The following resources promote and facilitate various aspects of evidence-based, community-engaged humanitarian aid. This collection will be updated as new resources become available. If you have any questions about these resources or would like to suggest a new addition to the collection, please contact us.
Please note that Research-Aid Networks provides the links and descriptions, all linked content is the property of the respective organisations.
Accountability
Integrity Action engages with governments, NGOs, and academia to ensure that aid delivery is achieved with integrity and accountability. Resources are provided online and at the point of aid dissemination, which include community integrity, academic integrity and teaching case studies. Integrity Action focusses on reduction of integrity loss due to corruption, and how to better educate around this.
Communication
CDAC Network focusses on communications in areas receiving aid, and the provision of communications networks as a form of aid. E-learning resources are available as an introductory course “Communication is aid”. CDAC Network is designed for any humanitarian programme staff from NGO or charity backgrounds who have little or no experience in communications.
Unicef’s Communication for Development (C4D) provides tools and resource packs based on communicating with communities during both disaster response, and ongoing aid programmes such as immunizations. Information is provided for humanitarians and medical professionals on strategic communication during relief efforts, social mobilisation and behaviour and social change.
Community Engagement
The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent’s (IFRC) Community Engagement and Accountability toolkit provides extensive resources to any organization. Over 25 tools are provided, on subjects ranging from running community focus groups and meetings, to the IFRC’s code of conduct for humanitarians, and how to prepare for exiting a disaster zone after delivery of aid.
The National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement is a UK based organisation providing resources and toolkits on various aspects of communication. This includes matters such as delivering factual information on policy (e.g. aid), how to properly engage others with ideas, and communication with higher education institutions. Resources are available freely online, on topics such as Cultural change, Ethics and Public engagement practices. These would be especially useful for engaging and networking in the aid sector.
Ethics
The ELRHA ethics framework is an online resource pack and tool which gives public health researchers guidance primarily to meet the criteria of R2HC funding grants, but also provides good information for any researchers working in humanitarian aid. The ethics framework and tool prepare public health researchers to self-evaluate their work at various stages.
Humanitarian health ethics (hhe) is a research based organisation aiming to clarify ethical issues surrounding delivery of humanitarian healthcare in practical situations. Primarily, hhe prepare field workers, students, policy makers and organizational leaders for ethical decision making through the published HHEAT manual. Further resources such as case studies and model ethical research protocols can be found online.
Networks
The WHO’s Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) is a collaborative effort of over 200 global partners in the medical, healthcare, and research fields who work to respond to acute public health events. The response is coordinated by the WHO. GOARN provides training courses (registration required) through its website.
The Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies is a global network of NGOs, research institutions, donors and more, who work to represent those who provide education related aid in emergency situations and disaster zones. Resources are available focussed around children and adolescents relating to education before, during, and after disasters and humanitarian crises.
Research and Evidence-Based Aid
The African coaLition for Epidemic Research, Response and Training (ALERRT) aims to provide a coordinated clinical research network for disease outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa. Through this, it hopes to deliver aid through liaising with partner organisations.
The Ebola Response Anthropology Platform (Ebola RAP) provides a platform to enable coordination and good working practice between social scientists and outbreak control teams during Ebola outbreaks. Through this, the Ebola RAP endeavours to improve health policy in response to future Ebola outbreaks. A wealth of information and resources is provided on the Ebola RAP website, including Identifying and diagnosing cases, management of the dead, caring for the sick, clinical trials/research, preparedness, and communication and engagement.
The Epidemic Response Anthropology Platform (Epidemic RAP) encompasses the Ebola RAP, but with a broad focus on all infectious disease outbreaks, and how social science studies of these can better inform aid responses. Many resources are available (based on journal articles), including case studies on the 2019 Democratic Republic of the Congo Ebola outbreak, which act as a published article aggregator.
Evidence Aid’s mission is to provide reliable and current evidence on all aspects of aid, so that interventions and responses are administered to the highest standard. This knowledge of ‘what works and what doesn’t’ is used by Evidence Aid to equip humanitarian aid teams and organisations with the best tools possible. Evidence Aid provides a large list of resources, including its reviews on published research and links to these articles.
The Health in Humanitarian Crises Centre (HHCC) acts primarily as a research centre on public health in humanitarian crises. The HHCC’s mission revolves around health equity and public health research, education and policy. The HHCC website provides free courses, taken online or at the London School of Hygeine and Tropical Medicine, on subjects such as conflict and health, Ebola response, and Nutrition in emergency situations.
ISARIC (the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium) is a global initiative aiming to ensure that clinical researchers have the open access protocols and data-sharing processes needed to facilitate a rapid response to emerging diseases that may turn into epidemics or pandemics. Its focus has been recently on the outbreaks of bird (H5N1) and swine (H1N1) influenza, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). Many tools and resources are available through the ISARIC website, such as Viral Haemorrhagic Fever data analysis tools, Zika virus research tools, and SARS research tools.
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics research in global health emergencies project oversees ethical issues during humanitarian responses and crucially how these can impact vital research, both positively and negatively. Workshops are provided, and reports are generated to serve as resources to the wider community. Recently the need for better community engagement has been reported on from a workshop run in May 2019.
PREPARE is a network of clinicians and academic research institutes aiming to provide a rapid research backed response to infectious disease outbreaks. PREPARE provides an online alert form (directly accessible here) to allow healthcare and aid workers to report disease outbreaks which may trigger a response from PREPARE. The main resources provided are links to partners and networks.
Social Science for Emergency Response links research in social sciences and anthropology of areas affected by humanitarian crises with the aid sector. This enables a better understanding of social, cultural and political nuances in different parts of the globe, allowing better emergency response tailored to the affected area. Resources are available in report form, such as considerations on food provision in infectious disease outbreaks, cross-border dynamics, and lessons learned from previous aid responses.
Vital Strategies works with governments around the globe to assist in strengthening healthcare systems. Vital Strategies employ evidence-based strategies to ensure the best impact of its aid. Resources are provided around the themes of healthcare delivery in countries of all economic types, these include reports, factsheets and training articles.
