Humanitarian Information Systems: Anticipating, Analyzing, and Acting in Crisis

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.

Multiple calls have been issued for better preparedness, early warning, and, above all, early action to prevent hunger and malnutrition, reduce the scale of food insecurity, improve resilience, and reduce...

This paper reviews real-time monitoring (RTM), how it fits into a humanitarian information system, how systems quickly adjusted toward RTM in 2020, and provides a series of case studies of RTM systems, their objectives, and their outcomes. 

The nature of humanitarian crises has changed over the past two decades. These changes demand increased anticipatory humanitarian action and improved information to guide that action. The COVID 19 pandemic...

This brief lays out lessons from our study of famine information systems and considers how they may be applicable to the coronavirus pandemic response.

This study synthesized findings from six different country case studies, noting influences on data collection and analysis processes during emergencies.

This is a brief on the full report of the study that synthesized findings from six different country case studies, noting influences on data collection and analysis processes during emergencies.

The humanitarian situation in Somalia is among the world’s most enduring current crises. As a result of conflict and a very weak central state, the country ran for two decades...

This study employed an active case identification approach to identifying the worst affected households in communities and make recommendations for how classification could be further improved.

This paper reviews issues with contemporary humanitarian information and early warning systems. While the cases focus on the East Africa region, they have broader implications as well.

This study examines the politics of information and its influences on humanitarian information systems in Ethiopia today.

This report provides recommendations related to managing the political influences and improving the technical quality of the data and analysis in Kenya.

Attention to the growing number of people caught in crises characterized by extreme and often protracted levels of food insecurity, malnutrition, and mortality is increasing. The information systems that track...

A study of the effectiveness of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, as it is used to identify famine and levels of food insecurity in Yemen.

A study of the effectiveness of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, as it is used to identify famine and levels of food insecurity in Yemen.

A study of the effectiveness of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, used to identify famine and levels of food insecurity, in South Sudan.

The briefing paper about a study of the effectiveness of the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC) system, used to identify famine and levels of food insecurity, in South Sudan.

Ce rapport examine le Cadre Harmonisé pour mieux comprendre les contraintes techniques et politiques à l'analyse des famines et des urgences extrêmes.

This report examines the Cadre Harmonisé in Nigeria to better understand the technical and political constrains to analyzing famines and extreme emergencies.

This brief examines the Cadre Harmonisé in Nigeria to better understand the technical and political constrains to analyzing famines and extreme emergencies.

Dans le but d’identifier et de classifier la sévérité de l’insécurité alimentaire, y compris la famine, le Nigeria utilise l’approche du Cadre Harmonisé (CH), un processus analytique semblable au Cadre...

The humanitarian community has technical definitions of famine and food security or nutrition emergencies: the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). The classification requires good quality and coverage of food...

One important component of analysis of food insecurity in emergencies is the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Food Insecurity Reference Table. This table provides a graduated description of...