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Case study
SSHAP learning note: Building a localised approach
This learning note shares insights, experiences and lessons from SSHAP's approach to the localisation of its operational responses in sub-Saharan Africa.
Evidence review
Rapid evidence synthesis: Mpox community protection
This note presents a rapid synthesis of evidence related to community protection in countries affected by the mpox clade 1b outbreak. Synthesising evidence related to community protection for mpox Medline, Africa Journals Online and Global Index Medicus were searched. IFRC,…
Briefing
Key considerations: Home-based care for mpox in Central and East Africa
This brief outlines key considerations on health system requirements for safe and inclusive home-based care for mpox.
Question Bank
Tools
Questions bank for healthcare workers during infectious disease outbreaks fr
This question bank is a menu of qualitative questions related to healthcare workers’ knowledge, perceptions and practices during infectious disease outbreaks.
Briefing
Mpox response in urban informal settlements fr
This brief highlights key issues and good practices that can be carried into the design and delivery of mpox response activities in urban informal settlements.
Briefing
Introducing experimental vaccines during health emergencies fr
This brief provides an overview of the experimental stages of vaccine development during a disease outbreak and highlights key considerations at each stage from a social science perspective.
Briefing
Mpox in the Busia-Malaba border region linking Uganda and Kenya
This brief summarises how mpox is perceived and managed in the Busia-Malaba border region that links eastern Uganda and western Kenya.
Factsheet
Remote response to Ebola outbreak in DRC fr
The Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform is supporting UNICEF, WHO, IFRC and other partners in the Democratic Republic of Congo to respond to the Ebola outbreak in Equateur Province. The Platform has four key streams of action: 1) Rapid…
Briefing
Cross-border dynamics between Burundi and Tanzania in the context of viral haemorrhagic fever outbreaks, 2025 fr
This brief summarises key considerations regarding cross-border dynamics between Burundi and Tanzania in the context of viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF) outbreaks in Tanzania and Uganda.
Briefing
Using social and behavioural science to inform the use of vaccines during health emergencies fr
This brief synthesises social and behavioural science research on the use of vaccines during health emergencies in sub-Saharan Africa, including experimental vaccines undergoing clinical trials.
Research paper
Diagnosis, treatment, and management of mpox in urban informal settlements in southwestern Nigeria: an ethnographic approach
This paper, based on an ethnographic study in southwestern Nigeria, seeks to contribute to a more nuanced understanding of not only the health care access barriers, but the complex geographical, economic, and sociocultural factors that shape how and when people…
Research paper
Mpox and the men who have sex with men (MSM) community in Nigeria: Exploratory insights from MSM and persons providing healthcare services to them
This paper explores mpox awareness, knowledge, and experiences among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Lagos, Nigeria, to provides insights to improve Nigeria's mpox response and inform similar public health efforts in Africa where MSM criminalisation complicates MSM…
Question Bank
Tools
Viral haemorrhagic fevers question bank frptessw
This Question Bank is relevant to outbreaks where person-to-person transmission has been identified as significant to an outbreak's spread and where patient experiences must be understood for a community-centred response.
Briefing
Post-trauma impacts in conflict-affected communities in northern Nigeria
This Key Considerations brief compares the biomedical framing of post-traumatic stress disorder with the social science understanding of the drivers of and possible solutions for mental health impacts of trauma.
Briefing
Addressing the kush epidemic in Sierra Leone
This Key Considerations brief contextualises and provides insight into an epidemic which is symptomatic of deeper, long-standing issues which require sustained and comprehensive solutions beyond immediate emergency measures.
Briefing
Female genital mutilation among Sudanese displaced populations in Egypt ar
A Key Considerations brief considering the drivers and dynamics of FGM practices in the context of forced displacement to inform culturally sensitive strategies for FGM prevention and response.
Briefing
Addressing the humanitarian needs of forced rural-to-city migrants in north-west Nigeria with a focus on mental health vulnerability
This Fellows Brief calls for action to address the needs of a hitherto underserved, internally displaced people.
Report
Meeting report: Mpox and discrimination in African settings fr
This report summarises contributions from speakers and participants at a Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP)-organised online meeting to discuss mpox and discrimination issues in African settings, and operational responses to mpox that are contextually sensitive.
Briefing
LGBTQIA+-inclusive humanitarian action in the Philippines
This brief examines the social, economic and legal landscape for LGBTQIA+ groups in the Philippines, exploring their specific capacities and vulnerabilities during crises and offering practical guidance.
