Needs assessment and decision-making in the humanitarian sector Researched, written and published by the Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI

Adele Harmer is a Research Officer with HPG. Andre Griekspoor (Emergencies and Humanitarian Action Department, WHO) is an adviser on health issues (Southern Africa study and main report). Fiona Watson (NutritionWorks) is an independent consultant on food security (Southern Africa study and main report). Mark Bradbury is an independent consultant. He was team leader for the field study on Southern Sudan and Somalia. Stephanie Maxwell is an independent consultant on food security (Sudan/Somalia study). Abigail Montani is an independent consultant on internal displacement (Sudan/Somalia study). Dineke Venekamp is an independent consultant on health issues (Sudan/Somalia study). Chris Johnson is an independent consultant (Afghanistan study). Moira Reddick is an independent consultant (study on rapid-onset disasters). Jeremy Shoham (NutritionWorks) is an independent consultant on food security (main report). Acknowledgements Much assistance was given to the study by a range of individuals and organisations in addition to those named above. The ODI team would like to thank in particular the members of the advisory group for the study and others who gave particular help: Allessandro Colombo and colleagues in the Emergencies and Humanitarian Action Department of Others who gave their time and assistance are listed in the separate reports of the case studies. Many thanks also to colleagues in the Humanitarian Policy Group at ODI, in particular Joanna Macrae, for invaluable help in drafting and editing the various materials. The views expressed in the study reports were informed by discussion with the individuals named above, but do not necessarily reflect the views of those individuals or of their organisations. The study was funded by contributions from the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), and the Australian government (AusAID). 1 Preface 3 Executive summary 5 Chapter 1 Introduction and background 9 1.1 Overview 9 1.2 Background 10 1.3 Study background and methodology 11 1.4 Structure 11 Chapter 2 Conceptual issues 13 2.1 Concepts, definitions and frameworks of analysis 13 2.1.1 Defining the humanitarian agenda 13 2.1.2 What is the aim of humanitarian action? 13 2.1.3 Defining 'humanitarian crisis' 14 2.1.4 Defining 'humanitarian need' 16 2.1.5 Other bases for analysis: risk, vulnerability, capacity 17 2.2 Analytical frameworks and conceptual models 20 2.3 Relief, development and the institutional divide 20 2.4 Rights and needs 22 2.5 Conclusions 23 Chapter 3 The practice of needs assessment 25 3.1 The nature and purpose of assessment 25 3.1.1 Formal and non-formal assessment 25 …