Humanitarian Feedback Mechanisms: Research, evidence and guidance

In 2012 ALNAP and CDA started collaborating on action research looking at feedback mechanisms in humanitarian contexts, to establish what makes them work effectively and to focus on bringing different stakeholders’ perspectives – particularly those of crisis-affected people – into the conversation.

The overarching research question was formulated as follows:

which features of feedback mechanisms for affected populations are most likely to contribute to the effectiveness of those mechanisms as perceived by different user groups – including, first and foremost, the crisis-affected communities? 

The present study is the culmination of this research and is accompanied by: a method paper (Bonino and Knox Clarke, 2013); a literature review and desk study (forthcoming); and three case studies published separately (Jean with Bonino, 2013; and 2014 forthcoming). The case studies document the experience of three different agencies that use feedback mechanisms as part of their humanitarian programmes and operations: World Vision (WV) in Sudan; the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Shelter Cluster in Pakistan; and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Haiti.