Historical + Cultural + Contextual Analysis*

To understand the history (pre/post colonial), culture, traditions, perceptions prior to crisis

Helps with understanding trends and trajectories in a protection analysis and over longer periods of time.

Helps to understand and check our assumptions of the situation and how this understanding influences our interventions

Helps to understand interaction between actors, communities, cultures, ethnic groups, etc and how this changes over time, by the conflict/emergency

Helps to look at aspects of gender, age, disability, economic status, power dynamics, traditions, etc in the past and current situation

Helps to identify what is “normal” for a community and where the emergency has disrupted this normalcy…what protective mechanisms have shifted or changed because of this disruption (for good or bad)

Helps to understand the narrative of the crisis (who is shaping the threats, vulnerabilities, resilience)

To assess what gives rise to conflicts and how crisis change over time

To reflect on past humanitarian crisis (actors, response, affects, impact)

To appreciate the power relations, gender, religion, and other dynamics before crisis, during crisis, and through transition

To understand the affect of movement; different populations