Responsible data sharing between humanitarian organizations and donors: towards a common approach

Humanitarian organizations are facing increased incentives to collect and share disaggregated data about their operations. At the same time, they must ensure this data is only used for humanitarian purposes and does not cause harm to affected populations. Despite recent progress with sector-wide commitments and frameworks for data responsibility, there is an area in need of more specific guidance: data sharing between humanitarian organizations and the donors who fund their work.

In this post, ICRC’s Head of Data Protection Vincent Cassard, Stuart Campo from the OCHA Centre for Humanitarian Data, and Jonas Belina of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs outline the opportunities and challenges of this relationship and provide six guidelines to support more responsible data sharing practices between humanitarian organizations and donors, drawing on a new framework developed through the Humanitarian Data and Trust Initiative.