In 2024, nearly 300 million people around the world will need humanitarian assistance and protection, due to conflicts, climate emergencies and other drivers.

To prevent individuals at risk from becoming people in need, there are specific recommendations for integrating Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Risk Analysis into humanitarian response. The Humanitarian Programme Cycle (HPC) refers to a series of actions undertaken in the management of
international humanitarian response operations. Actions in the HPC must be conducted in collaboration with and in support of national and local authorities.

This course provides specific recommendations on how to integrate risk analysis during the HPC, particularly in the elaboration of Humanitarian Needs Overview (HNO). The HNO is a document produced by humanitarian organizations to assess and analyze the needs of populations affected by crises, disasters, or conflicts in a particular region or country. The HNO typically provides an overview of the humanitarian situation, including the scope and scale of needs, vulnerable populations, and priority areas for intervention. It serves as a foundational document for the humanitarian response, helping to guide the planning and coordination of assistance efforts by humanitarian actors, governments, and other stakeholders.

The e-learning course “Humanitarian Programme Cycle” integrates a risk-informed approach to consolidate, collect and analyze data for risk analysis to support humanitarian action. It also suggests a simple tool to help organize the collected data and analysis (Risk Analysis Matrix).