UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office visits the stores of Tawilla hospital, Darfur.
© UNICEF/UNI625621/Jamal
Ahmed Mah (centre) UNICEF’s Chief of Field Office visits the stores of Tawilla hospital where nutrition supplies are kept. This was during the first ever interagency mission to Zelingei, Jebel Marra, and Tawila, Darfur region, to observe first-hand the situation of communities as the war in Sudan continues now in its second year. During the mission, the UNICEF team also distributed supplies to communities and visited health facilities.

The United Kingdom’s Humanitarian Innovation Hub has featured the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) in its series of case studies focusing on academic-practitioner collaborations in humanitarian settings.

The case study explores some of the core pillars of SSHAP’s work:

  • SSHAP’s localised approach driven by its regional hubs and large and growing network of experts familiar with local cultural, social, political and environmental contexts.
  • The SSHAP Fellowship programme, which pairs social scientists with practitioners from the same region to support interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange in the context of local challenges and health emergencies.
  • SSHAP’s tailored and responsive evidence on demand service that brings together existing and emerging evidence, drawing on academic and grey literature, consultation with experts, and personal experiences.

The case study also highlights the critical importance of sustained core funding to enable responsiveness and network building.

You can read the SSHAP case study on the UK HIH website.