Our world is experiencing crises of unprecedented number and scale. Emergencies that relate to health, conflict and the environment are on the rise. Climate change is impacting, adding a new dimension to age-old causes of human suffering such as disease outbreaks and natural disasters. Communal tensions and resource competition, wars and forced migrations, continue to affect many populations.

Crises are increasingly multiple and interconnected, creating highly complex situations for emergency responders to navigate.

When people are caught up in crises, they need responses that are rapid but also are appropriate to their situation. Social science and behavioural insights are essential to inform such responses. The Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) provides social science insights and tailored analyses that can be quickly and fully integrated into rapid and locally-informed emergency responses.

Our mission is to provide evidence on demand, capacity-building and networking spaces on emergencies that relate to health, conflict and the environment. We focus our efforts on exploring the political economy, community engagement, cultural logics, social difference and vulnerabilities of those emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated this need to draw on interdisciplinary science and find solutions to address humanitarian emergencies based on strong evidence.

Our vision is emergency responses which are effective, adaptive, contextually informed, and sensitive to vulnerabilities and power relations. Importantly, we look towards a future where all responses are planned in consultation with affected communities and local institutions, and based on social and interdisciplinary science and evidence.

SSHAP is a partnership between the Institute of Development StudiesAnthrologica Gulu UniversityLe Groupe d’Etudes sur les Conflits et la Sécurité Humaine (GEC-SH)London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineUniversity of JubaCRCF SenegalUniversity of Ibadan and the Sierra Leone Urban Research Centre.

SSHAP is supported by Wellcome (225449/Z/22/Z) and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, with previous funding from UNICEF.

Connect

The SSHAP Forum is an online discussion group for practitioners, policymakers and researchers that promotes the sharing of social science evidence and perspectives concerning the social dimensions of preparedness and response to disease outbreaks, health emergencies and humanitarian crises. The SSHAP Forum is an online space, hosted on Google Groups, for peers in different geographies and contexts to:

  • share insights from their practice;
  • learn from and give support to one another;
  • and inform and contribute to SSHAP activities and initiatives, for example co-authoring or reviewing briefings, taking part in roundtable events, etc.

Please join the SSHAP Forum by requesting access to the group.

The LinkedIn Group helps practitioners, policymakers and researchers to connect and to share share resources, insights and opportunities with their peers.

Visit the SSHAP LinkedIn Group.