Question Bank
Tools
Mpox question bank: Qualitative questions for community-level data collection frpt
A Question Bank for use by field teams and local research teams working in communities with mpox transmission and those at risk of transmission with the aim of supporting the collection and use of consistent and high-quality social and behavioural…
Briefing
Mpox, mining, and vulnerabilities of women and children in eastern DRC fr
This Key Considerations brief presents considerations for contextualising and responding to the mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, focusing on women and children living and working in artisanal and small-scale mining areas.
Briefing
Risk communication and community engagement for mpox vaccination in eastern DRC fr
This Key Considerations brief presents social and political considerations for the design and implementation of vaccination-related risk communication and community engagement (RCCE) strategies for mpox in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Briefing
SSHAP West Africa Hub: Health emergency cycles and social context in West Africa fr
This landscape paper summarises the contextual factors that shape health emergencies and responses to health emergencies in the West Africa region, drawing on examples from Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone.
Report
Roundtable Report: Discussion on mpox in DRC and social science considerations for operational response fr
This report synthesises the discussions at a SSHAP-organised roundtable on the mpox outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo held in May 2024 to appraise the situation, with a focus on social science insights for informing context-sensitive risk communication…
Infographic
Child engagement in the context of disease outbreaks in Eastern and Southern Africa
This infographic, in Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili as well as English, summarises insights from a recent key considerations brief exploring why, when and how to engage children in the prevention, response and recovery stages of disease outbreak in…
Briefing
Child engagement in the context of disease outbreaks in Eastern and Southern Africa arfrptessw
This brief explores why, when and how to engage children in the prevention, response and recovery stages of disease outbreaks.
Briefing
Social, structural and community dynamics of cholera transmission and mortality in Ethiopia am
This key considerations brief was developed to support response efforts by exploring the social and structural determinants and community dynamics of cholera infection and mortality in Ethiopia.
Factsheet
Why social science matters for humanitarian action?
A factsheet on the role of social science in Community Engagement and Accountability (CEA).
Policy document
Technical Guidelines for Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response in Nigeria
The goal of IDSR is to improve the ability of LGAs to detect and respond to diseases and conditions that cause high levels of death, illness and disability in the LGA‘s catchment area. Strengthening skills and resources for integrated disease…
National Action Plan for Health Security, Nigeria
The National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) is a comprehensive multi-sectoral plan that integrates multiple workplans including REDISSE, NCDC Strategy Plan, AMR Action Plan, and immunizations plans, addressing the major gaps identified by the Joint External Evaluation (2017) and…
Briefing
Key Considerations: Disability-Inclusive Humanitarian Action and Emergency Response in South and Southeast Asia and Beyond hine
In many settings, people with disabilities face multiple and complex layers of environmental, societal and structural barriers. These barriers can lead to them being disproportionately harmed, neglected and excluded during humanitarian and other emergency responses.1–3 This is especially evident in…
Imagining HIV/AIDS: morality and perceptions of personal risk in Nigeria
The disparity between people’s knowledge about HIV/AIDS and the extent to which they take measures to protect themselves is one of the most vexing issues for public health workers and social science analysts. This paper aims to explain some of…
Discriminate biopower and everyday biopolitics: views on sickle cell testing in Dakar
Many physicians in Senegal and France, where most Senegalese sickle cell specialists are partially trained, assume that genetic testing that could imply selective abortion for people with sickle cell would run counter to the religious and cultural ethics of people…
“Right tool,” wrong “job”: Manual vacuum aspiration, post-abortion care and transnational population politics in Senega
The “rightness” of a technology for completing a particular task is negotiated by medical professionals, patients, state institutions, manufacturing companies, and non-governmental organizations. This paper shows how certain technologies may challenge the meaning of the “job” they are designed to…
Community health care workers in pursuit of TB: Discourses and dilemmas
Community-led tuberculosis (TB) active case finding is widely promoted, heavily funded, but many efforts fail to meet expectations. The underlying reasons why TB symptom screening programs underperform are poorly understood. This study examines Nigerian stakeholders’ insights to characterize the mechanisms,…
Research paper
Youth, sin and sex in Nigeria: Christianity and HIV/AIDS-related beliefs and behaviour among rural-urban migrants
In Nigeria, popular understandings of HIV/AIDS and individual risk assessment and behaviour unfold within an interpretative grid that draws on a religious moral framework. This paper reports results from a two‐year study of HIV/AIDS‐related beliefs and behaviour among adolescent and…
