This report describes the findings of an assessment of needs, gaps and capacity resources for integrating the social sciences for community engagement (CE) in humanitarian action (HA) and programming, including a derived competency framework for SS4CE. These activities were conducted by Sonar-Global’s partner, the Amsterdam Institute for Global Health and Development (AIGHD) with support from Institut Pasteur, for the Social Sciences for Community Engagement in Humanitarian Action (SS4CE in HA) project led by UNICEF, with funding from the U.S. Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance. The focus of the project and this report have been on integrating social science approaches for CE, primarily in conflict and hazard settings. The report is aimed at humanitarian practitioners and programmers at all levels (e.g., field, senior, HQ), donors, and social scientists working in applied humanitarian as well as academic settings. It intends to further inform the process of integrating and mainstreaming the social sciences in CE in HA.
A mixed-method approach was used, which included a preliminary scoping of peer-reviewed literature, interviews, a survey, a focus group discussion (FGD), a mapping of training resources and consultation with social scientists, humanitarian practitioners and community actors. This resulted in the identification of capacity needs and gaps, a database and analysis of existing SS4CE trainings and a competency framework. The body of the report presents the identified needs and gaps, and summarizes available capacity resources with details of selected SS4CE trainings and the competency framework in the Annexes.