With the mission to save Africa from poverty and social instability, the UK has been a long term contributor to aid among European countries and the world. Running up to 2005, when the UK will hold the presidency over the EU and the G8 summit, international humanitarian experts are looking forward to the opportunity to make a difference in the world through the UK's leading aid agencies.

Professionals from the worldwide humanitarian community will meet in the UK to discuss the past and future of aid quality in humanitarian crises across the world.

To mark the 16th bi-annual conference of ALNAP (The Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action) and the 20th anniversary of Band Aid, experts are meeting at World Vision UK's headquarters in Milton Keynes.

Band Aid recently released the charity album "Do They Know it's Christmas?" last week. It was originally released in 1984 and the songs are re-recorded with a new team of famous singers. The general public have responded very well to the album, and at the weekend the single stormed into the number one spot in the UK music charts. It is expected to raise a considerable sum of funds for war-torn Sudan, and without a doubt it has also raised the awareness of people to these forgotten lives.

World Vision's head of emergency relief and ALNAP member Richard Rumsey said, "With the release of another version of ‘Do They Know It's Christmas’ the British public must be wondering why Africa is still hungry after two decades."

"The question has been asked, 'hasn't the aid community learnt anything at all about how to prevent these problems and deal with them effectively when they do happen?'"

This group of professionals from across the spectrum of international humanitarian organisations will look to find the answer to this question. They have been meeting for almost a decade and in that time have learnt many lessons about the effectiveness and accountability delivery of aid.

Rumsey said, "Through setting in place measures to analyse the quality and impact of aid delivery much has been done to enable aid agencies to learn from their mistakes and develop systems and standards that demonstrate best practice in some of the world's worst crises."

"Following extensive research there are now a range of standards and guidance handbooks developed by ALNAP for the humanitarian industry addressing how for example, agencies involve the beneficiaries in the planning and implementation of aid interventions; how to consistently measure the effectiveness of aid interventions; how to train and develop professional staff to ensure good quality aid delivery, and so on."

ALNAP is an international, interagency forum working to improve learning, accountability and performance across the Humanitarian Sector. It consists of members of UN agencies, multilateral and bilateral donors, Red Cross/Red Crescent Movement, NGOs and NGO Umbrella Groups, academics and others.