Research and consultancy areas

Institutions, Financing and Reform

The international humanitarian system is emerging from a period of unprecedented reform, which continues to have far-reaching and often mixed results, and the long-term impact of which is still uncertain. The humanitarian reform agenda, along with donor policies and practices, is a major focus of Humanitarian Outcomes. Current and upcoming work includes a scoping paper for the Australian Aid Agency for International Development on its humanitarian assistance in Africa, led by Adele Harmer. Glyn Taylor recently completed two country evaluations (Bolivia and Colombia) of the operational impact of the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), as part of the Performance and Accountability Framework. Glyn Taylor has also recently undertaken a study for UK DfID and UN OCHA on improving monitoring and evaluation in the context of the DRC Humanitarian Action Plan (HAP) utilising cluster and pooled funding structures, and an evaluation of the scope for pooled funding approaches in Ethiopia. In previous work, Abby Stoddard and Adele Harmer led the evaluation of the UN’s recently adopted Cluster Approach to humanitarian coordination, as well as the first evaluation of the Common Humanitarian Funds in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Adele Harmer played a leading role in the development of the Good Humanitarian Donorship (GHD) initiative, the most recent work has examined the relationship between GHD and the Paris Principles on Aid Effectiveness. Abby Stoddard undertook a financial analysis and policy review for the US government on behalf of the Good Humanitarian Donorship initiative on the newly expanded array of international humanitarian financing mechanisms.  In 2009, the Humanitarian Outcomes team, led by Adele Harmer, produced a feasibility study for the Norwegian Government on the idea for a new international consolidated appeal mechanism for emergency preparedness.


Aid in Insecure Environments

Humanitarian operations face a significant threat of violence against personnel in some conflict settings. Last year 242 aid workers were killed, kidnapped or seriously wounded in deliberate attacks. Humanitarian Outcomes' Aid Worker Security Database (AWSD) has been monitoring attacks on civilian aid operations since 2005, and the team has produced leading research on trends and issues in humanitarian operational security. The latest trends analysis can be found in the Aid Worker Security Report 2011. In March 2011 Adele Harmer and Abby Stoddard completed a study for the UN office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance: To Stay and Deliver: Good practice for humanitarians in complex security environments. The study, led by former Under Seceretary-General Jan Egeland, examines trends and good practices in maintaining secure access for aid operations. Using a methodology pioneered in the HPG/CIC study Providing Aid in Insecure Environments, Harmer, Haver and Stoddard continue to maintain the AWSD, from which evidence has informed ongoing interagency security analysis and initiatives. Additional published research on this topic includes studies on remote management operations for insecure areas and internationalfunding for humanitarian operational security. Links to past HPG/CIC research products on humanitarian security can be found at HPG. Glyn Taylor has advised on DFID humanitarian strategy in Afghanistan and in 2009 co-led a major study on the protection of civilians in UN peacekeeping operations, co-commissiond by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance.


Policy and Practice

The practical, operational aspects of delivering humanitarian relief is a key focus in Humanitarian Outcomes’ research agenda. Past studies have examined the role of cash in emergency relief, ways of minimising the risks of corruption and the impact of concerns around dependency on policies and practice. More recently, Paul Harvey and Katherine Haver led a study on cash transfer mechanisms in emergencies, for the Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP) and oversaw an evaluation of Concern Worldwide's food security interventions in Niger. In 2009 Katherine Haver led a research team for UNHCR that studied the use of cash grants in repatriation and reintegration programmes for Burundian refugees. In 2009 and 2010, Paul Harvey led a strategic evaluation of WFP’s livelihoods recovery interventions, a study for GTZ on current trends in food assistance policy and practice and wrote a report on the role of the affected state in disaster response for the ALNAP annual meeting. A HPN Good Practice Review on cash transfers in emergency relief co-authored by Paul Harvey was published in June 2011. Humanitarian Outcomes partners have also examined the response to the Haiti earthquake, producing a context analysis and an analysis of the gaps and duplications in evaluations, for ALNAP. In late 2011 to 2012, Paul Harvey and Katherine Haver will lead a team evaluating the livelihood interventions in humanitarian crises financed by the Directorate-General for the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (DG ECHO).