When a disaster occurs or about to occur, the first and most important step for responders is to get a picture of what is happening. Which cities or villages are likely or have been affected? What are the likely or urgent needs of the population? Which roads are or likely to be blocked? These are the kind of questions that need to be answered predisaster and/or in the first hours after a disaster strikes. Our goal, as CHA, is to analyse and highlight how critical approaches to technology can inform a more reflective humanitarian practice, enhancing the humanitarian community’s ability to grapple with the ongoing transformation of the humanitarian enterprise and its operations, through and by technology.

Geographic Information System (GIS) can create crisis map that can be an important tool for emergency aid efforts, because it helps to make sense of the big data generated pre- and during a disaster and organize a more efficient humanitarian response. The aim is to enable relief workers to assess conditions more quickly and support them into their decision making process.

CHA’s Digital technologies (including Apps) & Drones in Humanitarian Emergencies works to advance the safe, ethical, and effective use of information technologies by communities of practice during humanitarian and human rights emergencies.

CHA’s Humanitarian (Big) Data Analytics & GeoAnalytics work leverages the potential of geospatial data and analytics including pattern analysis, geographically-weighted regression, optimization algorithms, and predictive modelling, to introduce new ways of thinking, identify targets for micro-planning and research, and optimize resource allocation for cost-effective programming..

CHA works to support operational decision-making and improve the predictability, timeliness and efficiency of the humanitarian emergency response

CHA continues to grow its engagement and investment in partnerships and solutions that will deliver a digital humanitarian future. Humanitarian apps will specifically be made to help solve large scale issues like disaster relief, search & rescue, and resource tracking

Current frustrations within the humanitarian sector in Africa are the result of a recognition that humanitarians alone have neither the depth nor the breadth of knowledge or ability to address humanitarian needs and vulnerabilities in all their complexity, now and in the foreseeable future. The result is a systemic discontent that has called into question the foundations of humanitarian action its ethos, its emblems and the constellation of institutions that pursue humanitarian goals. Fundamental

Fundamental reform is necessary but there are too many vested interests within the system and too much resistance to thinking beyond the institutional box. The trigger for change will likely come from without, starting from a balanced analysis of what needs to change and related remedies.

CHA is committed to the systematic examination and assessment of humanitarian policies, programmes and practices in Africa. It also promotes rigorous dialogue on issues related to the work of humanitarian actors in the Africa region and encourages an active exchange of ideas and information between humanitarian practitioners, policymakers and the research community. All of these activities are undertaken with the purpose of strengthening the humanitarian sector’s operational effectiveness, thereby enhancing the sector’s capacity to fulfil its mandate.

Improve anticipation and analysis, upgrade financing architecture, improve efficiency and reduce transaction costs, represent a practical way forward for the humanitarian community

The analysis has to overhaul the outdated power structures and institutional incentives that have long skewed the humanitarian system’s behaviour by while analysing and developing concrete, pragmatic, and actionable reform options aligned to the African humanitarian terrain.

CHA’s cutting-edge analysis will provide a forum for debate about the underlying causes of displacement and forced migration and ways of tackling them – beyond short-term financial assistance and humanitarian aid.

investigate urban environments and crises to disaggregate cumulative risks, interrogate the drivers and interactive effects of those risks and study protective factors.

CHA policy briefs will explore how humanitarian actors can minimise their environmental impact and consider how procurement, transport, choice of materials, or land and natural resource use may protect or degrade the environment further.

CHA seeks to examine the international humanitarian and human rights laws, standards, and norms in light of new cyber-realities.

CHA’s Data preparedness analysis complements and expands on existing OCHA principles on the use of information management in disaster scenarios, such as reliability, timeliness, relevance, inclusiveness and accountability. professionalize the sector.

CHA seeks to explore how accountability, Diversity and Inclusion are being upheld in humanitarian action across Africa to meet minimum quality and accountability standards in their efforts to assist and protect those affected.

Sphere and six other humanitarian standard initiatives formally joined to establish the Humanitarian Standards Partnership (HSP). The aim of the Partnership is to improve the quality and accountability of humanitarian action across all sectors and a harmonised approach to support users in the application of standards. As part of its roles as a one of the accredited Focal Points in Africa for Sphere Standards, the Centre for Humanitarian Analytics (CHA) spearheads adoption of comprehensive humanitarian quality management systems. The CHA organises online and on-site Humanitarian Standards training opportunities, participate in the dissemination of the Sphere Handbook, humanitarian documentaries, and outreach activities in Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi and other African countries. It also runs advocacy activities calling for an increased application of humanitarian standards incountries across Africa. Despite the existence of Sphere and Humanitarian Standards Partnership, most African countries do not have well-coordinated and standardized interagency humanitarian actions which distils bestpractices into a set of voluntary principles that guide the ongoing practice by humanitarian organizations and individuals.

Promote local, national and regional Q & A groups to periodically reflect and cross-learn humanitarian standards to better influence humanitarian response, building greater ownership by individuals, communities and organizations.

Based on a strategic forecast of the future of humanitarian skills reaching ten years into the future, to roughly the year 2030, CHA attempts to prepare the humanitarian actors (including academia, military, local and national authorities) by delivering humanitarian quality and accountability standards through Online Certificate Courses (in collaboration with Universities), E-Learning courses, Institutional Learning Initiatives & Humanitarian Standards on-site and online workshops.

CHA will periodically share short films (documentaries) that communicate the complexities of humanitarian crises from an African perspective. The documentaries serve to educate and inform people about humanitarian crises, policy and action, so that they can critically engage with the short films, and hopefully also with the ways humanitarian crises in Africa are either being addressed or neglected.

Excellence in humanitarian action is also subject to appropriate technical and material support to the humanitarian actors. CHA commits to translate the Humanitarian Standards Handbooks into local languages friendly to the users in the region.Develop and advocate for an accreditation system of humanitarian practitioners to fully professionalize the sector.

CHA seeks to critically measure the performance of humanitarian responses in line with the Core Humanitarian Standard as a guiding framework..