lived experiences of frontline humanitarian workers, community volunteers, and local institutions within India’s humanitarian and disaster management ecosystem. It created a reflective and critical space to examine how accountability is understood, practiced, and experienced on the ground.

Discussions engaged deeply with key dimensions of accountability in humanitarian action, including worker safety and dignity, fair compensation, mental health and psychosocial well-being, legal and social protection, local leadership, digital safety, climate risks (including extreme heat), and people-led recovery processes. The roundtable contributed to ongoing efforts to reset humanitarian action toward more people-centred, just, and locally led approaches shown to be vital in rapidly evolving risk environments.

🎯 Key Objectives

• Centred accountability around frontline and community workers, focusing on safety, dignity, fair compensation, mental health, and legal protection.
• Strengthened people-led and locally driven humanitarian action by reflecting on power, leadership, financing, and decision-making within the humanitarian system.
• Addressed emerging risks and responsibilities—including digital safety, climate change, and extreme heat—through a justice- and dignity-centred lens.

Speakers

• Rajeev Jha, Director (DRR & CCA), Humanitarian Aid International, India
• P. G. Dhar Chakrabarti, Vivekananda Chair Professor, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI), India
• N. Vinod Chandra Menon, Founder Member, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India; President, RedR India
• Mihir R. Bhatt, Director, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI), India
• Sushma Modi, Junior Professional Associate, World Bank, Ethiopia

📢 The roundtable concluded with a strong collective call to rethink accountability in humanitarian action—by centring frontline and community voices, questioning entrenched power structures, and co-creating people-led, just, and locally grounded approaches. The reflections and insights shared offered valuable lessons for strengthening India’s humanitarian system and for the broader Global South.