Results-based protection is a problem-solving approach used to address complexity and the ever-changing environment that surrounds protection issues in humanitarian action. It's an approach which aims for results - results which are a reduction in actual risks that people face. It underscores the importance of starting from the perspective of those experiencing violence, coercion, and deliberate deprivation, and embraces aspects of systems-practice, design-thinking, and other comparable methods that emphasize iteration, adaptability, relationships, interconnectedness, and strategic collaboration to achieve protection outcomes.

Watch this video as an introduction to results-based protection – to watch the video in Arabic, French, and Spanish, click here.

We are pleased to announce the launch of our two-year project, Strengthening Ways of Working for Protection Outcomes, supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). As a continuation of InterAction’s work on Results-Based Protection (RBP), this project aims to contribute to a strategic and cultural shift within the humanitarian community to achieve protection outcomes of reduced risk. The components of this project are two-fold:

1. Provide continuous and comprehensive support to NGOs in Nigeria, Myanmar, and a third country (TBD) in order to support the uptake and application of results-based approaches to protection among NGO staff working in humanitarian crisis, and

2. Facilitate a collaborative effort to develop a Results-Based Evaluation Framework for the Prevention of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and an action plan for field-based pilots.

InterAction’s Protection team seeks to address current gaps in the humanitarian community around the need for more relevant good practice examples and practical know-how in applying results-based approaches to protection. As such, documentation of lessons learned and good practice will be a significant project output from both project components providing a platform for development and sharing of tools, methods, and strategies for implementation of results-based protection work.

If you would like to submit your organization’s lessons learned and good practice in applying results-based approaches to protection, please contact Keri Baughman, at kbaughman@interaction.org. For any questions about this project, please contact Jessica Lenz, Senior Technical Advisor-Protection, at jlenz@interaction.org.

Blog: Policy Brief: The Case for Understanding Context

August 1, 2019

Humanitarians increasingly recognize the importance of ensuring that responses are context-relevant and context-specific, yet how we define context is not evident. ALNAP’s research on how humanitarian response in complex urban contexts can be improved included a literature review, interviews, and revision of 25 existing context tools. This policy brief summarized key points from the larger research initiative and are consistent with the first of the three key elements of results-based protection, continuous, context-specific protection analysis. ALNAP defines “context” as: “the environment and circumstances within which something happens and which can help to explain it. Context is broader than the needs... Read more →

RBP Update – August 2019

August 1, 2019

Blog: Evaluation of Protection in Humanitarian Action

August 1, 2019

We often hear that measuring the impact of protection interventions is too difficult or even impossible. This perception is reflected in the fact that there are very few publications on evaluating protection in humanitarian action. One underlying challenge is that different organizations define protection in various ways, whether as specific activities, an approach or lens, or as a goal or objective of humanitarian action. “At its core, this reflects a fundamental definitional problem for protection work.” (pg.8) Furthermore, protection evaluators are faced with several other challenges, including variation in protection approaches, understanding cause-effect relationships, and collecting sensitive data. After a... Read more →

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