IASC guidelines on the Humanitarian Profile common operational dataset

1. The humanitarian profile is fundamentally an attempt to account for, on an ongoing basis, the number of
people having humanitarian needs arising from a given emergency. It can be thought of as humanitarian
caseload. It is essentially a count of the number of “affected” people in the emergency. Because people may
be affected in many different ways by an emergency, different groups are identified within the humanitarian
profile, such as displaced, non-displaced, injured, missing, and dead.
2. The humanitarian profile dataset is unique among the common operational datasets in its operational
importance to the humanitarian community, the dynamic nature of its data and the way its composition may
vary according to the operational context and priorities of a particular emergency. The humanitarian profile
includes the numbers of affected, missing, dead, and injured persons, where the affected category has subgroups
of importance for humanitarian response. The purpose is to provide, in a predictable way, numbers
that can facilitate humanitarian planning and needs assessment.1
3. The humanitarian profile dataset should not be confused with the various info-graphics and situation
reports that can be generated from it. The CODs are datasets from which analytical products can be made,
not the products themselves. As such, the typical users of the CODs are information managers or reporting
staff that can use the datasets to produce decision support products.2
4. The humanitarian profile is a potentially politically sensitive dataset in that the numbers of affected people
may be seen to reflect on the capacities of national governments or international actors. The humanitarian
profile numbers may have financial implications in terms of donor funding. It is the responsibility of the
Humanitarian Coordinator (HC) or delegated individual to decide how political concerns impact any
Humanitarian Profile datasets that are published and address these concerns appropriately. Effectively, the
HP needs not only a sound and documented technical basis but also the political approval from the HC as
well as the Humanitarian Country Team (HCT).
5. This guidance is intended to complement the IASC Common Operational Dataset policy3
and to provide
more detailed information for the efficient and effective integration of the Humanitarian Profile dataset into
emergency operations.