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The article states there are three problems underlying responses to humanitarian crises:

• international humanitarian financing is not equitable, and amounts allocated do not reflect comparative levels of need
• there is no system-wide framework for judging the relative severity of situations, and for aligning decisions about response accordingly
• donors are sceptical about agencies’ assessments, while agencies doubt that objective assessment is central to donor thinking and decision-making

The paper presents findings from a study of major donors, and critically outlines current approaches to the practice of needs assessment, and to the ways in which needs analysis feeds into decision-making.

The study identified the following general criteria for good assessment practice:

• timeliness: providing information and analysis in time to inform key decisions about response
• relevance: providing the information and analysis most relevant to those decisions
• coverage: adequate to the scale of the problem
• continuity: providing relevant information throughout the course of a crisis
• validity: using methods that can be expected to lead to sound conclusions
• transparency: being explicit about the assumptions made, methods used and information relied on to reach conclusions, and about the limits of accuracy of the data relied on
• effective coordination with others, the sharing of data and analysis, and the communication of significant results

In addition, the paper provides a detailed set of recommendations as a basis for obtaining a more consistent and accurate understanding of the threats people actually face, and for ensuring that decisions about response are properly informed by that understanding.

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