World Humanitarian Data and Trends presents global- and country-level data-and-trend analysis about humanitarian crises and assistance. Its purpose is to consolidate this information and present it in an accessible way, providing policymakers, researchers and humanitarian practitioners with an evidence base to support humanitarian policy decisions and provide context for operational decisions.
The information presented covers two main areas: humanitarian needs and assistance in 2014, and humanitarian trends, challenges and opportunities. This edition also features a new section on regional perspectives, which showcases region-specific trends identified by OCHA’s regional offices. The report intends to provide a comprehensive picture of the global humanitarian landscape, and to highlight major trends in the nature of humanitarian crises, their drivers, and the actors that participate in prevention, response and recovery. The 2015 edition builds on previous iterations of the report, providing an overview of 2014 as well as selected case studies that can be used for humanitarian advocacy.
There are many gaps in the available information due to the complexity of humanitarian crises. Even the concepts of humanitarian needs and assistance are flexible. There are also inherent biases in the information. For example, assistance provided by communities and by local and national Governments is less likely to be reported. The outcomes and impact of assistance are difficult to measure and rarely reported. Funding data is more available than other types of information. There are also limitations on the availability and quality of data. Further information on limitations is provided in the ‘User’s Guide’.
The data presented in this report is from a variety of source organizations with the mandate, resources and expertise to collect and compile relevant data, as well as OCHA-managed processes and tools, such as the inter-agency appeal process and the Financial Tracking Service (FTS). All the data presented in this report is publicly available through the source organizations and through the report’s own data set. Further information on data sources is provided in the ‘User’s Guide’.
World Humanitarian Data and Trends is an initiative of the Policy Analysis and Innovation Section of OCHA’s Policy Development and Studies Branch (PDSB). This report is just one part of OCHA’s efforts to improve data and analysis on humanitarian situations worldwide and build a humanitarian data community. This edition was developed with internal and external partners, whose contributions are listed in the ‘Sources and References’ section. OCHA extends its sincere gratitude to all those partners for their time, expertise and contributions.
Interpreting the visuals and data
The report uses many visual representations of humanitarian data and trends. There is also some limited narrative text and analysis, which provides basic orientation and helps to guide individual interpretation. However, there may be multiple ways to interpret the same information.
The ‘User’s Guide’ contains more detailed methodological information and specific technical notes for each figure. Readers are encouraged to refer to the technical notes for more detailed descriptions of decisions and assumptions made in presenting the data.
For the latest information on needs and funding requirements for current strategic response plans or inter-agency appeals, see fts.unocha.org.
Accessing the data
All the data presented in this report can be downloaded through the Humanitarian Data Exchange (►https://data.hdx.rwlabs.org). The report can be explored through its interactive companion microsite www.unocha.org/humanity360.
