Synthesizing practices of evidence appraisal in the humanitarian field

evidence appraisal

This paper synthesizes evidence appraisal practices to inform evidence syntheses in the Humanitarian Evidence Program. It is addressed to all audiences interested in humanitarian evidence, including but not limited to researchers, humanitarian practitioners, and policymakers. The paper helps answer the question, ‘How confident are we in the quality of evidence supporting a finding?’ A briefing paper summarizing key findings is available at this link, and the catalog of evidence appraisal approaches can be found here.

Evidence appraisal is integral to the review process: when clear and context-appropriate, it contributes to the transparency and rigor of the evidence synthesis. Rather than prescribing a particular evidence appraisal approach, the Humanitarian Evidence Program summarizes evidence appraisal practices relevant to the humanitarian field and offers some suggestions in critically applying them to the realities of humanitarian data analysis, synthesis, and interpretation.

ASSOCIATED PROJECT

SUBJECTS

PUBLICATION TYPE

LOCATION

RELATED PUBLICATIONS

Thumbnail of Report "Do Famine Declarations Really Lead to Increased Funding?

This policy brief examines the relationship between famine declarations and funding since 2011. It shows that, with that one exception, there is little evidence that famine declarations actually result in a rapid increase in funding.

Image of Brief Cover: Actingin in Advance of Flooding

In 2022 UN OCHA led a pilot anticipatory action intervention in South Sudan. This brief presents UN actors’ perceptions of this intervention.

Cover of Report "Sex, age (and more) still matter"

This report reviews progress, outlines barriers to further progress, and makes recommendations to advance gender equality in the humanitarian system.

Picture of report cover "Co-investigators but with different power"

Building on a previous report on the localization of humanitarian assistance, this study focuses on issues unique to the localization of humanitarian research.

Thumbnail of Famine Prevention Report Cover

This study reviews what we have learned regarding policies and interventions to prevent famine, and how these can be scaled up more rapidly.

Cover of Report "Anticipatory Action in Motion"

This anticipatory action landscape brief summarizes what has been published on anticipatory action since 2020 and what progress has been made on existing recommendations.

Load more