Members of SSHAP participated in the State-of-the-art Symposium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, in December 2025. This blog shares insights from the Symposium; considers the important of social and behavioural science and the existing evidence gaps; and lessons for global health security.
This report maps and synthesises social and behavioural science studies on mpox in sub-Saharan Africa from 2017 until December 2025.
SSHAP has published a collection of short videos featuring methods, tools and thinking to aid the use of social science approaches in humanitarian and health emergency response practice. This free collection is for researchers, humanitarian practitioners or others interested in learning and incorporating social science analysis in their work.
The UK’s Humanitarian Innovation Hub has featured SSHAP in its series of case studies on academic-practitioner collaborations in humanitarian settings. The case study features learning from SSHAP and highlights key components of SSHAP’s approach, including localisation, network building and evidence on demand.
Equipping people working in community engagement and communications during humanitarian crises with the knowledge to use social science research can enable them to generate robust, rigorous and context-relevant socio-behavioural evidence to inform interventions and policymaking. Ginger Johnson highlights the important work of Collective Service partners to support governmental and non-governmental actors in Eastern and Southern Africa to conduct rapid qualitative assessments during emergencies.
The Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) supported the Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency and the Enugu State Ministry of Health to strengthen their qualitative research capacity to improve preparedness for disease outbreak. This blog shares learning from the process.
To facilitate reflection on epidemic preparedness and response in Senegal, and the role played by the social sciences in this process, a roundtable event was held in Dakar in December 2023. Read more about the event in this short news item by Khoudia Sow and Mariam Ballo Boyon.
A new report from the Institute of Development Studies, UK, calls on world leaders to look beyond the conventional staples of the public health toolkit as they draw up a new WHO global treaty on pandemics.
The Royal Anthropological Institute and the Marsh Charitable Trust announced that Juliet Beford, a Co-Investigator (Co-I) of the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) and Director of Anthrologica, is the 2022 winner of the Marsh Award for Anthropology in the World.
This briefing draws on previous outbreaks to highlight how social science can make an effective contribution across the response to the outbreak of Ebola disease caused by the Sudan virus in Uganda.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Community Readiness and Resilience Unit has issued a call for proposals for the development of a collection of case studies on COVID-19 and the impact of behavioural and social science insights. The deadline for proposal submissions is 28 October 2022.
In a fast moving and changing world, all kinds of uncertainty will emerge. We need leaders who will listen and adapt. Clear government directives from above are key, but we also need good coordination of local action.
Report from a roundtable meeting at the Wellcome Trust, London, 3rd February 2020.
Social science networks can provide crucial support to stemming nCoV by promoting the understanding of the context-response relationship as emergent and constantly evolving.
A rapid compilation of data analyses for November 2018-February 2019 in the context of the Ebola outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri provinces.
In this ‘Social Science in Epidemics’ series, different aspects of past disease outbreaks are reviewed in order to identify social science ‘entry points’ for preparedness and response activities. This brief draws out some recommendations for Ebola response actors in North Kivu.
It includes lessons learned primarily from (i) historical outbreaks in Congo; (ii) outbreaks in Uganda in 2000-01 and 2012; (iii) the 2014-2016 West African epidemic; (iv) the outbreak in Equateur Province in DRC (May- July 2018), and (v) the ongoing outbreak in North Kivu and Ituri Provinces in DRC (August 2018 – ongoing).
Summary and background reports exploring transmission, surveillance and other aspects of outbreaks.
The third in a series of reviews of outbreaks seeking to identify social science ‘entry points’ for emergency interventions and preparedness activities. In French and Chinese as well as English.
Although social scientists have long worked in public health emergencies, the value of including social science intelligence in response strategies became highly visible during the epidemic of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa in 2014–2016. The key application of social science is to contextualise the response, which should be done in 2 ways.
First, by understanding important features of the local context and how they directly influence the strategy and overall response.
Second, by adapting “standard” components of the response to the local context (e.g. safe and dignified burials, community engagement) to ensure that they are acceptable and appropriate for the affected population. Such work supports timely uptake of response interventions, reduces fear and potential resistance and ultimately contributes to stopping transmission of the virus.
This report is the first instalment of the ‘Social Science in Epidemics’ series, commissioned by the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Direct Assistance (OFDA). In this series, past outbreaks are reviewed in order to identify social science ‘entry points’ for emergency interventions and preparedness activities.
The aim is to determine tangible ways to address the social, political and economic dynamics of epidemics and to ensure that interventions build on the social and cultural resources of the communities they aim to support. This report explores lessons about the social dimensions of past and recent Cholera epidemics.
Summary and background reports offering recommendations on local customs, health care systems and other topics.
This blog relates to the Evidence Synthesis Research Award report and summary across health related research, from 122 research grants.
