World: Standards and Assurance Framework for Ethical AI in Humanitarian Action (SAFE AI) - A Governance Framework for Humanitarians using AI: How to turn SAFE AI principles into practical action | May 2026. Version 1.1

Country: World Source: CDAC Network Please refer to the attached file. The governance gap Humanitarian AI is being deployed faster than the architecture needed to govern it. Systems that determine eligibility, target assistance, and mediate access to information for crisis-affected people are going live, often without adequate safeguards and rarely with meaningful input from the communities they affect. How do we know AI is working well in humanitarian action if we cannot see, compare, or improve the systems being deployed? Every honest stakeholder is asking this. Communities AI is supposed to serve. Donors and investors funding adoption. Programme staff operating the systems. Boards holding ultimate accountability. None currently has a satisfactory answer. That is the governance gap SAFE AI closes. The right to know The right-to-know commitment is the organising principle of the SAFE AI Framework. It applies to the people AI systems serve, and it applies to the people who fund, build, and rely on those systems. For communities, it means knowing when automation is in play, how decisions are being made, and how to contest them. The right of people who never interact with an AI system but are nonetheless materially affected by it is recognised. Decisions taken about people are governance acts even when those people do not encounter the system directly. For donors, partners, and boards, it means systems can be inspected, documented, and compared on a common basis. Donors cannot fund what they cannot inspect. Organisations cannot improve what they cannot compare. The Framework operationalises the right to know in a form that makes both possible. What's new with AI that existing governance does not cover? Humanitarian organisations already operate strong governance functi...

Original source: Relief Web